Rawhiti Cave become increasingly finer deeper down into the cave. A short walking track leads halfway down into the cavernous opening to a viewing platform. The diverse twilight-zone flora near the entrance of Rawhiti Cave makes this cave nationally significant. Over long periods of time, plant growth on the cave formations causes them to grow towards the sunlight as more calcium carbonate is deposited regularly on top of the plant growth. This phenomenon, called phytokarst, is most evident on the larger stalactites near the cave entrance, which are strongly curved outwards due to the heavy moss and fern growth on their sunlit
Cap carbonate atmosphere, falling as a weak carbonic acid - acid rain. This would weather exposed silicate and carbonate rock, including readily-attacked glacial debris, which would release large amounts of calcium. When washed into the ocean, these precipitate to form distinctively textured layers of carbonate sedimentary rock. A heavily debated cap carbonate appears at the top of the Gaskiers glaciation, believed by many to be global in extent. Cap carbonate Cap carbonates are layers of distinctively textured carbonate rocks which typically form the uppermost layer of sedimentary sequences reflecting major glaciations in the geological record. The rising temperatures, and increased oceanic surface