The classification of cave minerals and speleothems (original) (raw)
Related papers
State of the art and challenges in cave minerals studies
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2011
The present note is an updated inventory of all known cave minerals as March 2011. After including the new minerals described since the last edition of the Cave Minerals of the World book (1997) and made the necessary corrections to incorporate all discreditations, redefinitions, or revalidation proposed by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclatures and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), we summed up 319 cave minerals, many of these only known from caves. Some of the minerals building up speleothems are powerful tracers of changes in Quaternary climate, other minerals are useful for reconstructing landscape evolution, or allow discriminating between various speleogenetic pathways. Thus, it is expected that the search for new cave minerals will continue and even more attention will be given to those species that carries information that allow for addressing different problems in various earth sciences fields. In view of the exponential increase of cave minerals over the past 50 years, cave mineralogy conceivably has the potential to grow in the future, especially considering the new advances in analytical facilities.
MINERALOGY OF SPELEOTHEMS IN MAGMATIC ROCK CAVES
These speleothems are formed by 2 types of mineral components: inherited and authigenic. The first come from the rock destruction and are normally crystalline. The second are formed in the same speleothem and may be amorphous (opal-A) or crystalline (whiskers and nanominerals). Both types of minerals have genetic relation because whiskers and nanominerals are formed during the dehydration of the silicon hydrogel at the end of the wet stage of the speleothem. Due to their scarce concentration they may be only analyzed either morphologically (punctual symmetry) or by Scanning Electron Microscopy (S.E.M). The following were identified: gypsum, anhydrite, evansite, bolivarite, struvite, pigotite, taranakite, allophane, hematite, goethite, halite, calcite, aragonite, plumboaragonite, malachite, etc. The formation of these minerals is closely related to the microbiological activity except for the carbonate whiskers which are originated by the sequestration of the atmospheric CO2.
Cave Mineralogy and the NSS: Past, Present, Future
2007
The purpose of this paper is to trace the National Speleological Society's past, present, and future involvement with the science of cave mineralogy, in accordance with the celebration of the NSS's 65 th Anniversary. In the NSS's first decade (1940s), a number of articles covering mineralogy topics were published in grotto newsletters, the NSS News and NSS Bulletin, but it wasn't until the 1950s and 1960s that it published professional scientific papers on this subject. The Society's first huge commitment to this field was in their publication of Cave Minerals in 1976, the first book in the world on cave minerals and the first book ever published by the NSS. The book series Cave Minerals of the World, the second edition of which was published in 1997, has become the standard reference on the subject. Important fields of future research in cave mineralogy that the NSS may become involved with are those of paleo-environments, microbiology, and minerals ontogeny.
These speleothems are formed by 2 types of mineral components: inherited and authigenic. The first come from the rock destruction and are normally crystalline. The second are formed in the same speleothem and may be amorphous (opal-A) or crystalline (whiskers and nanominerals). Both types of minerals have genetic relation because whiskers and nanominerals are formed during the dehydration of the silicon hydrogel at the end of the wet stage of the speleothem. Due to their scarce concentration they may be only analyzed either morphologically (punctual symmetry) or by Scanning Electron Microscopy (S.E.M). The following were identified: gypsum, anhydrite, evansite, bolivarite, struvite, pigotite, taranakite, allophane, hematite, goethite, halite, calcite, aragonite, plumboaragonite, malachite, etc. The formation of these minerals is closely related to the microbiological activity except for the carbonate whiskers which are originated by the sequestration of the atmospheric CO2. Key words: biospeleothems, inherited minerals, authigenic minerals, magmatic rocks, caves
Three-dimensional distribution of minerals in the sediments of Hayonim Cave, …
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2002
The mineral components of the sediments that accumulate in an archaeological site constitute a potentially rich source of information on the diagenesis, and in turn the archaeology of the site. This detailed three-dimensional study of the mineral assemblages in mainly the Mousterian sediments of Hayonim Cave incorporates more than 2100 infrared analyses performed on-site during the excavation, as well as diverse analyses in the laboratory. Three major mineral assemblages are identified: the calcite-dahllite (CD) assemblage, the assemblage comprising mainly montgomeryite, leucophosphite and siliceous aggregates (LMVS), and a highly altered sediment in which the clays have broken down and silica was released. The boundaries between these assemblages were mapped in detail. The overall picture is one of extreme heterogeneity with sharp variations occurring over distances of a few centimetres. The relation between the CD and LMVS assemblages shows that it is a product of post-depositional diagenesis, whereas the altered clay assemblage formed beneath an erosional unconformity. The CD and LMVS assemblages were derived primarily from an accumulation several metres thick of ash deposits produced by humans. Ash is thus shown to be a major component of the sediments of this cave. The distribution of the CD assemblage reflects to a large extent the locations of two active springs/seepages in the cave. The distribution of the CD assemblage also faithfully maps the distribution of bones in the cave, showing that their distribution is a function of preservational conditions and not human activities (Stineret al ., 2001). The conditions that produced the erosional unconformity, also resulted in severe alteration of the clays and other mineral components of these sediments. The erosion process and the fact that the thickness of this altered zone decreases towards the centre of the cave, indicates that the diagenetic driving force was probably climatic. The three-dimensional distributions of the mineral assemblages have a direct bearing on the dating of the cave by thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance.
Some speleothems when exposed to energy sources (light, electrons, heat, etc.) may exhibit luminescence. The color of luminescence may vary with changes of the excitation sources, because they may excite different luminescent centers existing in the mineral. The study of the phenomena has shown that organic matter impurities in the minerals of the speleothems are the main cause of the effect. Luminescence studies have been used -among others- in the assessment of: paleotemperature, paleo-solar activity, measurement of cosmic ray flux, tectonic history of an area, and annual growth rates also help speleothems dating. So luminescence is useful to gather a wide variety of paleoenvironmental information, and mainly in the study of Quaternary climate. Key words: cosmic rays, paleoclimatology, paleoenvironment, annual growth rings, speleothems, Quaternary.
On some cave minerals from Northern Norway
International Journal of Speleology, 1995
The present paper aims to point out the results of 31 samples from some Norwegian caves that have been analysed with respect to their mineralogical composition. Identification of the minerals were done by X-ray diffraction, thermal, infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Seventeen minerals were identified belonging to 4 groups: carbonates, sulphates, oxides-hydroxides and silicates. RESUME (Sur quelques mineraux de grotte dans la Norvege Septentrionale) Le travail presente les resultats de I'etude mineralogique de 31 echantillons provenant de plusieurs grottes .de la Norvege. Par suite des analyses en rayons X infra-rouges, thermiques et de microscopie electronique a baIayage, on a identifie 17 mineralLx appartenant a quatre groupes principaux: carbonates, sulfates, oxyhydroxydes et silicates.
Mineralogical analyses in two caves from the Perşani Mountains
2007
After diffractometric X-ray analyses through the powder method, made on sampling tests from two caves in the Perşani Mountains karst, mineral associations made up of calcite, magnesium calcite, aragonite, dolomite, brushite, hydroxylapatite, carbonate-hydroxylapatite, gypsum and α-quartz were emphasized. Tables are presented with the resulting data from the diffractometric analyses, including the computed parameters of the elementary cells of each mineral species. The materials are discussed comparatively with the existent data in the literature. In the final chapter there is a discussion upon the mineralogenesis of the determined species.
Origin and distribution of mineral species in limestone caves
Earth Science Journal, 1971
Since the Second World War a vigorous scientific interest has focused on the chemical and physical processes active in the cavern environment. The few caves that have been systematically studied were found to contain enti:rely unsuspected minerals. Further studies on determining the number and distribution of cave minerals will increase our understanding of the bulk composition of mineralising solutions. When one considers the interactions between the carbonate minerals in the wall rock with organic residue or with mineralised ground water, more than 80 mineral species are known. In this paper only minerals that are formed within solutional limestone-dolomite caves are considered. These are the result of low temperature and low pressure mineralisation reactions after the formation of the cavernous void itself, thus constituting a secondary process. Detrital mineral grains washed in from outside the cave are not considered in this respect. The follo1wing tabulation of known cave minerals, their distribution and mode of formation, has been divided into categories based on the chemical composition class.