page_title: Speleothem
section_title: Types and categories
hierarchical_section_title: Speleothem / Types and categories
context_page_description: Speleothems, commonly known as cave formations, are secondary mineral deposits formed in a cave. Speleothems typically form in limestone or dolomite solutional caves. The term "speleothem," as first introduced by Moore, is derived from the Greek words spēlaion "cave" + théma "deposit". The definition of "speleothem," in most publications, specifically excludes secondary mineral deposits in mines, tunnels, and other man-made structures. Hill and Forti more concisely defined "secondary minerals" which create speleothems in caves:
  A "secondary" mineral is one which is derived by a physicochemical reaction from a primary mineral in bedrock or detritus, and/or deposited because of a unique set of conditions in a cave; i.e., the cave environment has influenced the mineral's deposition.
context_section_description: Speleothems take various forms, depending on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds. Many speleothems are named for their resemblance to man-made or natural objects. Types of speleothems include:
  Dripstone is calcium carbonate in the form of stalactites or stalagmites
  Stalactites are pointed pendants hanging from the cave ceiling, from which they grow
  Soda straws are very thin but long stalactites having an elongated cylindrical shape rather than the usual more conical shape of stalactites
  Helictites are stalactites that have a central canal with twig-like or spiral projections that appear to defy gravity
  Include forms known as ribbon helictites, saws, rods, butterflies, hands, curly-fries, and "clumps of worms"
  Chandeliers are complex clusters of ceiling decorations
  Ribbon stalactites, or simply "ribbons", are shaped accordingly
  Stalagmites are the "ground-up" counterparts of stalactites, often blunt mounds
  Broomstick stalagmites are very tall and spindly
  Totem pole stalagmites are also tall and shaped like their namesakes
  Fried egg stalagmites are small, typically wider than they are tall
  Columns result when stalactites and stalagmites meet or when stalactites reach the floor of the cave
  Flowstone is sheet like and found on cave floors and walls
  Draperies or curtains are thin, wavy sheets of calcite hanging downward
  Bacon is a drapery with variously colored bands within the sheet
  Rimstone dams, or gours, occur at stream ripples and form barriers that may contain water
  Stone waterfall formations simulate frozen cascades
  Cave crystals
  Dogtooth spar are large calcite crystals often found near seasonal pools
  Frostwork is needle-like growths of calcite or aragonite
  Moonmilk is white and cheese-like
  Anthodites are flower-like clusters of aragonite crystals
  Cryogenic calcite crystals are loose grains of calcite found on the floors of caves, and are formed by segregation of solutes during the freezing of water.
  Speleogens (technically distinct from speleothems) are formations within caves that are created by the removal of bedrock, rather than as secondary deposits.  These include:
  Pillars
  Scallops
  Boneyard
  Boxwork
  Others
  Cave popcorn, also known as "coralloids" or "cave coral", are small, knobby clusters of calcite
  Cave pearls are the result of water dripping from high above, causing small "seed" crystals to turn over so often that they form into near-perfect spheres of calcium carbonate
  Snottites are colonies of predominantly sulfur oxidizing bacteria and have the consistency of "snot", or mucus
  Calcite rafts are thin accumulations of calcite that appear on the surface of cave pools
  Hells Bells, a particular speleothem found in the El Zapote cenote of Yucatan in the form of submerged, bell-like shapes
  Speleothems made of sulfates, carbonates, mirabilite or opal occur in some lava tubes. Although sometimes similar in appearance to speleothems in caves formed by dissolution, lava stalactites are formed by the cooling of residual lava within the lava tube.
  Speleothems formed from salt, sulfur and other minerals are also known.
  Speleothems made of pure calcium carbonate are a translucent white color, but often speleothems are colored by chemicals such as iron oxide, copper or manganese oxide, or may be brown because of mud and silt particulate inclusions.
caption: * A Stalactite * B Soda straws * C Stalagmites * D Coned stalagmite * E Stalagnate or column * F Drapery * G Drapery * H Helictites * I Moonmilk * J Sinter pool, rimstone * K Calcite crystals * L Sinter terrace * M Karst * N Body of water * O Shield * P Cave clouds * Q Cave pearls * R Tower cones * S Shelfstones * T Baldacchino canopy * U Bottlebrush stalactite * V Conulite * W Flowstone * X Trays * Y Calcite rafts * Z Cave popcorn or coralloids * AA Frostworks * AB Flowstone * AC Splattermite * AD Speleoseismites * AE Boxworks * AF Oriented stalactite * AG collapsed rubble