Just before the end of the cave, I found another example of a tube-in-tube formation.
I found some sort of fossil imprint, probably from a tree of some kind, in a bit of roof-collapse (some very orange roof-collapse):
This large dip in the floor, where lava apparently poured over a lip of some kind, was pretty much the only place in the cave where the floor wasn't fairly smooth and nearly level. (Barring the places where you had to climb over ceiling collapse, which were few and far between.)
I also found these lavacicles with interesting accumulations of minerals on their lower ends. I'm not sure how that would happen. Maybe the lava level rose after they formed, but cooled somewhat and some stuff crystallized out onto the pre-existing structure? I don't know.
My coworker pointed out this amazingly thin formation. That paper-thin-looking part? It really is paper-thin. It just looks too fragile to form, let alone exist in this environment.
This next picture reminds me of cetaceans, or pinnipeds, for some reason. It just looks like blubber. It looks like lava flowed over onto the area at least five different times with varying flow rates each time.
Finally, just inside the cave mouth, I found these neat crystals growing on a lavacicle. I don't know what kind of mineral they are, I'm afraid. Very delicate looking and pretty though.
Well, I finally got through all my pictures of Emesine Cave. And I still have nearly as many again that I didn't show, for one reason or another. The walk back was uneventful, barring a continuous light rain from the east that, due to the straightness of the path and the constancy of the rain, left my right side soaked but my left side dry in places by the time I got back to the trail head. I've got more pictures for my next post, but of a slightly different subject. Until then, a hui hou!
Nice pictures!
ReplyDeleteThey make me want to eat chocolates though.