Exceptional variety of baryte-celestine-series speleothems in Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico, USA)

Authors

Max Wisshak, Senckenberg am Meer, Marine Research Department, Südstrand 40, 26382 Wilhelmshaven, GermanyFollow
Johannes Birkenstock, University of Bremen, Faculty of Geosciences, Klagenfurter Strasse 2, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Andrea Schröder-Ritzrau, Heidelberg University, Institute of Environmental Physics, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Norbert Frank, Heidelberg University, Institute of Environmental Physics, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Hazel A. Barton, The University of Alabama, Department of Geological Sciences, PO Box 870338, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0338, USA
Harvey R. DuChene, PO Box 362, Lake City, CO 81235, USA

Highlights

• Lechuguilla Cave features an exceptional variety of baryte and celestine speleothems
• Baryte and Celestine also occur in hydrothermal veins predating the cave
• Baryte speleothems are composed of pure baryte
• Celestine is the major component of the most diverse mineral assemblages in the cave
• Radiometric dating constrains the age of formation to Middle Pleistocene to Holocene

Abstract

An inventory of speleothems primarily composed of the closely related sulfate minerals baryte (BaSO₄) and celestine (SrSO₄) in Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico, USA) has revealed an extraordinary variety. This includes subaerial stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, coralloids, wall crusts, floor crystals, snow, frostwork, and subaqueous pool crystals. Large baryte and celestine crystals have also been documented in hydrothermal veins in the host rock, predating the cave and truncated when intersected by it. The respective carbonate mineral phases witherite (BaCO₃) and strontianite (SrCO₃), in contrast, were found to be rare in the studied speleothem samples, representing the first confirmed records from this cave. Baryte speleothems are typically composed of pure baryte, whereas celestine is usually syntactically intergrown with small baryte crystals and forms part of the most diverse assemblages of secondary cave minerals recorded in the cave to date, including species of the following mineral groups: carbonates (calcite, dolomite, aragonite, huntite, hydromagnesite, strontianite, and witherite), sulfates (gypsum), oxides and hydroxides (undetermined Mn/Fe-oxides or hydroxides), silicates (quartz, chalcedony, opal/cristobalite/tridymite, and montmorillonite), halogenides (fluorite), and vanadates (metatyuyamunite). Based on ²³⁰Th/U-series dating of directly associated carbonate minerals and gypsum, the age of formation of the various types of baryte and celestine speleothems was constrained to a range from the Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene. This confirms a formation during the ongoing post-hydrothermal and post-SAS (sulphuric acid speleogenesis) phase of epigenic normal temperature cave development. Six samples fall outside the dating range with close to secular equilibrium isotope ratios and are thus likely older than ~600 ka. While baryte stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and pool crystals are still forming, celestine minerogenesis, except for some of the coralloids, appears to have largely ceased in Lechuguilla Cave.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.ijs2585

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Wisshak, M., Birkenstock, J., Schröder-Ritzrau, A., Frank, N., Barton, H.A., DuChene, H.R., 2026. Exceptional variety of baryte-celestine-series speleothems in Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico, USA). International Journal of Speleology, 55(1), ijs2585. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.ijs2585