stalactite
/ˈstaləktʌɪt
/noun
A tapering structure hanging like an icicle from the roof of a cave, formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water.Originally formed by a subterranean stream, then flooded by the sea, it is a rare opportunity to dive in salt water among stalactites and stalagmites....
- When a stalactite or stalagmite is deposited it contains a large amount of uranium and no thorium because of differences in the chemical behaviour of these elements.
- He was in a cave, stalactites and stalagmites all around him.
Derivatives
stalactic
stalactiform
stalactitic
- Also noteworthy are the rare stalactitic overgrowths to 20 cm of pale to medium green fluorite cubes formed along earlier ‘strings’ of whitish finely crystalline quartz.
- These early-formed needles often serve as nuclei for the stalactitic growth of other minerals, usually thomsonite or chabazite.
- These larger crystals sometimes exhibit a pagoda-like appearance with circumferential ridges and are somewhat stalactitic in habit.
Origin
Late 17th century: from modern Latin stalactites, from Greek stalaktos 'dripping', based on stalassein 'to drip'.
Stalactites hang down from the roof of a cave. The name comes from Greek stalaktos ‘dropping or dripping’. Stalagmites (late 17th century), on the other hand, rise up from the floor of a cave, formed from the evaporated dripping from above. Greek stalagma ‘a drop or drip’ is the source this time.