It doesn't matter what i'm thinking about, if i am listening to music or reading a book, when i reach the part of the platform where i habitually stand and wait for the train, my eyeballs subconsciously drift upward and fix upon this grotesquely beautiful formation. The thing is, now i can't avoid looking at it. I have to look at it. It's become compulsive. Why? Why?
I enjoy cave formations and i like to think about how something can evolve so painfully slowly out of deceptively simple drops of water. I wonder what is the mineral composition of this urban stalactite versus natural stalactites. I wonder how long it will take the formation to grow long enough that it will be snapped off by the subway train that passes only a few inches directly below it. I wonder what is the disgusting crap that appears to be oozing out of the pipe to which the stalactite is attached.
These and other stalactite-related musings pass through my brain as i stand there and stare upwards at this thing which is both revolting and lovely all at the same time, until my train arrives and takes me to work.
1 comment:
The formations are not coming from the pipe itself, but from the concrete. Water is seeping through the concrete from above, and dissolving surface minerals within it, just like in caves, and redepositing them. The dark red/brown colour is likely iron/oxide (rust). The composition of these stalactite formations is IDENTICAL to those found in caves, as proven by sophisticated tests I have had performed on similar formations from around the planet. The specific test is know as X-Ray Diffractometry. They are calcite in composition. The mystery is solved.
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