Problems Encountered

Some of the problems encountered during this study have included:

• Needle form calcite can sometimes look like aragonite so I need to await XRD analysis before deciding what it is!
• Not being able to fit into some parts of caves said to contain aragonite!
• Some speleothems are a mixture of calcite and aragonite.
• Some of the bedrock material is surprisingly hard. Special techniques may be required in some cases to get samples without making an obvious mark. This is important where the site is part of a tourist cave display or it is an important conservation site.
• Sometimes caving collegues fall asleep, get bored, cold or run away!