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When underground in a cave, you may find cone-like limestone structures on the ceiling and the floor. On the ceiling are stalactites. (They hold on tite.). On the floor are stalagmites. Where they meet, the combined structure is called a column.

Formation of Stalactites and Stalagmites

Where limestone is present above a cave, it can be dissolved by water as calcium bicarbonate. When it drips down into a cave, it reverts to particles of calcium carbonate in the air. If the water carries to the floor of the cave, stalagmites (limestone pinnacles) are formed. If the calcium precipitates before it can drip, an "icicle" of limestone, a stalactite, hangs from the ceiling. Usually these forms are created simultaneously, and may merge to form columns or sheets of columns.

Unlike their icy counterparts, stalactites and stalagmites take hundreds to thousands of years to form, at an average of 5/1000ths of an inch (.13 mm) a year. A stalagmite in an Oregon cave has grown less than 1/4 of an inch since it was broken off 100 years ago!

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Related Questions

Where are stalagmites and stalactites?

Stalactites and stalagmites are found in limestone caves. Stalactites hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites come up from the ground.


Where stalactites and stalagmites are found?

Stalactites and stalagmites are found in limestone caves. Stalactites hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites come up from the ground.


What direction would the stalactites and stalagmites be in?

The stalactites hang from the ceiling, and the stalagmites are on the ground.


Can rocks grow like stalactites and stalagmites?

No, rocks cannot grow like stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites and stalagmites are formed from minerals that are deposited from water dripping in caves over thousands of years, while rocks are solid masses that do not exhibit the same type of growth.


Stalactites and stalagmites are examples of?

Stalactites and stalagmites are examples of cave formations that are typically found in limestone caves. Stalactites hang from the ceiling and are formed by minerals dripping down, while stalagmites rise up from the floor and are formed by minerals accumulating from the ground up.


Are there two types of stalactites?

No because there are stalactites and stalagmites they are not the same thing


How stalactites and stalagmites formed?

rain


What do stalactites and stalagmites join to form?

Stalactites and stalagmites join to form columns. These columns are created when a stalactite hanging from the ceiling of a cave and a stalagmite growing from the floor eventually meet and fuse together.


What compounds form stalactites and stalagmites and stalagmites?

Calcium Carbonate


Why there is no stalactites and stalagmites in Kuwait?

Kuwait doesn't have caves as big to have stalactites and stalagmite


What is the scientific term for stalactites and stalagmites?

The scientific term for stalactites and stalagmites is speleothems. These formations are created in caves by the deposition of minerals from dripping water.


Is this statement correct Stalagmites form on the ceiling of a cavern?

No, it is stalactites that form on the ceilings. Stalagmites form on the cavern floors.