Cave of The Mounds - Formations

Formations

Cave of the Mounds is home to many varieties of speleothems. As with most caves, stalactites and stalagmites are common. Formations found inside the cave include:

• Soda straws - Soda straws are formations characterized by thin, hollow tubes made of minerals. They have the potential to form into stalactites if the holes at the bottom of them become plugged.
• Flowstones - Flowstones are created when water travels along a surface and deposits minerals. In limestone caves, flowstones are generally the most common type of formation.
• Curtains - These are formed when water droplets run along the ceiling of the cave and gradually form sheets of minerals.
• Lily pads - Lily pads are created when water droplets fall into a puddle and create a formation on the surface reminiscent of a lily pad.
• Helictites - Helictites are an unusual form of stalactite that grow with bends or angles in them that seem to defy gravity. Their strange growth style is most likely caused by capillary forces acting on the water droplets.
• Oolites - Also called "cave pearls", they are a beautiful but rare speleothem. These are spherical formations made when a droplet falls onto some sand and calcite forms around the sand, much like the way a pearl is formed.

These formations come in many different brilliant colors such as reds, browns, blues, and grays. The reds and browns are caused by the presence of iron oxide in the formation. Similarly, blues and grays are caused by manganese oxide. Some speleothems are even partially luminescent and give off light for a brief period after exposure to another light. Somewhere in the cave, there is a large orthoceras that you can spot

• Stalactite that fell thousands of years ago and is now in the midst of stalagmites

• A series of stalagmites growing on the ground in one of the display rooms

• Several Stalactites hanging from the ceiling and a large column