Basically, fire is an exothermal chemical oxidation reaction generated by the incandescence of combustible materials. It releases energy in the form of heat and light to the air surrounding the reaction. In short and simplifying, fire is a way of transforming energy.
In caves, once they have been generated in a geological past and begin their long temporal evolution to the present day, a series of energy and material exchange processes take place, between the external environment and the underground environment, although the ones that go towards the interior of the underground world are more important.
Perhaps the clearest testimonies of this flow of matter and energy into caves are speleothems. The term “speleothem” comes from the Greek spelaion (cave) and thema (deposit. It refers to those deposits, of chemical origin, that are generated inside the caverns, by the action of infiltration water rich in soluble salts. They are generally formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), in the form of calcite or aragonite, minerals that have the same chemical composition, but a different crystallization system.
Cueva de las Estegamitas is an authentic underground museum due to the great variety, quantity, and exceptional state of conservation of the numerous speleothems it contains. Among them are its most precious treasure: the stegamites. The most important set of stegamites on the planet contained in a single cave, in all its phases of evolution and with unmatched beauty. There are so many that the cave has changed its original name Cueva de la Maravilla Blanca (White Wonder Cave), to its current one. A unique cave in the world, both for its exceptional geological heritage and for its name: Cueva de las Estegamitas (Stegamites Cave). There is only one cave of this kind, and it is in Malaga.