Have you ever experienced getting burned when your friend told you to take photos of stalagmites yet you took shots up in the ceiling? Or when you asked your spelunking mate to check the spectacular stalactite on the floor? Hold it, there’s something wrong.
Spelunking is a unique experience as you delve into the beauty of the subterranean landscape. Through this experience, you often get awed with the stalagmites and stalactites inside the cave. The problem is, novice spelunkers often get confused whether what to call those hanging from the ceiling or those at the floor. Is it stalactite or a stalagmite?
Mineral rock formations, otherwise known as speleothems, come to life when dissolved minerals contained in water. As the water seeps through small crevices the minerals get deposited and solidify in cave’s ceilings, walls, and floors.
Caving Mnemonic
To make it easier to memorize, stalactite has ‘c’ in it as in ceiling while stalagmite has ‘g’ as in ground.
Stalactites
Stalactites form exclusively on ceilings as dissolved minerals drip down in the form of mineralized water (Gauri, n.d.).
Stalagmites
On the other hand, stalagmites form where the dripping mineralized water touches the floor and deposits its minerals (Gauri, n.d.).
Caving Trivia
The longest free-hanging stalactite measuring 28 meters is found in Gruta do Janelao in Brazil while the tallest unitary stalagmite (67.2 meters) and tallest stalagmite in a cluster (70 meters) are found in Cueva San Martin Infierno, Cuba and Hang Son Doong, Vietnam, respectively (Burnell, 2019).
So, when you go to a yet another spelunking trip, you’ll not get embarrassed again by not correctly differentiating whether the formations are stalactites or stalagmites.
References
Burnell, D. (2019). The world’s largest cave formations. Retrieved on 10 Aug 2019 from http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/largest.htm
Gauri, S. (n.d.). Stalactite vs Stalagmite. Accessed on 10 Aug 2019 from https://www.diffen.com/difference/Stalactite_vs_Stalagmite
