I have an amazing picture of the whitest most pure flowstone....on top of the
grossiest, nastiest guano....that I had to crawl through that nasty poo to get
the picture....it sort of made getting completely slimed worth it....
But I don't think beautiful calcite on top of bat poo proves
anything...except the insane things a cave photographer will do to get a good
picture......claiming otherwise is simply magical thinking....and is completely
hoooey.
"Minton, Mark" <mmin...@nmhu.edu> wrote:
Fritz Holt said:
>I�m sure that there must be an explanation why these formations grew at
such a rapid rate.
And George Nincehelser said:
>Or phrased another way, why do we always seem to assume formations must grow
slowly? >Under favorable conditions, is fast growth possible?
I think there is great variability in the rate at which formations
grow. Some do indeed grow very slowly, while others obviously grow quite
rapidly. I have seen manmade artifacts covered with flowstone in a cave in
only a hundred years or so. Calcite ice can grow back on cave pools that have
been disturbed in only a few months. Under optimum conditions with steady
water flow and proper alkalinity and pH formations should grow quickly, but in
caves the conditions are likely not always optimum, and may vary considerably
from season to season or year to year. Some formations are definitely very old
based on various dating techniques, but that doesn't mean they've been growing
at a uniform rate all of that time. I think one can more accurately talk about
how old something is rather than how long it took to form.
Mark Minton
---------------------------------
From: George Nincehelser
Sent: Tue 7/17/2007 11:34 AM
To: Texas Cavers
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] [Bat "Caught" by Stalactite]
Or phrased another way, why do we always seem to assume formations must
grow slowly?
Under favorable conditions, is fast growth possible?
Has anyone tried to grow "artificial" formations under controlled conditions?
George
On 7/17/07, Fritz Holt <fh...@townandcountryins.com> wrote: I am
waiting for a knowledgeable geologist or someone to tell us that these
formations are not formed by the same minerals or in the same manner in which
cave formations are formed. I'm sure that there must be an explanation why
these formations grew at such a rapid rate.
Fritz with questions.
