Lime icicle. Formation of stalagmites and stalactites. Stalactites and stalagmites in avshalom cave, israel

Why do caves appear

The earth's surface has a structure that is complex in composition and configuration. At one time, when the formation of land and oceans took place, various minerals were also formed. For example, basalt appeared at high temperature and pressure as a result of volcanic activity. Granite also arose under the same conditions. But limestone, marble, chalk, gypsum and salt, which can be composed of stalactites and stalagmites, were formed according to a different mechanism, in less extreme circumstances. All of them dissolve in water - this is their distinctive property. When water washes these elements out of the composition of rocks, voids appear inside. They are called caves.

Empty space inside any body is karst. In accordance with this term, most of them began to be called karst. known to people caves. I must say that caves can also be formed as a result of other processes occurring in the earth's crust, but this is a topic for a separate discussion. It is important to emphasize that stalactites and stalagmites appear precisely in karst formations. In these voids, natural processes do not stop even for a moment, although they continue for many millions of years. Scientists have calculated that stalactites and stalagmites grow by about 1 cm in 100 years.

According to experts, the largest karst cave on the planet is located in the United States. Kentucky is famous for its Mammoth Caves, whose stalactites and stalagmites attract both tourists and scientists. These caves communicate with each other. The total length of underground halls and passages is 560 kilometers. On the island of Crete there are almost one and a half thousand caves. The most interesting of them is Sfedoni. Its age is estimated from seven to fifteen million years. It has modest dimensions, only 145 meters. However, its interior (so to speak) is remarkable for its amazing proportions and beauty. It looks like it was made by human hands.

At first, acquaintance with the caves, some people have a question about how stalactites and stalagmites differ? Speaking in everyday language, stalactites are "icicles" that hang from the ceiling. Water seeps through soil and rock, eroding along the way those minerals that dissolve in it. Getting into the cave room, water evaporates, and minerals remain in the dry residue. The icicle gradually grows and increases in size. In the case when the mineral solution is formed weakly saturated, its drops fall from a height and reach the floor. In this place, an "icicle" is also formed, only with the tip up. This is a stalagmite.

Experts and lovers of underground routes do not get tired of being surprised by the variety of caves on the planet. It would seem that everything has already been studied and explained. However, new facts make us return to the same questions again and again. It is well known that stalactites and stalagmites are formed as a result of the evaporation of moisture that penetrates from the outside. However, research recent years showed that this is not always the case. From what has been said, it follows that the caves have not yet revealed all their secrets. Curious and energetic researchers have yet to break their heads over their solution.

Many of us believe that rocks and mountains are solid, and we often use these words as epithets. But if they really were such, then a person would never see a stalagmite and a stalactite. This is due to the fact that a drop of water, flowing through the thickness of the rock, descends into the cave, carrying an insignificant amount of limestone. Then it passes through the earth into the lower layers of the mantle and evaporates into them under the influence of heat. But the material that it pulls along with it remains on the floor or on the ceiling of the cave through which our drop managed to seep.

Stalagmite and stalactite are limestone outgrowths that are formed during the process of water alluvium. However, the water pressure is not significant, so these formations have a rather slow growth. In addition to washing limestone deep into the caves, the drops also collect calcium and some other substances. This can explain the variety of colors and shades that the stalagmite and stalactite have.

Depending on the speed at which water enters, the growths under consideration form in the caves. When it flows down slowly, a stalactite appears, which has its origin on the ceiling. And if the water drips fast enough so as not to linger on top itself and wash off various substances on the floor of the cave, then a stalagmite is formed. Sometimes it happens that the age of these growths reaches a high level, and they are combined into one column. Since their union has taken place, they become stalagnates. The most rare thing to see is how the chamber in the cave is divided into two separate halls by a stalagnate formation. This is called draping. It is worth noting that sparkling stones can often be observed in stalagnates. crystal, which is formed in the mountains. Often, drapery and stalagnates are broken in order to get these sparkling pebbles.

Despite all the differences, stalagmite and stalactite have similarities. It lies in the composition. There cannot be different stalactites and stalagmites in one cave. All the elements of which they are composed will be similar to each other. The growth of formations is a long process. One centimeter of a stalactite can form in a hundred years, or even more. And stalagmites generally grow even longer. This is because water slows down as it travels through rocks. And rarely is she able to maintain enough pressure to fall to the floor of the cave along with limestone.

You can’t even imagine how beautiful Photos can convey them appearance V in general terms, but when you look at them from different angles or shine a flashlight, they seem to change their colors and shapes.

There is another theory of the formation of these cave growths. It was introduced in 1970 and focused on the fact that stalactites and stalagmites are formed under the action of a special fungus. When a favorable environment is created for its growth, it begins to develop. However, if this theory is correct, then why has not an artificial cave with stalactites been created yet? In any case, no matter what secret these extraordinary cave elements keep in themselves, they delight the eyes of those happy people who had the opportunity to see them at least once.

Cave stalactites people have always been interested. Among sinter stalactite formations, gravitational (thin-tube, cone-shaped, lamellar, curtain-shaped, etc.) and anomalous (mainly helictites) are distinguished.

Particularly interesting thin tubular stalactites sometimes forming whole calcite thickets.

Their formation is associated with the release of calcium carbonate or halite from infiltration waters. Leaking into the cave and getting into new thermodynamic conditions, the infiltration waters lose some carbon dioxide. This leads to the release of colloidal calcium carbonate from a saturated solution, which is deposited along the perimeter of a drop falling from the ceiling in the form of a thin roller. Gradually growing, the rollers turn into a cylinder, forming thin-tubular, often transparent stalactites. The inner diameter of tubular stalactites is 3–4 mm; the wall thickness usually does not exceed 1–2 mm. In some cases, they reach 2–3 and even 4.5 m in length.

Among the most common stalactites cone-shaped stalactites

Their growth is determined by water flowing down a thin cavity located inside the stalactite, as well as by the influx of calcite material along the surface of the incrustation. Often the internal cavity is located eccentrically. From the opening of these tubes every 2-3 minutes. dripping clear water. The sizes of cone-shaped stalactites, located mainly along cracks and indicating them well, are determined by the conditions of calcium carbonate supply and the size of the underground cavity. Usually stalactites do not exceed 0.1–0.5 m in length and 0.05 m in diameter. Sometimes they can reach 2–3, even 10 m in length () and 0.5 m in diameter.

interesting spherical (bulb-shaped) stalactites formed as a result of blockage of the opening of the tube. Aberration thickenings and patterned outgrowths appear on the surface of the stalactite. Spherical stalactites are often hollow due to the secondary dissolution of calcium by water entering the cave.

Anemoliths - curved stalactites

In some caves, where there is significant air movement, there are curved stalactites - anemoliths, the axis of which is deflected from the vertical.

The formation of anemoliths is determined by the evaporation of hanging water droplets on the leeward side of the stalactite, which causes it to bend in the direction of the air flow. The bending angle of individual stalactites can reach 45°. If the direction of air movement periodically changes, then zigzag anemoliths.

Curtains and draperies hanging from the ceiling of caves have a similar origin with stalactites. They are associated with infiltration water seeping along a long fissure. Some curtains, composed of pure crystalline calcite, are completely transparent. In their lower parts, stalactites with thin tubes are often located, at the ends of which water droplets hang. Calcite deposits can look like petrified waterfalls. One of these waterfalls is noted in the grotto of Tbilisi in the New Athos (Anakopia) cave. It is about 20 meters high and 15 meters wide.

- these are complexly built eccentric stalactites, which are part of a subgroup of anomalous stalactite formations. They are found in various parts karst caves(on the ceiling, walls, curtains, stalactites) and have the most diverse, often fantastic shape: in the form of a curved needle, a complex spiral, a twisted ellipse, a circle, a triangle, etc. Acicular helictites reach 30 mm in length and 2–3 mm in diameter. They are a single crystal, which, as a result of uneven growth, changes its orientation in space.

There are also polycrystals that have grown into one another. In the section of acicular helictites, growing mainly on the walls and ceiling of caves, the central cavity is not traced. They are colorless or transparent, their end is pointed. Spiral helictites develop mainly on stalactites, especially thin tubular ones. They are made up of many crystals. Inside these helictites, a thin capillary is found, through which the solution reaches the outer edge of the aggregate.

Water droplets formed at the ends of helictites, unlike tubular and conical stalactites, long time(many hours) do not come off. This determines the extremely slow growth of helictites. Most of them belong to the type of complex formations that have a bizarrely intricate shape.

The most complex mechanism of the formation of helictites is currently not well understood. Many researchers (N.I. Krieger, B. Zhese, G. Trimmel) associate the formation of helictites with blockage of the growth channel of thin-tubular and other stalactites. Water entering the stalactite penetrates into the cracks between the crystals and comes to the surface.

This is how the growth of helictites begins, due to the predominance of capillary forces and crystallization forces over gravity. Capillarity is, apparently, the main factor in the formation of complex and helical helictites, the direction of growth of which initially largely depends on the direction of intercrystalline cracks.

F. Chera and L. Mucha (1961) by experimental physicochemical studies proved the possibility of precipitation of calcite from the air of caves, which causes the formation of helictites. Air with a relative humidity of 90-95%, supersaturated with tiny droplets of water with calcium bicarbonate, turns out to be an aerosol. Droplets of water that fall on ledges of walls and calcite formations quickly evaporate, and calcium carbonate precipitates.

The highest growth rate of a calcite crystal goes along the main axis, causing the formation of needle-like helictites. Therefore, under conditions where the dispersion medium is a substance in a gaseous state, helictites can grow due to the diffusion of a dissolved substance from the surrounding aerosol. The helictites created in this way ("aerosol effect") are called "cave hoarfrost".

Along with the clogging of the feeding channel of individual thin-tubular stalactites and the “aerosol effect”, the formation of helictites, according to some researchers, is also influenced by the hydrostatic pressure of karst waters (L. Yakuch), air circulation features (A. Vihman) and microorganisms. These provisions, however, are not sufficiently substantiated and, as studies of recent years have shown, are largely debatable. Thus, the morphological and crystallographic features of eccentric sinter forms can be explained either by capillarity or by the influence of aerosol, as well as by a combination of these two factors.

Stalactites photos of caves and interesting facts about them

Most colorful photo caves containing stalactites and stalagmites. These usually limestone formations hanging from the ceiling or growing out of the ground are simply mesmerizing. How old are they supposed to be? Many millions, as tour guides classically claim, or can they grow in a shorter time?

(Stalactites photo #1.1)

(Stalactites photo #1.2)

What is a stalactite and stalagmite? The water that seeps into the cave contains particles of limestone or other minerals. When a drop of water flows through the gap and falls, the mineral dissolved in it remains on the ceiling of the cave. Further, drop by drop, these deposits grow downward and after a long or short time, a stalactite is formed on the ceiling of the cave - a hard icicle made of stone or salt. Below, under it, a stalagmite grows, from falling drops from a stalactite. After a while both calcareous formations grow, meet and unite in a single column

(Stalactites photo #2.1)

(Stalactites photo #2.2)

“Caves are formed by the action of groundwater, but how this happens, we do not know,” say evolutionary scientists. But, judging by the new data, it turns out that it is sulfuric acid that affects the formation of at least 10% of the caves in the Guadeloupe mountains in New Mexico and Texas. This means that the caves could have formed much faster than in millions of years.

(Stalactites photo #3.1)

(Stalactites photo #3.2)

The world's tallest stalagmite is located in the Armand Cave in France. According to scientists, its growth rate is 3 mm per year. Then this stalagmite had to reach its height of 38 m in 12,700 years. Such data are not consistent with the age of the stalagmite, which was established by radiometric dating (millions of years). Is the method wrong?

(Stalactites photo #4.1)

(Stalactites photo #4.2)

At Cape Levin Western Australia there is a water wheel, which is simply overgrown with stone. And it happened in less than 65 years. This suggests that such natural growths can form quite quickly. But why, then, according to evolutionists, stalactites and stalagmites, whose age is unknown, are formed over thousands or even millions of years?

(Stalactites photo #5.1)

(Stalactites photo #5.2)

Due to the fact that the discoveries about the rapid growth of stalactites have become known today, we can say that the growth of stalactites that we see in the most beautiful limestone caves did not take whole epochs. These beautiful formations could grow very quickly in just a few thousand years during the cataclysmic global Flood.

(Stalactites photo #6.1)

(Stalactites photo #6.2)

Often a stalagmite joins with a stalactite and a column appears. The largest stone column in Carlsbad is over 30 meters high. The ceilings of some caves are hung with short stalactites, like a fringe. Shine in other caves stone stalactites in the form of needles on the walls. There are stalactites that grow to the sides and even up.

(Stalactites photo #7.1)

(Stalactites photo #7.2)

In October 1953, National Geographic magazine published a photograph of a bat that fell on a stalagmite in the famous carlsbad caves, New Mexico, and hardened on it. The stalagmite grew so fast that it was able to save the bat before the animal began to decompose.

(Stalactites photo #8.1)

(Stalactites photo #8.2)

In the Jenolan Caverns and various other places, you can see stalactites and stalagmites that have grown right in the structures built by man. Like the Lincoln Memorial, the Jenolan structures contain a cement mortar that is highly permeable, making these formations grow rapidly. Unfortunately, the grown formations are very porous and brittle.

(Stalactites photo #9.1)

(Stalactites photo #9.2)

In Philadelphia, anyone can observe many bridges in which stalactites grow. The length of some of them is more than 30 cm. Based on the age of the bridges, we conclude that all these stalactites are less than 56 years old. Now that's speed!

(Stalactites photo #10.1)

(Stalactites photo #10.2)

The world of stalactites and stalagmites is beautiful and mysterious. These vivid photos tell us about God's amazing laws in the world of geology, about our history, which is not millions of years old, but only 5-6 thousand. And these majestic natural formations tell us about the greatness of their Creator

Nature has always been and remains a mystery to man, both in distant primitive times and in modern world. One of these mysteries of modern times are caves. Previously, people were not interested in where they came from - the main thing is that they served as a reliable shelter from bad weather and enemies. Today, the study of caves is engaged in a special science - speleology. Speleologists study in detail all the regularities in the appearance of depressions, the composition of rocks, the characteristics of flora and fauna, and also give forecasts for their development. The caves contain a lot of interesting things: unknown living creatures, various water sources, processes - stalactites and stalagmites. We will talk about them in this article.

How are stalactites and stalagmites formed?

Such processes are formed mainly in karst and caves - where a large number of mineral rocks. These include limestone, chalk, dalamit, marble, gypsum, salt. Under the influence of rain moisture, which contains dissolved carbon dioxide, the rocks are eroded, and sedimentary water flows into such caves. The appearance of one or another type of processes depends on the rate of water runoff.

- a process consisting of mineral rock and formed from the ceiling of the cave. It is formed when water flows slowly and drops linger for a long time at the top of the cave recess. In the caves, a lower temperature prevails, and it is precisely this that contributes to the solidification of drops. So gradually flowing and solidifying drops form a certain stone formation in the form of a thick needle, but most of all, the shape of a stalactite resembles an icicle.

Stalagmite- an outgrowth consisting of mineral rock and formed from the lower surface of the cave. It occurs when sedimentary water flows quickly from the ceiling of the cave space and hits one point on the floor. On the lower surface of the cave, the temperature is even lower than at the top, and the drops solidify even faster. Under the force of gravity, the drop hits the floor and spreads a small distance in a circle from the place where the drop fell. Such solidification of drops forms a thick and dense base of the stalagmite, and it looks like a cone-shaped process with a pointed top.

The frequency of location of stalactites and stalagmites depends on the degree of permeability of the cave surface and on the composition of mineral rocks. If the rocks are mostly limestone or gypsum, they will dissolve faster and the water will run down the top of the cave faster. Stalactites and stalagmites in such a rock will be fragile, therefore, when examining such caves, one must be careful - do not touch the processes, neither scream, nor stomp, otherwise injuries from the fall of such formations are inevitable. Sometimes stalactites and stalagmites merge into one continuous column - stalagnate; such columns can form whole columns inside the caves.

Stalactites can look different, it depends on the composition of the rocks and the chemical processes that occur under the influence of carbon dioxide and water. Also big influence the temperature and air circulation in the cave exerts, if the wind often walks inside, then the threads, processes can be indirect, curved, arcuate. So in the cave you can see a fringe of stalactites, scallops, drapery, threads, various figures, fungi. The shape of stalagmites can also be different - from simple conical columns to flattened fungi.

Formations in the form of offshoots in karst caves can grow for centuries. Some grow faster, some take longer. On everything the globe there are thousands of karst caves, many of them have already been studied, many are still unknown to the world.

The world's most famous stalactite and stalagmite caves

"Mammoth Cave" (USA, Kentucky)

According to scientists, it arose about 10 million years ago, got its name due to its size, its length is about 600 km. Inside there is a whole system of mines and branches. Mineral outgrowths in this cave are located on whole floors, in many of its departments and halls, stone blocks stick out directly from the water. The spectacle impresses both speleologists and tourists, but you need to be careful - it is very easy to get lost in it.

"Crystal Cave" (Mexico)

Inside the cave is filled with gypsum crystals, the largest outgrowth reaches 11 meters in height, and its mass is 54 tons! It is unlikely that you will be able to visit such a cave. ordinary tourists because the temperature inside reaches +50 degrees.

"Cave of Throat Barloga" (Russia)

The height of the cave is about 2800 meters, inside there is a whole system of halls, wells and streams of various sizes. The filling in the halls varies from large pyramidal crystalline processes to various clay and calcium deposits. Going down into such a cave is dangerous even for professionals.

Despite all the dangers associated with traveling through such masterpieces of nature, the caves will always beckon with their unique and enchanting beauty, and mysterious silence, where there is its own chronology and its own special course of life.

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