Indiana Caverns the calcium carbonate precipitates out of the water. The calcium carbonate, in the form of the mineral calcite, a solid, crystallizes onto the bottoms and sides of existing stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, and sheets of flowstone to grow the formations over time. Other minerals are brought into the cave by flowing of water to create white, red, tan, and gray colors on the formations and walls. St. Louis Limestone is primarily made of calcite, but is also known to contain magnesium sulfate, manganese dioxide, ferric oxide, gypsum, dolomite, and aragonite. On the show tour, deposits of calcite, manganese dioxide, and ferric
Anthodite of a cactus or thistle plant. In its composite stalagmite form, frostwork may possess spiny limbs like a miniature fir tree. The term was first used by cave guides at Wind Cave in South Dakota, USA, during the 1890s to describe speleothems which looked like ice “frostwork”. Anthodite Anthodites (Greek ἄνθος "ánthos", “flower”, "-ode", adjectival combining form, "-ite" adjectival suffix) are speleothems (cave formations) composed of long needle-like crystals situated in clusters which radiate outward from a common base. The "needles" may be quill-like or feathery. Most anthodites are made of the mineral aragonite (a variety of calcium carbonate, CaCO),