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:
Gcwihaba Cave (Drotsky's Caverns), Ngamiland West District, North-West District, Botswana

Oldest recorded age at locality: 1000
Youngest recorded age at locality: 0

mindat Locality ID: 5807
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-5807.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Gcwihaba Cave (Drotsky's Caverns), Ngamiland West District, North-West District, Botswana": 0
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 0

Latitude: 20°1'21"S
Longitude: 21°21'18"E
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): -20.0225,21.355

AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe 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.

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 H K Mg N O P S 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: C Ca H K Mg N O P S 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
BiphosphammiteGypsumHumboldtineNoneOxalatePicromeriteStruviteSyngenite

9 IMA Minerals at location:
Biphosphammite  (*)Boussingaultite  (*)Dittmarite  (*)Glushinskite  (*)Gwihabaite  (*)
Gypsum  (*)Struvite  (*)Syngenite  (*)Weddellite  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Biphosphammite  (*)Biphosphammite(NH4)H2(PO4)10000011
Boussingaultite  (*)Picromerite(NH4)2Mg(SO4)2·6H2O10000030
Dittmarite  (*)None(NH4)Mg(PO4)·H2O1000007
Glushinskite  (*)Humboldtine OxalateMg(C2O4)·2H2O1000005
Gwihabaite  (*)None(NH4)(NO3)10000010
Gypsum  (*)GypsumCa(SO4)·2H2O1000006890
Struvite  (*)Struvite(NH4)Mg(PO4)·6H2O10000030
Syngenite  (*)SyngeniteK2Ca(SO4)2·H2O10000044
Weddellite  (*)OxalateCa(C2O4)·2H2O10000032



Locality Notes from all Ages at Locality:
Age IDLocality Notes
Michelle_823A guano and fossil rich cave in the dolomitic hills of Gcwihaba Valley. Fossils indicate heavy sedimentation at the Plio-Pleistocene boundary, with ongoing spleothem mineralization.
Michelle_824Drotsky's Cave lies in dolomitic marbles of the Upper Proterozoic Otavi Group or Damara Sequence


2 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
Michelle_8232.502.5-0fossil faunaAge of cave sedimentation      5807Gcwihaba Cave (Drotsky's Caverns), Ngamiland West District, North-West District, BotswanaDrotsky's CavernsPickford (1990) BNR22_1At the time of ancient cavern formation, the water table lay about 30 metres higher than the present datum in the floor of the Gcwihabadum. The fauna indicated an age for the sediments of about 2.5 million years. Thus considerable erosion can be postulated to have occurred in the region since the end of the Pliocene.
Michelle_8241000541Upper Proterozoic Age of host rock      5807Gcwihaba Cave (Drotsky's Caverns), Ngamiland West District, North-West District, BotswanaDrotsky's CaveRailsback et al. (1999)10.1080/02723646.1999.10642682PG20_331Drotsky's Cave lies in dolomitic marbles of the Upper Proterozoic Otavi Group or Damara Sequence


SampleSource LocalityReference URL


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