Spatial variability in cave drip water hydrochemistry: Implications for stalagmite paleoclimate records, , Baldini Jul, Mcdermott F, Fairchild Ij,

The identification of vadose zone hydrological pathways that most accurately transmit climate signals through karst aquifers to stalagmites is critical for accurately interpreting climate proxies contained within individual stalagmites. A three-year cave drip hydrochemical study across a spectrum of drip types in Crag Cave, SW Ireland, reveals substantial variability in drip hydrochemical behaviour. Stalagmites fed by very slow drips ( 2[no-break space]ml/min) sites, apparently unconnected with local meteorological events. Water from these drips was typically undersaturated with respect to calcite, and thus did not result in calcite deposition. Data presented here suggest that drips in this flow regime also experience flow re-routing and blocking, and that any stalagmites developed under such drips are unsuitable as mid- to high-resolution paleoclimate proxies. Most drip sites demonstrated seasonal [Ca2] and [Mg2] variability that was probably linked to water excess. Prior calcite precipitation along the flowpath affected the chemistry of slowly dripping sites, while dilution predominantly controlled the water chemistry of the more rapidly dripping sites. This research underscores the importance of understanding drip hydrology prior to selecting stalagmites for paleoclimate analysis and before interpreting any subsequent proxy data

A note on the occurrence of a crayback stalagmite at Niah Caves, Borneo, , Lundberg Joyce, Mcfarlane Donald A.

Crayback stalagmites have mainly been reported from New South Wales, Australia. Here we document a small crayback in the entrance of Painted Cave (Kain Hitam), part of the Niah Caves complex in Sarawak, Borneo. Measuring some 65 cm in length and 18 cm in height, this deposit is elongate in the direction of the dominant wind and thus oriented towards the natural tunnel entrance. It shows the classic humpbacked long profile, made up of small transverse segments or plates, in this case the tail extending towards the entrance. The dark blue-green colour down the centre suggests that cyanobacterial growth follows the track of the wind-deflected roof drip. The dry silty cave sediment provides material for accretion onto the biological mat. This is the only example known from Borneo and one of the very few known from outside of Australia

Formation and Mineralogy of Stalactites and Stalagmites, 1950, Hicks, Forrest L.

Mud Stalagmites in Jewel Cave, South Dakota, 1966, Deal, Dwight E.

Mud Stalagmites and the Conulite, 1967, Thayer, Charles W.

Halite Speleothems From the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia, 1967, Lowry, D. C.

Halite has been found in five caves on the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia. It occurs as stalactites, stalagmites, crusts, or fibres. The climate of the plain is arid to semi-arid, and the halite is derived from wind-blown salts that accumulate in the soil. The halite forms in the caves under conditions of relatively low humidity (about 70%) and high temperature (about 67°F). Its association with older calcite deposits suggests the climate was once wetter or cooler than at present.

Minimum Diameter Stalagmites, 1973, Curl, Rane L.

Sub-Minimum Diameter Stalagmites, 1975, Franke, Herbert W.

Mud Stalagmites and the Conulite, 1976, Peck, Stewart B.

On the origin of batryoidal stalagmites in Szachownica cave. [in Polish], 1978, Kasi?ski Jacekr. , Krajewski Krzysztofp.

Sea-Level Lowering During the Illinoian Glaciation: Evidence from a Bahama 'Blue Hole', 1979, Gascoyne M, Benjamin Gj, Schwarcz Hp, Ford Dc,

Stalagmites have been recovered from 45 meters below sea level in an underwater karstic cave ('blue hole') near Andros Island in the Bahamas. Uranium series ages, corrected for contamination of the sample by young marine carbonate replacements, show that the speleothem was deposited between 160,000 and 139,000 years before the present. This period corresponds to the Illinoian glacial event and demonstrates that sea level must have been lowered by at least 42 meters (allowing for subsidence) from its present position during this time

A possible mechanism for growth of calcite speleothems without participation of biogenic carbon dioxide, 1982, Dreybrodt W,

Using Plummer et al.'s [11] rate equations on the dissolution and deposition of CaCO3 in H2O---CO2 systems, we have calculated deposition rates of CaCO3 to stalagmites in caves which are covered by glaciers or bare karst. In this case no biogenic CO2 from vegetated soil is available and the deposition of CaCO3 involves only atmospheric CO2. The mechanism of deposition proceeds by a temperature effect. Cold melting waters of about 0[deg]C dissolve CaCO3 under open system conditions at the surface of the rock. When this solution saturated with respect to CaCO3, flows through the limestone rock its temperature increases by several degrees. Therefore, it becomes supersaturated, and CaCO3 is deposited under open system conditions in the warmer cave. Maximal growth rates of about 10-3 cm/year are possible. From the kinetics of the deposition of CaCO3 from the thin water films present at the surface of stalagmites we are able to estimate the isotopic composition of carbon in the CaCO3 deposited on the stalagmites to be approximately [delta]13C = %, which is close to some observed values.From our data we conclude that substantial growth of stalagmites is possible during glacial periods as well as in areas of bare karst, a question which was not resolved up to now

Lattice Deformation and Curvature in Stalactitic Carbonate., 1983, Broughton Paul L.

The cause of lattice curvature is related to the nature of growth on a curved surface, peculiar to stalactites and stalagmites. Lattice curvature in stalactitic carbonate results from the coalescence of sub-parallel to divergent syntaxial overgrowth crystallites on the growing surface of stalactites and stalagmites. Moderate lattice mismatch results in an undulose extinction, or subcrystal domains, whereas more divergent growth favours marked lattice curvature recognized by its optical brush-extinction. Extreme lattice mismatch between the precursor crystallites results a columnar crystal boundary instead of lattice curvature.

Trace-element partition coefficients in the calcite-water system and their paleoclimatic significance in cave studies, 1983, Gascoyne M,

Speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites) formed in limestone caves have been found to contain much information on the timing and intensity of past climates, from analysis of their U, Th, 13C and 18O contents. Because the incorporation of certain trace elements (e.g., Mg, Mn and Zn) in calcite is known to be temperature-dependent, it may be possible to use variations in trace-metal content of fossil speleothems as an alternative paleotem-perature indicator. Using specially developed ion-exchange sampling techniques, analysis of trace-metal content of seepage water and associated fresh calcite deposits in caves in Vancouver Island and Jamaica shows that Mg is distributed between phases in a consistent manner within the temperature regimes of the caves (7[deg] and 23[deg]C, respectively). Average values of the distribution coefficient for Mg are respectively 0.017 and 0.045 at these temperatures. These results indicate that the Mg content of calcite varies directly with temperature and in a sufficiently pronounced manner that a 1[deg]C rise in depositional temperature of a speleothem containing 500 ppm Mg, at ~10[deg]C, would be seen as an increase of ~35ppm Mg -- a readily determinable shift. Other factors affecting Mg content of a speleothem are considered

Palaeoseismicity from karst sediments: the “Grotta del Cervo” cave case study (Central Italy), 1991, Postpischl D. , Agostini S. , Forti P. , Quinif Y. ,

Karst speleothems can be used for tectonic and palaeoseismic analyses; in particular, stalagmites can be treated as the records of a natural pendulum.Samples of stalagmites from the “Grotta del Cervo” and the “Grotta a Male” caves (Central Italy) have been dated using 14C and U/Th radiometric methods. The present paper shows the limits and validity of such methods for dating strong earthquakes of the past.In particular, radiometric 14C dating shows that the youngest general stalagmitic collapse observed inside the “Grotta del Cervo” cave must be related to the December 1456 earthquake of Central Italy