A rare glimpse of the cave of crystals

[BrklynLiberal]

Mexico's Cave of Crystals stunned geologists when it was first discovered in 2000. The underground chamber contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found - some of the selenite structures have grown to more than 10m long. Professor Iain Stewart got a rare glimpse of the subterranean spectacle while filming for the new BBC series How the Earth Made Us.




These are huge. Watch the video to see how huge they are.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8466493.stm?ls

[depakid]

1. Stinking hot down there...

[Lorien]

2. Do you have a link for the video?

:hi:

[BrklynLiberal]

6. duh..... forgot....sorry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8466493.stm?ls

How are your furguys doing?

[Xipe Totec]

3. These pictures should give you an idea of the size of the crystals...

[BrklynLiberal]

7. Looks like they are on another planet, doesn't it?

[NYC_SKP]

4. Was just reading about that place, most dangerous place on Earth? (links..)

National Geographic Story:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/crystal-giants/shea-text

Good story with video:

http://www.ironammonite.com/2009/12/surviving-cueva-de-los-cristales-giant.html

[ashling]

5. I call Bullshit

That is not "the Cave of Crystals," that is actually Superman's Fortress of Solitude


:rofl:

[atomic-fly]

9. ha ...I was thinking that right as I saw your post! nt

[endless october]

8. awesome.

thanks for posting this. i needed to see something that doesn't make me politically upset.

[atomic-fly]

10. very cool

thanks for sharing

[NNadir]

11. There's a documentary on this cave. They showed it on Science Channel a while back.

I watched it with my kids.

The interesting thing is that it's very hot in the cave owing to geothermal heat, and the cave is always at 100% humidity because strictly its not a cave, but an underground reservoir.

Miners drained it and it kept empty by continuous pumping.

A result is that one cannot cool one's body temperature by sweating, since sweat does not evaporate. Since the cave his higher than human body temperature, staying in it for more than a few minutes is fatal, and so explorers must use special suits with heat exchange properties.

During the documentary, the announcer kept saying "They could die at any time," speaking of the explorers.

Now, whenever my kids and I watch a science channel documentary - usually on the weekends - we keep saying, "they could die," no matter what the circumstance.

Sometimes we do it watching history shows as well. It's pretty funny to be watching a documentary about Ivan the Terrible and muttering during some scenes "They could die at any time."

[Odin2005]

12. Holy cow!!! those crystals are HUGE!!!

[Occulus]

14. It's a very dangerous place.

Temps and humidity mean that anyone going any appreciable distance into the caves needs to have a temperature-controlled suit, oxygen, and most importantly, a way out.

This is NOT a place for casual or even experienced spelunkers. This is for professionals only.

I think the crystals are primarily gypsum. The cave was only recently discovered, as I recall- in the past couple years. It's been posted here before, but it's still a pleasure to see new images.

It's just amazing. I can't imagine what discoveries lie in wait for the explorers of these caves.

[alfredo]

13. I used to cave crawl. saw some wonderful things, but nothing like that.

[Bigmack]

15. Wow! Incredible pictures and

Fascinating post. Thanks to ALL who added to it. And like someone above said, IT'S A-POLITICAL....I think.... Ms Bigmack