Flowstone

<p>Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of <a href="/facts/Calcite/gKMHYQJo">calcite</a> or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a <a href="/facts/Cave/SNfJTJtM">cave</a>. They are typically found in "solution caves", in <a href="/facts/Limestone/8ntvtFnR">limestone</a>, where they are the most common <a href="/facts/Speleothem/mwwTnySG">speleothem</a>. However, they may form in any type of cave where water enters that has picked up dissolved minerals. Flowstones are formed via the degassing of <a href="/facts/Vadose/5j4Y2SsJ">vadose</a> percolation waters.
</p><p>Flowstone may also form on manmade structures as a result of calcium hydroxide being leached from  concrete, lime or mortar. These secondary deposits created outside the cave environment, which mimic the shapes and forms of speleothems, are classified as "<a href="/facts/Calthemite/K75cby6x">calthemites</a>" and are associated with <a href="/facts/Concrete_degradation/vrN0hImA">concrete degradation</a>.
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Flowstone open-in-new

Flowstone