Changes in snotites

[mikem]

A year & a half for comparison:
Aug 2012

Feb 2011

Unfortunately I didn't get all of these in photo last year:
Aug 2012

Feb 2011

Mike

 

[Alkapton]

Are they in an iron mine?  They look very similar to some of the formations in a local iron mine here in Pontypool.

 

[mikem]

It's not actually an iron mine, but it is staining from iron in the rock.

Mike

 

[gus horsley]

If these are the same as the snotites in Cae Coch Mine they grow very rapidly as they are in fact a bacterial colony which extracts CO2 from the area and combines it with sulphuric acid to create a type of sugar on which it feeds (I think).