Coincidental with this series, I happened to watch a fabulous BBC programme the other day called Planet Earth in which the great David Attenborough was talking about stalactites and stalagmites. I'd not known how they form - you probably do - but if not, it seems water drips, drip, drips and the water contains calcite (calcium carbonate) - for each drop of water, the minutest amount of calcite remains and slowly builds until a stalactite or stalagmite is formed. If a stalactite and a stalagmite meet, then it's called a column.
They look so soft and slimy to the touch, don't they? In fact, they are really hard and not slimy - just wet - and strangely beautiful.
3 comments:
This is a nice photo. We have been in our Ohio Caverns.
The Hamlet of Gordon
They look like squid tentacles! cool shot!
Sir David is a genius. These remind me of Bill Nighy's face in The Pirates of the Carribean series. Weird.
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