Environmental controls of speleothem mineralogy in a karstic dolomitic terrain (Soreq Cave, Israel)

Pleistocene speleothems of the Soreq Cave, Beth Shemesh, Israel, situated within karstic Cretaceous dolomitic rocks, consist of two major mineralogical types: 1) monomineralic, low-magnesium calcite straw stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, and pool deposits; 2) mineralogically heterogeneous deposits in the form of conical stalactites, flowstones and cave corals produced from thin-flowing solution films or sprays. Mineralogical features such as the oscillations between LMC and Mg-enriched composite zones may indicate environmental alternations in the past. Aragonites occur as late infillings or as overgrowths on present day or paleosurfaces. -from Authors