Boxwork

<h2 id="caves">Caves</h2>
<p>According to KellerLynn, "Boxwork is a speleogen, forming when bedrock between preexisting calcite veins were preferentially weathered away as the cave developed."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a>
</p><p>Boxwork is commonly composed of thin blades of the mineral <a href="/facts/Calcite/gKMHYQJo">calcite</a> that project from cave walls or ceilings that intersect one another at various angles, forming a box-like or <a href="/facts/Honeycomb/oeAFHaxm">honeycomb</a> pattern.  The boxwork fins once filled cracks in the rock before the host cave formed.  As the walls of the cave began to dissolve away, the more resistant vein and crack fillings did not, or at least dissolved at a slower rate than the surrounding rock, leaving the calcite fins projecting from the cave surfaces.  
</p><p>Some of the most extensive boxwork deposits in the world are found in <a href="/facts/Wind_Cave/ff8QJzxx">Wind Cave</a>, <a href="/facts/Wind_Cave_National_Park/ff8QJzxx">Wind Cave National Park</a> in <a href="/facts/South_Dakota/R51Fbf1t">South Dakota</a>, United States.  These boxwork deposits consist of calcite, along with <a href="/facts/Manganese/j9ELd1TL">manganese</a> and <a href="/facts/Dolomite_(rock)/EGXDL0zm">dolomite</a> that precipitated in fractured host limestone.  The limestone preferentially dissolved, leaving a crystalline calcite boxwork behind.  Other outstanding examples occur in <a href="/facts/Cody_Caves/95LuJAuA">Cody Caves</a>, <a href="/facts/Cody_Caves_Provincial_Park/A3zmBHKz">Cody Caves Provincial Park</a> in <a href="/facts/British_Columbia/Ty3e3g1Q">British Columbia</a>, Canada.  Boxwork can also be seen at <a href="/facts/Jewel_Cave_National_Monument/fblQgMza">Jewel Cave National Monument</a> (near Wind Cave), and at <a href="/facts/Inner_Space_Cavern/N1Rrw2Pa">Inner Space Cavern</a> near <a href="/facts/Georgetown%2c_Texas/HyIDjJTp">Georgetown, Texas</a>, United States.
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<h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boxworks.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/speleothems-boxwork.htm">Wind Cave National Park: Origin of Boxwork</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/boxwork/boxwork.html">The Virtual Cave's page on boxwork</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>KellerLynn, K. (2009). Wind Cave National Park Geologic Resources Inventory Report, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR-2009/087. Denver: National Park Service. p. 18. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Boxwork open-in-new

Boxwork