Post by Sharon Faulkner on Aug 23, 2007 8:51:30 GMT -5
Ever wonder what a snottite is? Here is a brief answer:
Cavers search for rare and strange snottites
August 22, 2007
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- Care to venture a guess as to what a snottite is?
Before forming your answer, it may be useful to know that it's the sort of thing that cavers may seek. In this case, the cavers assembled in Steamboat Springs, and after a highly toxic gas called hydrogen sulfide was pumped from Sulfur Cave, entered it in search of these snottites.
And the cave does have the snottites. They are, reports The Steamboat Pilot & Today, similar to stalactites, which hang tightly from cave ceilings. But the texture of a snottite is very different from a rigid stalactite. A snottite has -- here it comes -- the consistency of snot, or mucus. They are composed of single-celled bacteria.
"As I blew on them, they'd start to sway back and forth," Mike Frazier, a caver, told the paper. Cavers said that a cave in Mexico also has the snottites.
Article
Colorado Sulphur Cave Yields Scientific Riches
See a Photo of a Snottite
Cavers search for rare and strange snottites
August 22, 2007
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- Care to venture a guess as to what a snottite is?
Before forming your answer, it may be useful to know that it's the sort of thing that cavers may seek. In this case, the cavers assembled in Steamboat Springs, and after a highly toxic gas called hydrogen sulfide was pumped from Sulfur Cave, entered it in search of these snottites.
And the cave does have the snottites. They are, reports The Steamboat Pilot & Today, similar to stalactites, which hang tightly from cave ceilings. But the texture of a snottite is very different from a rigid stalactite. A snottite has -- here it comes -- the consistency of snot, or mucus. They are composed of single-celled bacteria.
"As I blew on them, they'd start to sway back and forth," Mike Frazier, a caver, told the paper. Cavers said that a cave in Mexico also has the snottites.
Article
Colorado Sulphur Cave Yields Scientific Riches
See a Photo of a Snottite