Calcite leaks from a side passage in the Cuevas de Bellamar – Cuba – near Varadero
white calcite oozes from a side tunnel, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
As mentioned in a previous post, I had visited the Cuevas de Bellamar a few weeks ago. If you are taking a holiday in or near Varadero (Cuba) it is well worth visiting. I had been given permission to go a little beyond the tourist section and in crawling down a tube shaped tunnel I found that the way ahead was almost blocked by this high grey mound. The mound must have been formed by the calcite that was oozing from this hole in the side of the passage. For some strange reason it reminded me of a ruptured blood vessel and its contents – milk dribbling out onto the cave floor. A pothole in the top of the mound revealed that all beneath was as white as this petrified deposit but there was this discolored scab over top. It could be that the tunnel may have been flooded at some time after the calcite deposit and the grey scab had settled out from the water in that passage.
