Ground Water Erosion Can Result in the Formation of Stalactite and Stalagmite in Caves.
stalactite and stalagmite, elongated forms of various minerals deposited from solution by slowly dripping water. A stalactite hangs like an icicle from the ceiling or sides of a cave. A stalagmite appears like an inverted stalactite, rising from the floor of a cave.
Stalactites hanging from the ceilings of caverns commonly exhibit a fundamental tube or the trace of a former tube whose diameter is that of a drib of h2o hanging by surface tension. A driblet on the tip of a growing stalactite leaves a deposit merely around its rim. Down growth of the rim makes the tube. The simplest stalactite class, therefore, is a thin-walled rock straw, and these fragile forms may reach lengths of 0.5 m (20 inches) or more where air currents have not seriously disturbed the growth. The more common class is a downward-tapering cone and is merely a thickening of the straw blazon by mineral degradation from a film of h2o descending the exterior of the pendant.
Stalactites and other formations, Timpanogos Cavern National Monument, Utah, U.S.
Courtesy of the National Park ServiceStalagmites take thicker proportions and grow up on the bottom of a cavern from the aforementioned drip-water source, the mineral from which is deposited afterward the water droplet falls beyond the open infinite in the stone. Not every stalactite has a complementary stalagmite, and many of the latter may have no stalactite above them. Where the paired relation exists, nonetheless, continual elongation of one or both may eventually result in a junction and the formation of a column.
The ascendant mineral in such deposits is calcite (calcium carbonate), and the largest displays are formed in caves of limestone and dolomite. Other minerals that may be deposited include other carbonates, opal, chalcedony, limonite, and some sulfides.
Cross department of a cave.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Conditions that favour the deposition are: (ane) a source rock above the cavern; (2) downward percolation of h2o supplied from rain; (3) tight but continuous passageways for this water, which determine a very dull drip; and (4) acceptable air space in the void to allow either evaporation or the escape of carbon dioxide from the water, which thus loses some of its solvent ability.
This article was most recently revised and updated past Emily Rodriguez.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/stalactite
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