[Nmcaver] New discovery!

[Scott Nicolay]

Some notes on a new variety of spelunkothem recently discovered in a
Junction Cave, a lava tube in El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico.

Last week, while guiding several groups of elementary students on tours of
Junction Cave, a lava tube in El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, I
noticed what I believe to be a previously unidentified spelunkothem. I am
sharing my observations of this unusual formation here as a service to other
cavers who might have encountered similar manifestations in other caves
around the state or elsewhere.

I first noticed this formation as a pinkish-red spot on the ceiling of the
narrow right-hand tunnel of the cave. Much of the ceiling in this part of
the cave is coated with an attractive lava-drip formation much like dogtooth
spar. White and gray coatings of microbial and/or mineral origin add to the
attractiveness of this passage. In among the points of this spar was a
flattish, slightly concave area of color about the size of my thumbprint. I
observed it to be slightly plastic and malleable to the touch. In this
regard, the new spelunkothem seems to be somewhat like the familiar
moonmilk, which also occurs in some of the ELMA lava tubes.

I have since observed several other features of this formation:

1. It sometimes occurs on the floor as well as the ceiling, in a sort of
grit-coated nodule.

2. It comes in several colors, including off-white and a sort of blue-green.
This may be due to trace minerals.

3. It sometimes occurs in conjunction with other spelunkothems, such as the
familiar metallic wrapperites.

4. It can occur in both limestone and lave caves. It seems particularly
common in show and sacrifice caves.

As I specifically do NOT want this spelunkothem named after me (nix on
Nicolay's nodule, or Scottie's waddie), I am proposing the name of
MORONMILK.

Does anyone have Paolo Forti's email addy?

Scott Nicolay,
Shiprock, NM