Cave Minerals of the World

  • Carol Hill &
  • Paolo Forti
National Speleological Society, $70

The Fiery Temple of the Cave God, a colourful ‘flowstone’ cascade in Three Fingers Cave, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, is one of more than 250 mineral-deposit formations that see photographic light of day in the second edition of Cave Minerals of the World (National Speleological Society, $70) by Carol Hill and Paolo Forti. The book describes in detail the wide range of mineral types found in caves, and provides a guide to the classification of secondary mineral deposits, or ‘speleothems’. The authors then stick their necks out and draw up a list of what they consider to be the top ten caves in the world in terms of mineral deposits.