Sinter basin

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Sintering basin in one of the caves of Saint Marcel d'Ardèche
Sintering pool of the Saint-Marcel cave

A sintering basin (sintering bowl, sintering bowl) can be a depression in a rock formation that retains water during dry periods, or a limestone formation in caves or grottos . Systems of sintered terraces or sintering stages are often formed .

The sinter basins are formed from deposits of calcite . Underground acidic water leaches the calcite from the limestone (more precisely calcium carbonate ).

The water can then evaporate if its flow is interrupted, such as collecting in puddles in pre-existing depressions. The calcite concentration rises, which is secreted at the edges of the puddles above the water level. The water supply must be sufficiently weak or interrupted in order not to reduce the calcite concentration through runoff and thus prevent the secretion process.

Over time, tub-like depressions, holes or puddles develop, which can be arranged next to or on top of one another and thus pass on superfluous amounts of water to the next sintering tank.

On the floor of underground sinter basins there are mostly fragments of stalactites as well as pea-like spheres ( pisoids , cave pearls ) and small cylinders that emerged from small fragments. The inside of the sinter basin is usually porous or strongly crystalline. Their outsides have a smooth surface. Grape-shaped concretions and chandelier -shaped stalagmites sometimes grow on the edge of the pool .

Examples of sinter basins

  • Sinter basin in Pamukkale, arranged in terraces

  • Sinter basin in the Škocjan Caves

  • Sinter basin of the Mammoth hot springs

  • Sinter basin at the source of the Huveaune

literature

  • Radim Kettner : General Geology Vol. 3 . 1st edition. Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1959, p. 286-289 .

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