speleothem

speleothem

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspiː.li.əˌθɛm/

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, ISSN 0362-4331:

     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