Stalagtites and Stalagmites

Hi All,

Here's a fun/interesting/educational (I hope at least) entry for today's blog...

Sitting here at the reference desk I can see windows of the library. Just outside these windows I can see ice forming and snow hanging from the roof. This got me thinking about a class I took years and years ago on geology....

So - what are those hanging pieces of ice called? And correspondingly, what are the pieces of ice and snow called that form on the ground when the snow drips and forms ice on the grouns?

Stalagtites and stalagmites that's what.

Click here for a brief entry about stalagtites from Wikipedia. Click here for some really cool photos of various stalagtites. A lot of the time stalagtites and stalagmites form in caves underground.

So what is the difference between stalagtites and stalagmites? Click here for a bit of info on this from How Stuff Works.com

FYI, the simple answer is stalagtites hang from the ceiling of a cave - stalagmites form from the ground by dripping 'stuff' from the ceiling. Think of it this way - stalagtites hold tight to the ceiling...stalagmites don't they form on the ground.

Okay...enough geology for today.

Let's move on to something warm - as in the Yankees and Mets schedule for 2011.

Click here for the 2011 Yankees schedule.
Click here for the 2011 Mets schedule.

Hope this warms you up a bit on such a cold, rainy, sleety, snowy winter day.

Regards,
Stu

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