Pulo di Molfetta caves, Apulia, Italy
Speleothems: flowstones, powder, coralloids, small fibers, crusts, wool or cotton, euhedral spar crystals
Frequency: Rare
Other occurrence: efflorescent wall encrustations (cave of Sri Lanka; Rusensky Lom Cave, Bulgaria) flowers (1 cm long), gathered into small isolated rosette-bunches (some Crimea caves) minute-neddle crusts (Ludwig Cave, Namibia)
First description of cave occurrence: Zimmermann, G. 1788. Voyage à la nitrière naturelle qui se trouve à Molfetta dans la terre de Bari en Apulia. Venezia, Storti, 44p Forti, P. & Palmisano, G. 1989. I nitrati del Pulo di Molfetta: mineralogia e meccanismi genetici. Atti 15 Congrezo Nazionale di Speleologia (Castelanna 1987): 229-250
First description of non-cave occurrence: unknown
Other cave locations & References: some cave in Sri Lanka: Davy, J. 1821. An account of the interior of Ceylon, Tisara Prakasahayo. Ceylon Historical Journal 16, 399p some caves from south-eastern Asia (formerly Indochina): Dupouy, G. 1913. Études minéralogiques sur l’Indochine Française. Larose, Paris, 438p Rusensky Lom Cave, Bulgaria: Jovchev, J. 1960. Ores in Bulgaria. Technika, Sofia 1(2): 495-496 caves in Crimea: Petrun , V.F. & Belokrys, L.S. 1970. Morphology and genesis of salpeter rosettes from mountainous Krimea (Ukraine): ontogenetic methods of mineral studies. Nauka, Moskow: 198-206 Wilgie Mia Cave, Western Australia: Bridge, P.J. 1975. Urea from Wilgie Mia Cave, WA and a note on the type locality of urea. Western Australia Naturalist 13(4): 85-86 basaltic lava tube, Sorroco, New Mexico, USA: Hill, C.A. 1977. Niter and soda-niter in a lava tube, Socorro County, New Mexico. Cave Research Foundation, Annual Report 20: 18 several caves of South Africa: Martini, J.E. 1993. A concise review of the cave mineralogy of southern Africa. Proceedings of 11th International Congress of Speleology, Beijing: 72-75 Ludwig Cave, Namibia: Martini, J. (pers. comm in Hill, C. & Forti, P. 1997. Cave Minerals of the World (2nd ed.). National Speleological Society, Huntsville AL, 464p)
Group: Nitrates
Chemical formula: KNO3
[According to the official IMA-CNMNC List of Mineral Names (http://nrmima.nrm.se/imalist.htm)]
Deposition and stability: The nitrate derives from the bat guano (exceptions: Pulo di Molfetta and Idaho occurences, where is due to the seeping groundwater), while the potasium also derived from bat guano, or, s, also possible from the volcanic rock (as in the Sorroco occurence)
Color: transparent and colorless to light-brown
+ nitromagnesite and nitrocalcite (Pulo di Molfetta, Italy)
+ nitrocalcite and brushite (Indonesian caves)
+ sylvite, syngenite and aphthitalite (Wilgie Mia Cave, Western Australia)
+ nitratine (lava tube, Sorroco, New Mexico, USA)
- Orthorhombic