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Stalagmites and Stalactites
Stalagmites and stalactites are mineralized deposits formed by dripping water. The deposits are long and cone shaped. Stalactites hang from the tops of caves, and stalagmites are formed on the floors.
350 Questions
Why is producing stalagmites so slow?
They form in, usually, fairlymodest temperatures and from very weak solutions of calcitedispensed usually in small drops of slowly-dripping water, so only a few molecules of calcite can crystallise at a time.
A commonly-quoted figure of growth rate is "one inch in a thousand years" but while that may be true in some places it is by no means universal andthey and related calcite formations can grow an inch a century or even faster.
No, stalactites are generally solid structures formed from mineral deposits dripping down from the ceiling of a cave. They can have varying levels of porosity due to the types of minerals they are made of, but they are not hollow inside.
What is the speed of stalactite growth?
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These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far west as Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, and as far south as Al-Andalus.[2] This period of Viking expansion - known as the Viking Age - forms a major part of the medieval history of Scandinavia, Great Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe in general.
Popular conceptions of the Vikings often differ from the complex picture that emerges from archaeology and written sources. A romanticised picture of Vikings as Germanic noble savages began to take root in the 18th century, and this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival.[3] The received views of the Vikings as violent brutes or intrepid adventurers owe much to the modern Viking myth which had taken shape by the early 20th century. Current popular representations are typically highly clichéd, presenting the Vikings as familiar caricatures.[3]
HOPE THIS HELPED ;)
Why do stalactites and stalagmites often occur in pairs?
Stalactites and stalagmites occur in pairs because they form when mineral-rich water drips from the ceiling of a cave and deposits minerals on the floor. As water drips from the stalactite, it leaves behind mineral deposits that build up to form a stalagmite. Over time, these formations can grow together to create a pair.
What is the difference in stalacites and stalagmites?
Stalactites are formations that hang from the ceiling of a cave, while stalagmites are formations that rise from the cave floor. Stalactites are formed by mineral-rich water dripping from the ceiling, while stalagmites are formed by the same water dripping and depositing minerals on the cave floor.
What is the opposite of stalagmites?
The opposite would be stalactites, which form from the ceiling down, while stalagmites form from the floor up.
(The venerable mnemonic is that stalactites hold tite/tight to the ceiling.)
What stalactites is the hardest mineral?
Stalactites made of calcite are relatively soft, while those made of aragonite are harder. However, the hardest mineral commonly found in stalactites is quartz, which can form as chalcedony stalactites in caves.
What are stalactites spelunkers?
Nonsense question.
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A stalactite is a calcite formation within a cave.
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A "Spelunker" was originally a "caver" - a person who explores caves - and was coined by a couple of American cavers in the 1930s, not used at all outside the USA, and now used, if at all, only in a derogatory way by US cavers of novices and dilettantes. (I took the trouble to investigate it!)
How long does it take a stalactite to grow an inch?
The average growth rate of a stalactite is 0.005 inches per year. This means it would take 200 years to grow one inch.
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Note "average": a common value often quoted is or was 1 inch per 1000 years, but the growth rate is very variable as it depends on many different factors.
What is the highest stalagmite called?
The highest stalagmite currently known is in the Grotte de Clamouse cave in France and it is called the Giant. It stands at around 30 meters tall.
They can topple, but not usually, because stalagmites grow up from the, or a, floor. If the floor moves - perhaps because it was a boulder or a mud-bank rather than bed-rock, and it slumps - then so will the stalagmite.
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I wonder if you meant stalactites. They can drop from the ceiling by their own weight, but that's very rare. Some of the fallen stalactites you find may have been dislodged by a minor earthquake at some time in the cave's geological history; or more recently by basting shock if the host hillside is being quarried. Others, in active stream caves, have been broken off by very rare, extreme, floods.
What caves are stalactites and stalagmites formed?
Caves that have cacium carbonate in their geology. The calcium carbonate dissolve in water, but as that water evaporates the calcium carbonate is left behind. It gradually forms a spike from the ceiling or the floor as the drips evaporate leaving behind their solutes.
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.
How does temperature affect stalagmites and stalactites?
As for all chemical interactions, temperature play a role as in speeding up or slowing down the actual process.
When minerals dissolve in water they can be slowly reformed again due to chemical or physical interactions.
A chemical interaction would form a different material and a physical interaction would crystallize a material but leave the composition as such chemically the same.
Crystalization will in most cases be a combined reaction of both physical and chemical interactions.
When Stalagmites and Stalactites are formed over a really long time in a cold wet cave this normally results in strong bonds between the molecules they are made up from.
The coldness ensures that the reactions forming them goes slow and fills up most cracks and add strongness (stronger bonds between molecules).
If there is heat present, then the water dripping down may dry up quickly. This leads to more physical and less chemical interactions in the material being deposited. Molecules does not form strong bonds and as of this the stalagmite being formed may not be very strong at all.
If trying to heat up a cave where there are stalagmites and stalactites then the heat applied may dry up the minerals formed. This may or may not reduce their strengt.
Why are stalagmites and stalactites called those names?
Stalactites hang tightly to the ceiling of a cave, while stalagmites might grow to reach the cave floor. The names reflect their formation as water drips from the ceiling to form stalactites, and drips onto the cave floor to form stalagmites.
