Please don't touch goethite

[Kelly Jessop]

A well meaning person rerouted and streamlined some line between OG and Challange,but they picked up a slab of goethite and placed it on the line to keep it on the floor. Goethite is a black textured mineral that we often see in piles in Peacock,but intermittently there are some stand alone rocks. This doesn't handle human contact well,and can be brittle which leaves tan colored breakages. Please don't pull,touch,or contact this mineral,it is an interesting feature that deserves preservation for future cave divers to enjoy. Thank you.

[adam0321]

Can you post s picture of such material.

Sent from my Eris

[Sludge]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethite

[Squirrel Girl]

To be completely anal, Kelly, black is a color not a texture. In our caves, goethite coats rocks.

Here is the first, random picture of goethite that I came across from the CDF Gallery. Note that everywhere a person has pulled and glided (or banged a tank), the goethite is scraped off and the lighter, tan limestone beneath is exposed. Sometimes there's no way to navigate a passage and NOT mess up the goethite, at least a little. But cheers to Kelly for trying to preserve our caves in their natural state.

[DA Aquamaster]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethite

The intent is good, but that actually does not help at all in terms of what it actually looks like in a Florida cave.

[jj1987]

The intent is good, but that actually does not help at all in terms of what it actually looks like in a Florida cave.

Looks pretty close to me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goethite-182557.jpg

[SuPrBuGmAn]

To be completely anal, Kelly, black is a color not a texture. In our caves, goethite coats rocks.

I'm guessing Kelly meant black and textured(black, textured might be the more gramaratical way to say it-lulz) as adjectives for the mineral. Goethite definately has a different texture than limestone or dolomite found in caves of the south east.

Atleast thats the way I read it.

[Sludge]

Actually, the purpose of the link was to also learn the chemical composition, as well as the origin of the name. I'll bet more than one person has heard people talk about "ger-thite" and, reading this thread, was not aware "goethite" is what they were talking about. (I'm hoping people reading the CDF know how to pronounce "Goethe." Or at least how Americans pronounce it.)

[MORGAN]

(I'm hoping people reading the CDF know how to pronounce "Goethe." Or at least how Americans pronounce it.)

I'm familiar with both Goethe and goethite but I had no idea that the mineral was named after old Johann Wolfgang. I enjoyed the Wikipedia link. I pronounce Goethe the way my philosophy professor did, but he was a Texan, so I'm still not sure I say it properly.

Mike

[Sludge]

I said Americans, not Amuricans!