Stalactite of the abundance of limestone caves. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. The most common stalactites are speleothems, which occur in limestone caves. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals, which is precipitated from mineralized water solutions. Limestone is the chief form of calcium carbonate rock which is dissolved by water that contains carbon dioxide, forming a calcium bicarbonate solution in underground caverns. The chemical formula for this reaction is: This solution travels through the rock until it reaches an edge and if this is on the roof of
Carbonate compensation depth oceans' elevated temperatures during this period. In the late Eocene the transition from a greenhouse to an icehouse Earth coincided with a deepened CCD. Today, increasing atmospheric concentration of from combustion of fossil fuels may lead to shallower CCD, with zones of downwelling first being affected. John Murray investigated and experimented on the dissolution of calcium carbonate and was first to identify the carbonate compensation depth in oceans. Carbonate compensation depth Calcite compensation depth (CCD) is the depth in the oceans below which the rate of supply of calcite (calcium carbonate) lags behind the rate of solvation, such that no