Dee Ray sent us an email about the remarkable Naica Crystal Caves, hundreds of feet below the Naica Mountain in the desert of Chihuahua, Mexico.
The mountain was formed by volcanic activity, and filled with anhydrite. When the lava cooled to below 156 degrees Fahrenheit (58 degrees Celsius), the anhydrite formed huge translucent gypsum crystals up to 36 feet in length, weighing up to 55 tons.
The cave, which is about 30 feet by 90 feet has a crystalline floor and large jagged crystals sticking out of the walls. It was discovered by two miners in 2000. An international team of scientists from Spain, Italy and the US have come to Mexico to study the caves. Their scientific specialties include speleology, geology, mineralogy, topography, biology, exobiology, physics, medicine, scientific philosophy and ecology among others.
[Images from Crystal Cave of Giants, Mexico]
How beautiful. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought crystals would grow that large.
Nature is so awesome, and I never get tired of learning.
Posted by: keewee | September 26, 2007 at 11:09 AM
Wow, makes you think of the cave in Superman.
How could this be the result of evolution?
:)
Posted by: Andy Moore | September 28, 2007 at 03:46 AM
All things in the earth will be revealed
Posted by: thomas ingram | October 26, 2010 at 12:52 AM
this is where the fountains of "the deep" broke open.
God slowly displays his creation, a little at a time.
Jesus Came to save the world, and the world knew Him not.
Posted by: Matt | February 01, 2011 at 03:57 PM
Truly one of the best I have ever seen. Wish I could have been there.
Posted by: Projector Headlights | November 02, 2011 at 03:41 AM