2022 Research in the Capitol
Analog Studies of Organic Pathways in Wind Cave through Cave Water and Crystals
Location
Iowa State House, Rotunda
Presentation Type
Open Access Poster Presentation
Keywords
Organic compounds--South Dakota--Wind Cave; Crystal growth--South Dakota--Wind Cave;
Abstract
In Wind Cave, organic molecules from the surface dissolved in water will slowly filter down into the cave through the porous limestone. While the water slowly proceeds down through the limestone, the water dissolves the limestone along the way. This dissolving of the limestone causes a quasi-equilibrium that deposits the organic molecules into the calcite structures found in Wind Cave. These large trapped organic molecules, mainly humic and fulvic acid, can be tracked by using UV light. The UV light causes these molecules to fluoresce blue, while the calcite structures generally do not have a strong blue fluorescence. The water from the cave shows a similar but stronger signal to that of the organic laced calcite. This water was used to replicate the fluorescence of the crystals in the cave by using the cave water to dissolve calcium chloride and reacted with ammonium carbonate. The fluorescence of the water after being reacted showed that the organic molecules were precipitated out with the calcite. This reaction resulted in the synthesized crystals having a shifted λmax and a different crystal morphology when compared to the cave crystals.
Start Date
21-2-2022 11:30 AM
End Date
21-2-2022 1:30 PM
Event Host
University Honors Programs, Iowa Regent Universities
Faculty Advisor
Joshua Sebree
Department
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Copyright
©2022 Wilson McNaughton
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
McNaughton, Wilson, "Analog Studies of Organic Pathways in Wind Cave through Cave Water and Crystals" (2022). Research in the Capitol. 10.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/rcapitol/2022/all/10
Analog Studies of Organic Pathways in Wind Cave through Cave Water and Crystals
Iowa State House, Rotunda
In Wind Cave, organic molecules from the surface dissolved in water will slowly filter down into the cave through the porous limestone. While the water slowly proceeds down through the limestone, the water dissolves the limestone along the way. This dissolving of the limestone causes a quasi-equilibrium that deposits the organic molecules into the calcite structures found in Wind Cave. These large trapped organic molecules, mainly humic and fulvic acid, can be tracked by using UV light. The UV light causes these molecules to fluoresce blue, while the calcite structures generally do not have a strong blue fluorescence. The water from the cave shows a similar but stronger signal to that of the organic laced calcite. This water was used to replicate the fluorescence of the crystals in the cave by using the cave water to dissolve calcium chloride and reacted with ammonium carbonate. The fluorescence of the water after being reacted showed that the organic molecules were precipitated out with the calcite. This reaction resulted in the synthesized crystals having a shifted λmax and a different crystal morphology when compared to the cave crystals.
