[Aztlan] Aztlan Digest, Vol 26, Issue 28 Iron Ore

[David Hixson]

I have a few photos from inside Loltun Caves on my
website, including the hand outlines mentioned by
John:

http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~dhixson/loltun/loltun.html

However, I have a further question re: iron rich
deposits in the northern Maya lowlands...

Throughout the northern plains, and within the Puuc
hills, the local Maya call the iron-stained soils
"Kancab Luum".  I asked a soil scientist once about
how a geologically karstic area (the assumed parent
material being limestone) could produce soils that are
so very red.  His response was that long ago in the
geologic past (sorry I don't remember how long ago,
but before humans were in Yucatan) there was likely a
windstorm or other event that blew the iron-rich dust
over from Africa, where it settled out over Yucatan. 
I'm not going to give you this soil scientist's name,
since I may be horribly mis-quoting him!  Does anyone
else know more about this?  While it sounds rather
fantastic, I can't imagine another scenario where the
"roca madre" of limestone, nor the decaying organic
material from above, could weather into such a rich
red color.

Perhaps Bruce, our resident "earth scientist on a good
day" could lend his expertise? (Hope this is a "good
day")

-Dave


--- "Hoopes, John W" <hoopes at ku.edu> wrote:

> Ochre can be bright red, too:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_ochre
> 
> Speaking of ochre mining, I remember noticing large
> deposits of bright red ochre (?) in Loltún Cave,
> where it is possible to see from stains on the walls
> where it was dug out in large quantities (and
> sometimes used to paint hands and other things on
> the walls).  It struck me that the abundant grinding
> tools found in the cave may have been used for
> processing red powder, and that this material may
> have been mined as a red pigment for coating the
> surfaces of buildings.


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