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:
Rancho Guadalupe Cave, 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: 211315
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-211315.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Rancho Guadalupe Cave, Limestone Caves, Cuatro Ciénegas (Cuatrociénegas De Carranza; Venustiano Carranza), Cuatrociénegas Municipality, Coahuila, Mexico": 0
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 0

Latitude: 0°0'0"N
Longitude: 0°0'0"E
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 0,0

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.

Amorphous	Apatite	Aragonite	Calcite	Clay	Fluorite	Gypsum	None	Oxalate	Quartz
Rocksalt	Sepiolite

Aragonite ()*	Calcite ()*	Carnotite ()*	Chlorapatite ()*	Fluorite ()*
Gypsum ()*	Hydromagnesite ()*	Monohydrocalcite ()*	Niter ()*	Opal ()*
Quartz ()*	Sepiolite ()*	Sylvite ()*	Whewellite ()*

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: C Ca Cl F H K Mg N O P S Si U V

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: C Ca Cl F H K Mg N O P S Si U V

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality:
Amorphous Apatite Aragonite Calcite Clay Fluorite Gypsum None Oxalate Quartz
Rocksalt Sepiolite

14 IMA Minerals at location:

Mineral name	Structural Groups	IMA Formula	# of localities containing mineral
Aragonite ()*	Aragonite	Ca(CO₃)	3250
Calcite ()*	Calcite	Ca(CO₃)	27770
Carnotite ()*	None	K₂(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂·3H₂O	1184
Chlorapatite ()*	Apatite	Ca₅(PO₄)₃Cl	203
Fluorite ()*	Fluorite	CaF₂	9617
Gypsum ()*	Gypsum	Ca(SO₄)·2H₂O	6890
Hydromagnesite ()*	None	Mg₅(CO₃)₄(OH)₂·4H₂O	341
Monohydrocalcite ()*	None	Ca(CO₃)·H₂O	55
Niter ()*	None	K(NO₃)	181
Opal ()*	Amorphous	SiO₂·nH₂O	2994
Quartz ()*	Quartz	SiO₂	61156
Sepiolite ()*	Sepiolite Clay	Mg₄Si₆O₁₅(OH)₂·6H₂O	241
Sylvite ()*	Rocksalt	KCl	275
Whewellite ()*	Oxalate	Ca(C₂O₄)·H₂O	66

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

2 Ages assigned to this locality:

	Excel ID	Max Age (Ma)	Min Age (Ma)	Age as listed in reference	Dating Method	Age Interpret	Prioritized?	Sample Source	Sample Num	Run Num	Age from other Locality	Dated Mineral	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					Yes				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.

Sample	Source Locality	Reference URL

All locality data graciously provided by mindat.org

All age data...