What are some common features of the cave?
world caves contain a number of beautiful and mysterious formations for anyone who is brave enough to embark on them. There are obvious - stalactites and stalagmites - but also soda straws, flowstone, columns, curtains, Helictites, annular dams, cave corals and many others. These formations are called speleothems , from the Greek spelaion for the cave and thema for the deposit. Cave formations grow slowly, about a centimeter per year or less, which requires centuries or millennia to create the amazing forms we see today. Stalactites are formed from soda straws, hollow, elongated tubes of calcite (calcite carbonate) formed as water dripping from an opening or crack in the ceiling. Each drop of water stores a small piece of calcite and has been built over time. The material is called dripstone. When sodium straw increases sufficiently, it becomes stalactite. Stalagite is a Completental cave element that is formed on Earth under stalactite. It is created with dripping drops toApning from the ceiling. The easy way to remember the difference between them is that stalactite holds firmly to the ceiling, while the stalagmites could reach the ceiling. When stalactite and stalagite meet, they become a column. Columns can become quite impressive, with the largest 10 m or higher height.
Many cave formations are based on the same principle of slow dripping calcium or sometimes plaster, which is calcium sulfate, into complex shapes for a long time. You can observe this effect by mixing water with sand, inserting in your hands and leaving water dripping down. The sand is quickly formed and creates a small tower.
Another variant of the classic stalactite is Helictit, stalactite, which forms a fine chemical or physical changes have caused a change in the crystal structure of the stored calcite and slowly twisted it. Helicites appear to be a spiral rollers or needles.
When the water drips an extended crack or a slope flows into the ceiling when it falls, it can create curtains and curtains, a gently folding cave formation that looks like their name tags.
When water -rich water runs down the wall, it is called flowstone. Sometimes this water flows down with a vertical drop in the cave and is called flowstone Falls. Sometimes instead of running current, the water under the hydrostatic pressure is slowly pushed out of the cracks in the wall or floor and creates a structure called a shield.
There are many other beautiful caves: cave pearls, clouds, rafts and cones raft, rimstone, shelfstone, bottles, canopies and more. If you want to look at the pictures of these features, find them using your favorite image search.