Great Basin National Park
Shields in Lehman Cave. Shield are thought to form where deposits of travertine accumulate along seeps from a crack in a cave wall where small amounts of mineral-rich water is pushed to the surface slowly under pressure. However, the flow of water keeps a crack open as the speleothem grows. This allows shield formations to grow upward and blossom into their unusual shapes (Moore, 1954).
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Last modified: 12/6/2010