Gallery 3

In the Cave

A collection of beautiful speleothems, and other formations which make up the wonderful environment of Timpanogos Cave National Monument.

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  The small patch of white specks in the center of the bluish gray rock is a coral fossil, trapped inside limestone. The coral lived in a shallow sea that existed approximately 340 million years ago.

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  The formation on the right side of this photo, called flowstone, was made over thousands of years by flowing water carrying dissolved mineral. The flow of the water caused this formation to look very much like a frozen waterfall.

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  This bundle of intertwining, twisting cave formations were probably formed by capillary action. The mineral calcite is very pure white in these formations.

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  These cave formations, called aragonite crystals, have the mineral nickel in them, giving them a minty green coloration.

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  In cave formations made of calcite, the mineral nickel causes a lemon yellow color.

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  Frostwork is a form of aragonite (an unstable variation of calcite), and while beautiful, it is very delicate.

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  Hansen Lake at the very back of Hansen cave is a wonderful example of the clear water that can be found in caves.

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  The Great Heart of Timpanogos is our largest hanging formation and our most famous.

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  Cave Bacon forms on slanted surfaces, and is called "bacon" instead of drapery, when the characteristic layers are present.

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  A closer view of some amazingly pretty, and delicate, Frostwork.

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