Stalactite a cave it will drip down. When the solution comes into contact with air the chemical reaction that created it is reversed and particles of calcium carbonate are deposited. The reversed reaction is: An average growth rate is a year. The quickest growing stalactites are those formed by a constant supply of slow dripping water rich in calcium carbonate (CaCO) and carbon dioxide (CO), which can grow at per year. The drip rate must be slow enough to allow the CO to degas from the solution into the cave atmosphere, resulting in deposition of CaCO on the stalactite. Too fast
Cave of the Mounds National Park Service designated the cave as a National Natural Landmark. The limestone from which the cave was carved began forming approximately 488 million years ago, during the Ordovician Period. During this time, much of North America was covered with warm, shallow seas. Over millions of years, calcium carbonate shells from tiny marine organisms accumulated on the sea floor, forming enormous quantities of limestone. The type of limestone in which the cave was formed is called galena dolomite because of its high concentration of the lead ore galena. The cave began forming about a million to a million and a