11/08/2025
Stalagmites grow UP from the ground, they "mite" trip you if you don't watch where you are going.
WHY are stalagmites usually larger than the stalactites above them? When water drips from the ceiling of a cave gravity helps do the work. That means a stalactite doesn't have a lot of time for that carbon dioxide to escape, allowing the minerals in the water to precipitate. But once that water hits the ground? It can hang out there for a while, giving that water droplet plenty of time to do the hard work of building a stalagmite.
If the water drip rate is slow, it will form a tall, narrow stalagmite, often called a "broomstick stalagmite" (like the one in this graphic on the right, located in Natural Bridge Caverns ). If the water drip rate is rapid, the water will start dripping down the sides before it fully deposits minerals , meaning it will be a BIG, WIDE stalagmite (like "the twins" in Onondaga Cave, a State Parks ). The consistency (or inconsistency, as the case may be) will correlate with how consistent the drip rate was!
Also, if you want to learn more about speleothems I highly recommend the book Cave Minerals of the World by Hill & Forti. You can buy it from the National Speleological Society 's bookstore.
