Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)

The Painted Cave is a sub-horizontal relict tunnel passage which runs through a small karst tower, approximately 30 m above the surrounding alluvial plain and adjacent to other large karst towers in Niah National Park (Sarawak, Malaysia). Lundberg and McFarlane (Int J Speleol 40(1):39–43, 2011) desc...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dodge-Wan, Dominique, Deng, A., Abbas, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22815
_version_ 1848750977019019264
author Dodge-Wan, Dominique
Deng, A.
Abbas, M.
author_facet Dodge-Wan, Dominique
Deng, A.
Abbas, M.
author_sort Dodge-Wan, Dominique
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The Painted Cave is a sub-horizontal relict tunnel passage which runs through a small karst tower, approximately 30 m above the surrounding alluvial plain and adjacent to other large karst towers in Niah National Park (Sarawak, Malaysia). Lundberg and McFarlane (Int J Speleol 40(1):39–43, 2011) described the occurrence, morphology and mode of formation of a crayback stalagmite close to the north entrance of the cave. The presence of numerous other crayback-like stalagmites in three zones of the same cave is reported here. Their elongated humped-back morphology indicates formation influenced by cave wind. The axial orientations of the crayback-like stalagmites are similar in each of the three cave zones, but differ between the zones. Many of the stalagmite features resemble those of crayback stalagmites, suggesting that cyanobacteria may also have played a role in their formation. The Painted Cave has large entrances at both ends. The natural light levels within the cave are sufficient for cyanobacterial growth and cave wind is noticeable. A suite of stalagmite morphologies ranging from forms that are wind influenced but abiotic, to forms that are also moderately to strongly influenced by cyanobacteria is suggested.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:45:24Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-22815
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:45:24Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Springer
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-228152017-09-13T13:58:23Z Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia) Dodge-Wan, Dominique Deng, A. Abbas, M. The Painted Cave is a sub-horizontal relict tunnel passage which runs through a small karst tower, approximately 30 m above the surrounding alluvial plain and adjacent to other large karst towers in Niah National Park (Sarawak, Malaysia). Lundberg and McFarlane (Int J Speleol 40(1):39–43, 2011) described the occurrence, morphology and mode of formation of a crayback stalagmite close to the north entrance of the cave. The presence of numerous other crayback-like stalagmites in three zones of the same cave is reported here. Their elongated humped-back morphology indicates formation influenced by cave wind. The axial orientations of the crayback-like stalagmites are similar in each of the three cave zones, but differ between the zones. Many of the stalagmite features resemble those of crayback stalagmites, suggesting that cyanobacteria may also have played a role in their formation. The Painted Cave has large entrances at both ends. The natural light levels within the cave are sufficient for cyanobacterial growth and cave wind is noticeable. A suite of stalagmite morphologies ranging from forms that are wind influenced but abiotic, to forms that are also moderately to strongly influenced by cyanobacteria is suggested. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22815 10.1007/s13146-012-0117-2 Springer restricted
spellingShingle Dodge-Wan, Dominique
Deng, A.
Abbas, M.
Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)
title Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)
title_full Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)
title_fullStr Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)
title_full_unstemmed Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)
title_short Occurrence and Morphology of Crayback-like Stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)
title_sort occurrence and morphology of crayback-like stalagmites in the painted cave of niah (sarawak, malaysia)
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22815