NAICA CRYSTAL CAVE

fine ores such as silver, zinc or lead, when they made this groundbreaking discovery accidently. To their surprise, they The cave itself is a horseshoe shape and measures about long. Its floor and ceilings are covered in smaller and shorter crystalline, perfectly carved blocks. The huge crystal beams jut out from both the blocks and the ground. The biggest crystal in the cave of swords is about 12 meters long and 4 meters in width and weighs over 50 tons Scientists never thought crystals can form enormously such as these before the discovery. It is said to have been formed over the course of 500,000 years ago !

Volcanic activity that began when Naica mountain was formed, filled it with high-temperature anhydrite, which is the anhydrous (lacking water) form of gypsum. Anhydrite is stable above 136 degrees Fahrenheit (58 degrees Celsius) Below that temperature, gypsum is the stable form. When magma underneath the mountain cooled and the temperature dropped below 58 degrees Celsius, 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. These perfect conditions for continuous crystal growth may never occur again, which is why this place is so sacred. Since the cave lies on top of this volcanic magma chamber, its environment is harsh with temperatures reaching 60 degrees Celsius and with over 90 degrees humidity with a lack of oxygen. No human can stay down there longer than 10 minutes without special equipment, such as ice-cooled suits.

The Naica cave is a pit of hell disguised as a magical habitat. The irony is, at first glance, they look like giant Excalibur swords of ice. Scientists also took samples from the red floors and tiny air pockets planted inside the crystals in search of new lifeforms. After testing, it was found that the bacteria and microorganisms started thriving in this deadly inhospitable ecosystem around 10,000 to 50,000 years ago. The team found as many as 200 million viruses in a single drop of water around the cave. Professor and Astrobiologist Penelope Boston was in charge of the operation of gathering a new database of organisms specific to caves. She even believes these life forms are a potential link to lead us to understand life on other planets. The microbial life-forms are most likely new to science, and introduces new families of species. According to NASA, the ecosystem they’re active in resembled the one on Mars. Apparently, we had aliens right under our feet.

Between 2008 and 2009, a video camera attached to a drill bit found hints of one more crystal-lined cave during the creation of the Robin Hole, a 2,000-foot-deep (600-meterdeep) ventilation shaft meant to cool mining tunnels below. A scientific team confirmed the new, naturally dry crystal cave about 500 feet (150 meters) below the surface. Dubbed the Ice Palace, the new cave lacks giant pillars, but sparkles with rare crystal formations, including minerals resembling cauliflower and fiber-optic-like filaments. However, the mysteries of the Ice Palace will likely remain unresolved as it is very narrow for humans to continue exploring, and the climate condition obviously gets worse in the cramped space. No explorer will ever make it beyond the chamber and back up in time before their lungs give out.

The cave was originally underwater before being pumped. It is still a debate whether scientists should leave the caves to slowly refill again, causing the crystals to grow, or keep it open for research while risking affecting the ecosystem’s conditions. There is no doubt that this is just the surface of how mesmerizing the natural world of the underground can be, but with human limitations, we might not scrape the half of it. Perhaps it is not such a terrible thing to leave nature’s secrets alone, but human curiosity wouldn’t easily let go of such a beautiful phenomenon without wondering; what else can be hiding beneath us?