Karstbase Bibliography Database

The article describes unusual secondary mineral formation found in Botovskaya Cave in Eastern Siberia, which are geodes, lined byaragonite and, in some cases, by calcite. Two assumptions of the geode formation are put forward: 1) at the expense of draining solutions that erode loose sediments and fill formed cavities, where then mineral crystallization occurs; 2) at the expense of dissolution of the central body of concretions formed earlier, followed by precipitation of aragonite and calcite in the cavity formed. Later on, the geodes were uncovered during erosion of large volumes of sediments by water flows. Due to peculiar features of their morphology and genesis, these formations can be regarded as a new type of speleothems.