Skip to main content

Story: Caving

Cave pearls

Image
Cave pearls

Cave pearls are a curious phenomenon. Also known as oolites, they are balls of calcite that have formed around fine grains of sand. These ones are on the floor of Honeycomb Hill Cave in the Ōpārara Valley, north of Karamea.

Using this item

Department of Conservation

Reference: 10059869

by Ian Millar

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Caving – Caves and life forms, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11518/cave-pearls (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 2 March 2009.