🔻Stalactite vs Stalagmite🔺
Caves grow remarkable mineral formations over thousands of years. Stalactites and stalagmites form from the same dripping water, just at different ends.
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🔻Stalactite
- ✓Hangs downward from a cave ceiling
- ✓Forms as mineral-rich water drips and leaves deposits
- ✓Grows slowly, often a fraction of a millimeter a year
- ✓Usually tapered, like an icicle of rock
- ✓The hollow soda-straw type is its earliest stage
🔺Stalagmite
- ✓Rises upward from a cave floor
- ✓Forms where dripping water lands and deposits minerals
- ✓Grows slowly, building up over millennia
- ✓Usually thicker and more rounded at the top
- ✓Often sits directly below a matching stalactite
Verdict
Stalactites hang from the ceiling while stalagmites build up from the floor. Given enough time the two can meet and merge into a single column of rock.
Frequently asked
How can I remember which is which?+
Stalactite has a 'c' for ceiling; stalagmite has a 'g' for ground.
How fast do they grow?+
Very slowly, often less than a millimeter per year, so large formations are thousands of years old.
What happens if they meet?+
A stalactite and stalagmite can join into a continuous column of mineral rock.
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