Naica, the World’s Largest Crystal Cave
The largest natural crystals on Earth have been discovered in two caves within a silver and zinc mine near Naica, in Chihuahua, Mexico. This horseshoe-shaped cavity deep inside Naica mountain, is about 30 feet (10 meters) wide and 90 feet (30 meters) long.
Eloy Delgado recalls the moment he set foot into the cave and witnessed the crystals firsthand. “I went in, I shined the light on it, and it reflected everywhere. How cool!
Volcanic activity that began about 26 million years ago created Naica mountain and filled it with high-temperature anhydrite gypsum (giant shards of which are pictured above). When magma underneath the mountain cooled and the temperature dropped, the anhydrite began to dissolve. The anhydrite slowly enriched the waters with sulfate and calcium molecules, which for millions of years have been deposited in the caves in the form of huge selenite gypsum crystals. The crystals thrived because they were submerged in mineral-rich water with a very narrow, stable temperature range—around 136 degrees Fahrenheit (58 degrees Celsius).
“There is no limit to the size a crystal can reach,” geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz said. “It’s the Sistine Chapel of crystals.”
abc News]
November 17th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Please tell me that they have re-flooded the cave thus making it lost to humans as it once was many years ago.