page_title: Anthodite
hierarchical_section_title: Anthodite
caption_attribution_description: Anthodites within Skyline Caverns, Virginia, United States of America.
context_page_description: Anthodites are speleothems composed of long needle-like crystals situated in clusters which radiate outward from a common base. The "needles" may be quill-like or feathery. Most anthodites are made of the mineral aragonite, although some are composed of gypsum.
  The term anthodite is first cited in the scientific literature in 1965 by Japanese researcher N. Kashima, who described "flower-like dripstone" composed of "an alternation of calcite and aragonite".
context_section_description: Anthodites (Greek ἄνθος ánthos, "flower", -ode, adjectival combining form, -ite adjectival suffix) are speleothems (cave formations) composed of long needle-like crystals situated in clusters which radiate outward from a common base. The "needles" may be quill-like or feathery. Most anthodites are made of the mineral aragonite (a variety of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃), although some are composed of gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O).
  The term anthodite is first cited in the scientific literature in 1965 by Japanese researcher N. Kashima, who described "flower-like dripstone" composed of "an alternation of calcite and aragonite".
caption: Anthodites are featured at the commercial Skyline Caverns in Virginia, US
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