Stalagmites and Stalactites

A stalactite forms first. It is formed when mineral-rich water drips from the ceiling of a cave and leaves behind deposits of minerals that gradually build up and hang down. Stalagmites form on the cave floor beneath stalactites when the drips land and accumulate over time.

Yes, stalactites can reach the ground if they grow long enough. This can happen when the rate of deposition of mineral-rich water from the ceiling exceeds the rate of evaporation. Over time, the stalactite will continue to grow until it reaches the ground.

Stalactites form when water containing minerals drips from the ceiling of a cave, leaving behind deposits that slowly accumulate over time. Stalagmites, on the other hand, form when the same mineral-rich water drips onto the floor of a cave, building up in a mound-like shape as the water evaporates and leaves minerals behind. Over thousands of years, these formations grow and develop into the intricate structures we see in caves today.

Stalagmites typically grow at a rate of about 0.005 to 0.1 inches per year. The growth rate depends on factors such as water composition, temperature, and mineral deposits in the cave. It can take several hundred to thousands of years for stalagmites to reach a considerable size.

stalagmites are on the ground, stalactites are on the ceiling.( there was a rhyme for it but I forgot) :)

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Try "c for ceiling, g for ground". I think the rhyme you mean is something like, "Stalagmites might reach the roof, stalactites hang on tight"!

Yes, they are calcium carbonate deposits that hang from the ceilings of limestone caves. They hang "tite".

Inside a cave, you would typically hear echoes of your own movements and sounds, as well as any water dripping or flowing. The smell inside a cave might be musty, damp, and earthy due to the lack of ventilation and presence of minerals and soil.

Stalactites hang from the ceiling of limestone caves. They form as mineral-rich water drips from the ceiling and deposits mineral formations, which over time build up into icicle-shaped structures pointing downwards. Stalagmites, on the other hand, rise from the cave floor.

Stala -C -tites grown down from the Ceiling.

Stala- G- mites grow up from the Ground.

(Another mnemonic is, "hang on -tite". There is another well-known one but it's a bit risque!)

Calcium Carbonate. Both are usually found in lime stone caves. The stalagmite is seen projecting upward from the floor. The stalagmite from the caves roof. The stalagmite will often feed the stalagmite from the moisture dripping from its pointed end. However many are found alone fed by the dripping moisture from the caves roof.

Deep in a natural cave, you might find unique rock formations, underground streams, various species of bats and other wildlife adapted to the dark environment, as well as potentially undiscovered archaeological artifacts or fossils.

Stalactites hang from the ceiling of limestone caves. They form as water carrying dissolved minerals drips from the cave ceiling, leaving mineral deposits that slowly accumulate and create the icicle-like formations.

A stalactite hangs from the ceiling of a cave, formed by mineral deposits dripping down over time. On the other hand, a stalagmite grows from the floor of a cave, formed by mineral deposits building up from the ground.

They do - among other related formation such as layers generally called "flowstone", and "gours", which are natural calcite weirs creating a staircase or pools.

Also, rarer, "cave pearls" which are ooids of calcite around sand grains or similar, and "mud roses", caused by dripping water creating a funnel-shaped hollow in a mud floor, then lining the hollow with precipitated calcite.

Sort of. The water percolating through the joints in the limestone above the cave, dissolves some of the rock's main chemical, Calcium Carbonate. On emerging through the cave roof, some of the dissolved carbonate is precipitated in its crystalline form, Calcite, very slowly building up the stalactites and stalagmites.

Geologically, they grow rapidly, but in human terms no. Their rates vary greatly from cave to cave, or at least region to region, and what may have taken some thousands of years in one place could have sprung up in a mere few hundreds, or even just tens, of years elsewhere.

A very good question! There was an old study that reckoned on "one inch per 1000 years" but whilst that may have applied to one particular study, and probably fair for caves in temperate regions it is by no means universal.

It depends very much on the conditions within the individual cave passage, particularly the CO2 proportion in the air, and the rate at which the water with its dissolved calcite comes through the passage roof. If the drops fall as soon as they emerge from their inlet, the evaporation hence precipitation of calcite, will occur on the floor.

Yes, a stalactite can grow without a corresponding stalagmite below it. If there is a river flowing under the water seeping through the rock, the stalactite will grow while the river will sweep away the mineral rich water.

I hope my answering this does not make me party to some Fourth Grader's attempt to find another to do his or her homework, then plagiarise it...

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Rain water becomes slightly acid by dissolving carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into it. This Carbonic Acid is strong enough to dissolve limestone, whose main constituent is Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). This is the primary way in which caves form in limestone hills in the first place.

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As the carbonic acid leaches through the joints in the limestone above the cave, it dissolves more of the CaCO3. When this solution emerges through the cave roof, some of the carbonate precipitates as its crystalline form, Calcite. So, drop by drop, crystal by crystal, a stalactite grows on the roof, and a stalagmite grows on the floor beneath.

(With apologies for the inexplicable and irreversible change of font size in that last paragraph!)

Stalactites and stalagmites form in caves due to mineral-rich water seeping through cracks in the cave ceiling. As the water drips from the ceiling, it leaves behind mineral deposits which accumulate over time, eventually forming stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites growing up from the ground.

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.

Nobody will ever know because early ancestors discovered them and nobody lived that long to tell

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Not long ago, archaeologists investigating a small stone circle made from stalagmites in a cave in Southern France, dated the site as Neanderthal .

No, stalagmites form on the floor of caves when mineral-rich water drips from the ceiling and deposits minerals over time. Stalactites, on the other hand, form on the ceiling as the same mineral-rich water drips from above.

Nearly. Same material and process - precipitation of dissolved calcium carbonate - but stalagmites grow up form cave floors ("g" for ground) and stalactites grow down from the roof ("c" in the middle of the word, not "g", and stands for ceiling").