stalagmite and stalactite

今日の単語はReader's Digest 10月号の記事、HIDDEN EUROPEから、Devil's Town, SERBIAの説明文にありました。
In the south of Serbia, more than 200 extraordinary rocky fingers stretch into space like stalagmites. They range from two to 15m tall, and are up to 3m wide at their base. Composed of soil and stone, many have a large stone block, or "cap", at their peak.
数年前に行ったトルコのカッパドキアを思い出す景色です。 "stalagmite" を調べます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: a long pointed piece of rock that rises up from the floor of a cave, formed by chemicals in water drops that have fallen from the roof over many years
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a deposit of calcium carbonate like an inverted stalactite formed on the floor of a cave by the drip of calcareous water
・Vocabulary.com: a cylinder of calcium carbonate projecting upward from the floor of a limestone cave
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a column of rock which rises from the floor of a cave which is formed over a very long period of time by drops of water containing lime falling from the roof of the cave
日本語では確か石筍というものですね。辞書によって説明に工夫があるのが面白い。
"stalagmite" のついでに "stalactite" も覚えたい。