Ask Moonraker

[Iframedroger R]

none of them are mine, lol

my cave pics are here:

http://judgedoom.smugmug.com/gallery/1783733

[smitty-78]

OK but still yours are very nice as well.

[Iframedroger R]

lol, not as good and professional though

[MoonRakerSCM]

*cough*

Best way to explain these things… hmmm…

Drapes- Well, try to picture water… moving water… moving water in odd situations… for instance…if you can imagine water running down your arm… at a slight angle, have you ever seen the draping action it does? Now, picture the side of the cavern slanted as so… and water is running down the side of it, not falling, but running down it in a linear, slightly, or majorly meandering path. The cavern rock is limestone… as the water seeped down through the ceiling rock, it dissolved the limestone with acid (carbonic acid) that is in solution within the water. With this now the ‘rock’ is now dissolved in the water like how sugar is dissolved in water etc.

The water with the included ‘rock’ flows further down into the ceiling of the cavern and enters the actual open air chamber itself… now… the water is flowing down the wall as mentioned before… but due to now being in open air, a chemical reaction takes place and carbon dioxide gas is released out of the water leaving behind calcium carbonate in solid form within the water. The calcium carbonate is deposited to the wall and the water moves on. More and more calcium carbonate is deposited along the pathway of the original deposition and the drapery form is created as the water continues to follow the pathway and deposit more and more layers over time… Hope that made sense lol.

Popcorn- Well, popcorn is one of those things that just happens… there are different ways that it happens too. One way is the ‘splashing’ way… imagine drops etc. splashing off of the ground etc. and the actual splash depositing into droplet type forms in certain areas using the same chemical process as explained above with the curtains. Another way is that water on the floor is seeping away and that ‘nodules’ being to precipitate and grow larger over time as the water ‘leaves’.

Soda Straw- These are ‘baby’ stalactites. Basically, the water seeps down through the ceiling a mentioned before, but upon reaching the ceiling drip straight downward… now, the water is not a fast drip and sits on the ceiling long enough for the calcium carbonate to deposit into a ring around the drop before the water falls. Once the drop is done the next one moves in and repeats the process. The process continues and due to the ring nature of the deposition and the downward force of gravity a tube forms. The water eventually flows down through the tube depositing the same ring at the tip furthering the length of the soda straw. Tada lol.


Your ‘crystal straw’- Hmmm… Well… it’s a soda straw… and then what looks like a crystal formation that grew (not deposited like the other formations) out of the middle of it. I’m guessing here really… but from the looks… perhaps the soda straw was forming, and then the chamber filled up again with water and a crystal formed from a seed on the side of the straw thus creating the seen crystal. Yeah, I’m not sure about this one… I’d swear from the pic that it’s a crystal… so who knows condensation maybe?... Now, something similar that perhaps you meant. If you meant Helictites http://www.nps.gov/wica/images/Helictite_Bush-91.jpg then they form in the same way as soda straws do but due to their small size, capillary action (attraction forces in directions) ‘pull’ the water to one side etc. and thus can create the various directional and twisting forms that they have. Also, slight winds and other moving and attractive forces can affect their shape and form.

Okey day lol. That was fun. I’d like to see more on that soda straw with a crystal… where’d it come from?

[Maxdad]

Perhaps this is appropriate, given your name:

How does the geological makeup of our moon differ from earth? Are certain minerals more prevalent than on earth, and is there a commercial potential in mining the moon?

[MoonRakerSCM]

There is not much need to mine on the moon when alot more of anything there can be found here.

Going along with the popular 'Impact' theory, meaning something huge hit the earth long ago during its formation explains the makeup of the moon. Think of it like this... Earth, on the inside, heavy metals (iron), on the outside, lighter elements (silica etc.). The impact theory shows through simulations that such an occurance would toss out into earth orbit alot of the crustal material which would eventually form into the moon. This explains why the moon has a much lighter make than the earth, consisting mostly of light materials similar to our crust, and has very little iron and heavier elements when compared to the makeup of the earth.

Umm... well.. the moon currently has little to no tectonics or volcanic activity and is mostly affected by impacts and gravitational pull from the earth. This is quite noticeable by its locked orbit (why one side always faces us). If you look at the 'back' of the moon you will find endless craters of which are preserved there due to the lack of erosion (no wind, water, etc. to act on anything). On the front you see few craters due to the earth blocking an incoming objects way but you do find the maria (dark sections of the moon). Maria are (were) giant seas of lava that at one point in lunar history was 'pulled' towards the earth due to its attraction and then solidified on the surface in the big splotches, seas, we see today. The uprising of the magma to the surface in these maria probably resulted in the uplifting and shaping of the lunar mountain ranges etc...

Welp, that sums up what I know off the head... Any more ?s lol? This is fun!

[Banjalot]

Why is Uluru so big?

[Banjalot]

I'm still waiting moony!

[MoonRakerSCM]

Oops lol, forgot about this thread.

Hmmmm... Uluru... good ole Ayers Rock... contrary to popular belief it is not the worlds biggest rock... there are many more larger rocks out there... that just don't holdthe prestige as Uluru does... not sure why. I believe the actual largest single piece of rock is somewhere... in Northwestern Australia.

Why is it so big? Well... to be blunt... it just hasn't eroded away lol. I'm not too sure... but the basics are always there... I would assume that the sandstone chunk of Uluru itself is stronger than the surrounding area... and possibly due to lack of historical 'wear and tear' it just hasn't been worn down yet. Add into that the likely strong continental base it sits on with little to no tectonic activity to 'break it up' over the years... and you'll get a large old rock...

Without its awe-inspiring proximity within the surrounding desert... it'd be nothing special at all. Still though... even though it's just a big chunk of sandstone in the middle of nowhere... I still want to see it some day.

[Scott in LA]

Hmmm--I need a question for MoonRakerSCM.

What qualities make a good pet rock?