Mineral Evolution Database

Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.

Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org

The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.

Locality Name:
Limestone Caves, Cuatro Ciénegas (Cuatrociénegas De Carranza; Venustiano Carranza), Cuatrociénegas Municipality, Coahuila, Mexico

Oldest recorded age at locality: 145
Youngest recorded age at locality: 0

mindat Locality ID: 211314
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-211314.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Limestone Caves, Cuatro Ciénegas (Cuatrociénegas De Carranza; Venustiano Carranza), Cuatrociénegas Municipality, Coahuila, Mexico": 8
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 8

Number of Child Localities: 8
Child Localities:
Las Pinturas Cave
Leona Cave
Rancho Guadalupe Cave
Reforma Mine
Rosillo Cave
San Vicente Cave (Los Murciélagos Cave)
Tanche Nuevo Cave
Vibora Cave

Latitude: 26°59'0"N
Longitude: 102°4'59"W
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 26.983333333333,-102.08305555556

A	This mineral is Anthropogenic.
G	This mineral is directly dated.
B	This mineral is reported as having this age.
Y	This mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
O	This mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
R	The age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
P	The age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
	This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

Alunite	Amorphous	Apatite	Aragonite	Baryte	Calcioferrite	Calcite	Cerite	Clay	Corundum
Diaspore	Fluorite	Gypsum	Lepidocrocite	Mica	None	Not in a structural group	Oxalate	Quartz	Rocksalt
Scheelite	Sepiolite	Taranakite

Anglesite ()*	Aragonite ()*	Ardealite ()*	Asbolane ()*	Brushite ()*
Calcite ()*	Carnotite ()*	Cerussite ()*	Chlorapatite ()*	Crandallite ()*
Fluorite ()*	Goethite ()*	Guanine ()*	Gypsum ()*	Hematite ()*
Hemimorphite ()*	Hydromagnesite ()*	Hydrozincite ()*	Kingsmountite ()*	Lepidocrocite ()*
Monohydrocalcite ()*	Montgomeryite ()*	Muscovite ()*	Niter ()*	Opal ()*
Quartz ()*	Sepiolite ()*	Smithsonite ()*	Sylvite ()*	Taranakite ()*
Variscite ()*	Whewellite ()*	Whitlockite ()*	Wulfenite ()*

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al C Ca Cl Co F Fe H K Mg Mn Mo N Ni O P Pb S Si U V Zn

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality:

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality:
Alunite Amorphous Apatite Aragonite Baryte Calcioferrite Calcite Cerite Clay Corundum
Diaspore Fluorite Gypsum Lepidocrocite Mica None Not in a structural group Oxalate Quartz Rocksalt
Scheelite Sepiolite Taranakite

34 IMA Minerals at location:

Mineral name	Structural Groups	IMA Formula	Max Age (Ma)	Min Age (Ma)	# of Sublocalities containing mineral	LOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids	# of localities containing mineral
Anglesite ()*	Baryte	Pb(SO₄)	145	66	1	82189	2734
Aragonite ()*	Aragonite	Ca(CO₃)	145	66	2	82188,82189	3250
Ardealite ()*	Gypsum	Ca₂(PO₃OH)(SO₄)·4H₂O	0	0	1	82190	30
Asbolane ()*	Not in a structural group	Mn⁴⁺(O,OH)₂·(Co,Ni,Mg,Ca)_x(OH)_2x·nH₂O	0	0	1	82190	143
Brushite ()*	Gypsum	Ca(PO₃OH)·2H₂O	145	0	2	82187,82190	104
Calcite ()*	Calcite	Ca(CO₃)	145	0	3	82188,82189,82190	27770
Carnotite ()*	None	K₂(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂·3H₂O	0	0	1	82188	1184
Cerussite ()*	Aragonite	Pb(CO₃)	145	66	1	82189	4979
Chlorapatite ()*	Apatite	Ca₅(PO₄)₃Cl	0	0	1	82188	203
Crandallite ()*	Alunite	CaAl₃(PO₄)(PO₃OH)(OH)₆	0	0	1	82190	310
Fluorite ()*	Fluorite	CaF₂	0	0	1	82188	9617
Goethite ()*	Diaspore	FeO(OH)	145	0	2	82189,82190	7437
Guanine ()*	None	C₅H₃(NH₂)N₄O	0	0	1	82190	7
Gypsum ()*	Gypsum	Ca(SO₄)·2H₂O	145	0	4	82187,82188,82189,82190	6890
Hematite ()*	Corundum	Fe₂O₃	145	66	1	82189	14640
Hemimorphite ()*	Not in a structural group	Zn₄(Si₂O₇)(OH)₂·H₂O	145	66	1	82189	1689
Hydromagnesite ()*	None	Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·4H₂O	0	0	1	82188	341
Hydrozincite ()*	None	Zn₅(CO₃)₂(OH)₆	145	66	1	82189	1066
Kingsmountite ()*	Calcioferrite	Ca₃MnFe²⁺Al₄(PO₄)₆(OH)₄·12H₂O	0	0	1	82190	12
Lepidocrocite ()*	Lepidocrocite	Fe³⁺O(OH)	0	0	1	82190	581
Monohydrocalcite ()*	None	Ca(CO₃)·H₂O	0	0	1	82188	55
Montgomeryite ()*	Calcioferrite	Ca₄MgAl₄(PO₄)₆(OH)₄·12H₂O	0	0	1	82190	44
Muscovite ()*	Mica Clay	KAl₂(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₂	145	66	1	82189	17380
Niter ()*	None	K(NO₃)	0	0	1	82188	181
Opal ()*	Amorphous	SiO₂·nH₂O	0	0	1	82188	2994
Quartz ()*	Quartz	SiO₂	145	0	3	82188,82189,82190	61156
Sepiolite ()*	Sepiolite Clay	Mg₄Si₆O₁₅(OH)₂·6H₂O	0	0	1	82188	241
Smithsonite ()*	Calcite	Zn(CO₃)	145	66	1	82189	2473
Sylvite ()*	Rocksalt	KCl	0	0	1	82188	275
Taranakite ()*	Taranakite	K₃Al₅(PO₃OH)₆(PO₄)₂·18H₂O	0	0	1	82190	57
Variscite ()*	None	Al(PO₄)·2H₂O	0	0	1	82190	301
Whewellite ()*	Oxalate	Ca(C₂O₄)·H₂O	0	0	1	82188	66
Whitlockite ()*	Cerite	Ca₉Mg(PO₃OH)(PO₄)₆	0	0	1	82190	104
Wulfenite ()*	Scheelite	PbMoO₄	145	66	1	82189	1655

Locality Notes from all Ages at Locality:

Age ID	Locality Notes
Michelle_000851	Whewellite is found associated with rodent coprolites in Rancho Guadalupe cave. The cave is in Cretaceous limestone, enriched by thermal fluids and organic material. Bird guano, vegetal detritus, and rodent excreta contribute to diverse biomineralization.
Michelle_000852	Cretaceous carbonate platform environment, now a karst environment
Michelle_0023	Cave in formation

3 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel ID	Max Age (Ma)	Min Age (Ma)	Age as listed in reference	Age Interpret	Minerals explicitely stated as having this age	Age applies to these Elements	MinDat Locality ID	Dated Locality (Max Age)	Location as listed in reference	Reference	Reference DOI	Reference ID	Age Notes
Michelle_000852	145	66	Cretaceous	Age of limestone			211314	Limestone Caves, Cuatro Ciénegas (Cuatrociénegas De Carranza; Venustiano Carranza), Cuatrociénegas Municipality, Coahuila, Mexico	Limestone caves	Forti et al. (2006)	10.3986/ac.v35i1.245	AC35_79	Age of limestone hosting the caverns of Cuatro Ciénegas
Michelle_000851	0	0	Recent	Age of biogenic mineralization	Guanine, Whewellite	P, N, V	211315	Rancho Guadalupe Cave, Limestone Caves, Cuatro Ciénegas (Cuatrociénegas De Carranza; Venustiano Carranza), Cuatrociénegas Municipality, Coahuila, Mexico	Rancho Guadalupe cave	Forti et al. (2006)	10.3986/ac.v35i1.245	AC35_79	The more recent introduction of organic material to the cave environment allows for diverse biomineralization.
Michelle_0023	0	0	0	Age of mineralization	Ardealite, Asbolane, Brushite, Calcite, Crandallite, Goethite, Guanine, Gypsum, Kingsmountite, Lepidocrocite, Montgomeryite, Taranakite, Variscite, Whitlockite		211316	Rosillo Cave, Limestone Caves, Cuatro Ciénegas (Cuatrociénegas De Carranza; Venustiano Carranza), Cuatrociénegas Municipality, Coahuila, Mexico	Rosillo Cave	Forti et al. (2006)	10.3986/ac.v35i1.245	AC35_79	Mineralization occurs in guano/sediment rich cave within the Cuatro Ciénegas region. Cave has historically been mined for fertilizer.

Sample	Source Locality	Reference URL

All locality data graciously provided by mindat.org

All age data...