Formation and locations of lava stalactites and lava stalagmites in the Vidgelmir lava tube (Iceland)

In the icelandic Viogelmir lava tube several types of lava dripstones can be found. Many lava stalagmites can evolve on the sidewalls as a result of their complexity with lava shelves, side walks and aprons. The floor's lava stalagmites situated near the sidewalls are in greater density. At the gradually narrowed ending of the lava tube the terminated lava flow piles up in bigger thickness. That is why the lava flow's cooling time was longer here than in the other areas of the cave. It results a greater number and size of lava stalactites and stalagmites at the cave's ending. The aim of the study is to present that the type, the morphology, the occurrence and the numeral density of lava dripstones greatly depend on in which section of the lava tube (narrow or spacious) they formed, but they also depend on the morphological diversity or featurelessity of the tube's different sections (eg. complexity of the sidewalls with lava shelves, balconies). The author investigated and divided several types of lava stalactites and lava stalagmites of the Viogelmir cave into groups according to the location of their formation sites in the lava tube.