page_title: Cave popcorn
section_title: Formation
hierarchical_section_title: Cave popcorn / Formation
caption_attribution_description: English: Button form or cave popcorn
context_page_description: Cave popcorn, or coralloids, are small nodes of calcite, aragonite or gypsum that form on surfaces in caves, especially limestone caves. They are a common type of speleothem.
context_section_description: Cave popcorn can form by precipitation. Water seeping through limestone walls or splashing onto them leaves deposits when CO₂ loss causes its minerals to precipitate. When formed in this way, the resultant nodules have the characteristics of small balls of flowstone.
  Cave popcorn can also form by evaporation in which case it is chalky and white like edible popcorn. In the right conditions, evaporative cave popcorn may grow on the windward side of the surface to which it is attached or appear on the edges of projecting surfaces.
caption: Button cave popcorn
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