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
Calcium carbonate Currently calcium carbonate is used to neutralize acidic conditions in both soil and water. Since the 1970s, such "liming" has been practiced on a large scale in Sweden to mitigate acidification and several thousand lakes and streams are limed repeatedly. Calcium carbonate is also used in flue gas desulfurisation applications eliminating harmful SO and NO emissions from coal and other fossil fuels burnt in large fossil fuel power stations. Calcination of limestone using charcoal fires to produce quicklime has been practiced since antiquity by cultures all over the world. The temperature at which limestone yields calcium oxide is usually given