Morphologic types of speleothems in magmatic rock caves
- Vidal Romaní J. R.
- Vaqueiro Rodríguez, M.
- Sanjurjo Sánchez, J.
- González López, L.
- Susanne Schnabel (coord.)
- Álvaro Gómez Gutiérrez (coord.)
Publisher: Universidad de Extremadura
ISBN: 978-84-617-1123-9
Year of publication: 2014
Pages: 490-493
Congress: Reunión Nacional de Geomorfología (13. 2014. Cáceres)
Type: Conference paper
Abstract
Since they were described for the first time by Caldcleugh in 1829, 4 criteria have been used: mineralogical that only considers the chemical-mineralogical compositions of the sample; morphologic that assimilates them to the ones belonging to marine (coralloids and marine stromatolites) or continental (terrestrial or superficial stromatolites) environments; sedimentary that assimilates them to their karstic counterparts (stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone) assuming that they are due to water dripping; and biological (biospeleothems) due to their relationship with microorganisms. The classification presented in this paper is based on the morphology and the most influential factors on their formation such as water circulation regime (dripping, capillarity, superficial stress, etc.), association of microorganisms that occupy the magmatic rock caves, and chemicalmineralogical composition of the bedrock.