speleothem

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σπήλαιον (spḗlaion, “cave”) + θέμα (théma, “what is laid down”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspiː.li.əˌθɛm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

speleothem (plural speleothems)

1. (geology) Any secondary mineral, deposited in a natural cave by the action of water.
   • 2021 January 13, Becky Ferreira, “Pig Painting May Be World’s Oldest Cave Art Yet, Archaeologists Say”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     But it is possible that the painting itself might be thousands of years older because the technique only assesses the age of a mineral deposit, speleothem, that formed on the cave walls.

Synonyms

• cave formation

Hyponyms

• cave pearl
• flowstone
• rimstone
• stalactite
• stalagmite

Translations

secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 洞穴沉積物／洞穴沉积物 (dòngxué chénjīwù)

• Finnish: tippukivi (fi)
• French: spéléothème (fr) m
• German: Speläothem
• Italian: speleotema
• Japanese: 二次生成物 (nijiseiseibutsu)
• Korean: 스펠레오뎀 (seupelle'odem)
• Portuguese: espeleotema m
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: espeleotema m

Further reading

• speleothem on Wikipedia.Wikipedia