Cave

The deep cave environment is completely dark, has a stable atmosphere, and the temperature is rather constant, varying only a few degrees throughout the year. The humidity in limestone caves is usually near 100%. Many caves contain unique life forms, underground streams and lakes, and have unusual mineral formations called speleothems.

When groundwater seeps through the bedrock and reaches a chamber or tunnel, it meets a different atmosphere. Whatever mineral is in solution reacts with the surrounding atmosphere, precipitates out, and is deposited in the form of a crystal on the cave ceiling or walls. Calcite, and to a lesser degree, aragonite, are the most common minerals of speleothems. The amount of mineral that precipitates out depends upon how much gas was dissolved in the water. For example, water that must pass through a thick layer of soil becomes more saturated with carbon dioxide than water that passes through a thin layer. This charges the water with more carbonic acid and causes it to dissolve more limestone from the bedrock. Later, it will form a thicker mineral deposit in the cave interior as a result.

Water that makes its way to a cave ceiling hangs as a drop. When the drop of water gives off carbon dioxide and reaches chemical equilibrium with the cave atmosphere, calcite starts to precipitate out. Calcite deposited on the walls or floors in layers is called flowstone.

Sometimes water runs down the slope of a wall, and as the calcite is deposited, a low ridge is formed. Subsequent drops of water follow the ridge, adding more calcite. Constant buildup of calcite in this fashion results in the formation of a large sheet-like formation, called a curtain, hanging from the ceiling. Curtain formations often have waves and folds in them and have streaks of various shades of off-white and browns. The streakiness results from variations in the mineral and iron content of the precipitating solution.

Often, a hanging drop falls directly to the ground. Some calcite is deposited on the ceiling before the drop falls. When the drop falls, another takes its place. As Stalactites and stalagmites in the Hams Caves, Spain. Photograph by Pedro Coll. Stock Market. Reproduced by permission. with a curtain formation, subsequent drops will follow a raised surface and a buildup of calcite in the form of a hanging drop develops. This process results in icicle-shaped speleothems called stalactites. The water that falls to the floor builds up in the same fashion, resembling an upside down icicle called a stalagmite.

Of course, there are variations in the shape of speleothems depending on how much water drips from the ceiling, the temperature of the cave interior, rates and directions of air flow in the cave, and how much dissolved limestone the water contains. Speleothems occur as tiered formations, cylinders, cones, some join together, and occasionally stalactites and stalagmites meet and form a tower. Sometimes, when a stalactite is forming, the calcite is initially deposited in a round ring. As calcite builds up on the rim and water drips through the center, a hollow tube called a straw develops. Straws are often transparent or opaque and their diameter may be only that of a drop of water.

Stalactites and stalagmites occur in most solution caves and usually, wherever a stalactite forms, there is also a stalagmite. In caves where there is a great deal of seepage, water may drip continuously. Speleothems formed under a steady drip of water are typically smooth. Those formed in caves where the water supply is seasonal may reveal growth rings similar to those of a tree trunk. Stalactites and stalagmites grow by only a fraction of an inch or centimeter in a year, and since some are many yards or meters long, one can appreciate the time it takes for these speleothems to develop.

The most bizarre of speleothems are called helictites. Helictites are hollow, cylindrical formations that grow and twist in a number of directions and are not simply oriented according to the gravitational pull of a water drop. Other influences such as, crystal growth patterns and air currents influence the direction in which these speleothems grow. Helictites grow out from the side of other speleothems and rarely grow larger than 4 in (8.5cm) in length.

Speleothems called anthodites are usually made of aragonite. Calcite and aragonite are both forms of calcium carbonate, but crystallize differently. Anthodites grow as radiating, delicate, needle-like crystals. Pools of seepage water that drain leave behind round formations called cave popcorn. Cave pearls are formed in seepage pools by grains of sand encrusted with calcite; flowing water moves the grains about and they gather concentric layers of calcite.