Ingeology,boxwork is defined as ahoneycomb-like structure that can form in some fractured or jointedsedimentary rocks. If the fractures in the host rock are mineralized, they can become more resistant to weathering than the surrounding rock, and subsequent erosion can produceboxwork structures. Inmining geology, boxwork is a set of (typically)quartz-lined cavities, retaining the shape of the dissolvedoreminerals, ingossans. In classical geology ormineralogy these mineral casts would not be called boxwork, but would instead be calledpseudomorphs, or epimorphs. Incave geology, boxwork is an uncommon type of mineral structure, orspeleogen (similar to aspeleothem, but formed by erosion rather than accretion), occasionally found in caves anderosive environments.
According to KellerLynn, "Boxwork is a speleogen, forming when bedrock between preexisting calcite veins were preferentially weathered away as the cave developed."[1]
Boxwork is commonly composed of thin blades of the mineralcalcite that project from cave walls or ceilings that intersect one another at various angles, forming a box-like orhoneycomb pattern. The boxwork fins once filled cracks in the rock before the host cave formed. As the walls of the cave began to dissolve away, the more resistant vein and crack fillings did not, or at least dissolved at a slower rate than the surrounding rock, leaving the calcite fins projecting from the cave surfaces.
Some of the most extensive boxwork deposits in the world are found inWind Cave,Wind Cave National Park inSouth Dakota, United States. These boxwork deposits consist of calcite, along withmanganese anddolomite that precipitated in fractured host limestone. The limestone preferentially dissolved, leaving a crystalline calcite boxwork behind. Other outstanding examples occur inCody Caves,Cody Caves Provincial Park inBritish Columbia, Canada. Boxwork can also be seen atJewel Cave National Monument (near Wind Cave), and atInner Space Cavern nearGeorgetown, Texas, United States.
