0
Depoists of calcite precipitated from solution in the ground-water feeding them. The calcite (crystalline calcium carbonate) has been dissolved from the limestone around the inlet.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Do stalacities rise from the floor or hang from the cieling of limestone caves?
Stalactites grow down the ceiling.Stalagmites grow up from the floor.A good way to remember: C for Ceiling, G for Ground.If they meet they form a Column!
How are helicities different from regular stalacities?
They develop strange, twisty shapes, grow horizontally, branch or otherwise behave weirdly. No-one is really sure how, and of various theories, some may apply to some helictites but not others! I have seen one form, in one cave and one only as they are all unique, resembling something from a Mediaeval church. They were only about 20mm high, each consisting of a thin straight stem with a little cross-arm. The three tips each held a tiny, exquisite "botryoid" (a cauliflower-like formation) no more than 3mm across. Unfortunately none of us in out team photographed them. I have also observed "outdoor" helictites - actually inside a building. These tiny examples are growing outwards from a ball-valve maintaining the level in a laboratory tank, and resemble little, pure-white whiskers up to 3mm long.
