Tongass National Forest
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Formations
El Capitan Cave has beautiful deposition features. As the water runs through the limestone and eats away passages, it picks up small particles of calcite. These microscopic particles are deposited on the surfaces of the caves. These deposits form secondary formations, or speleothems.
Unfortunately, before the gate was installed, people explored the cave and destroyed many of the flowstone formations. When these formations are removed, they can never be replaced and a valuable source of information is lost forever.
Stalactites and Stalagmites are likely familiar to most. It is helpful to remember stalactites "hang tight" to the ceiling, while stalagmites "might" rise from the floors and walls.
Stalactites form when there is a slow drip of water coming from the ceiling.
Stalagmites form when the drops are falling too fast to totally evaporate without dripping. All the particles do not have time to collect on the ceiling, so some accumulate on the cave floor.
When stalactites and stalagmites come together in the middle, they are called cave columns or pillars.
Draperies are another beautiful formation visible inside the cave. They form when there is a high volume of water flowing over an angled cave wall. Sometimes they are called "cave bacon." The water flow can pick up other minerals, leaving multi-colored ribbons in the drapery. When backlit, these draperies sometimes resemble a large slab of bacon.
This small drip pool is a well-loved formation in El Cap. Formed over a very long period of time - with a single drip of water working through layers of limestone and flowstone.
Flowstone is formed by water flowing over the surface of limestone (right and below).
"Soda straws" (left) are thin hollow stalactites of calcite formed as water flows inside the tube and crystalizes at the end, one drop at a time over millenia. Multiple layers of flowstone form draperies along the cave wall (right).
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USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest Accessibility Statement
Last Modified: April 08, 2009