Boxwork
Boxwork (engl. Cassettes plant ) is a thin-layer of calcite existing (calcite) speleothem that in honeycomb patterns of cavity walls extends and ceilings. The individual leaves penetrate each other at different angles and form cassette-like structures called "boxes" on all cave surfaces. Some of the most extensive Boxwork-deposits in the world are located in Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota ( USA ).
According to recent research, the boxwork material filled crevices ( crevices ) in the rock long before the cave was formed. As the rock in the cave began to dissolve, the filler material in the crevices and veins persisted, or at least loosened at a slower rate than the surrounding rock, leaving the calcareous sheets sticking out of the cave surface. The solvent was probably water flowing slowly through the cave. It quickly became saturated with dissolved calcium carbonate , while it did not become saturated with magnesium carbonate (dolomite). As it flowed through the cave, the water was able to continue to dissolve the dolomite that surrounded the boxwork leaves, but was unable to loosen the calcite of the boxwork, leaving it protruding into the cave space.
