This place is absolutely unreal.

[arcadian]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/photogalleries/giant-crystals-cave/

April 9, 2007—Geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz calls it "the Sistine Chapel of crystals," but Superman could call it home.

A sort of south-of-the-border Fortress of Solitude, Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world's largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).

How did the crystals reach such superheroic proportions?

In the new issue of the journal Geology, García-Ruiz reports that for millennia the crystals thrived in the cave's extremely rare and stable natural environment. Temperatures hovered consistently around a steamy 136 degrees Fahrenheit (58 degrees Celsius), and the cave was filled with mineral-rich water that drove the crystals' growth.


more

[Captain Hilts]

1. Whoa!

[WhiteTara]

2. that is incredible! n/t

[DemoTex]

3. Fantastic!

K&R

[fishwax]

4. cool!

:wow:

[Subdivisions]

8. Actually, it's not.

I've seen this cave on the teevee machine. It's actually pretty freakin' hot in there.

Ok...ok...it is cool! :)

[roguevalley]

36. its also on borrowed time due to dropping water levels by people

syphoning it off and people clomping around.

[meeshrox]

53. I love this cave...

I agree it's on borrowed time...but, the reason it was discovered and the reason it's no longer under water are the same. It is very close to a mine. The miners need to pump the groundwater level to a certain elevation to be able to mine within the mountain. They would not have found the cave if they did not pump groundwater to mine in the first place. Some day, when mining ceases, the pumps will be turned off and the cave will again fill with water. I'm just happy that scientists were given access to study the geology and biology there.

[sakabatou]

5. They found Superman's Fortress of Solitude!

[Hissyspit]

40. No, they found Boston's home planet:

[Myrina]

54. +1

n/t

[AlbertCat]

49. They found Superman's Fortress of Solitude!

Either that or Pat Boone and James Mason are in there somewhere....with a big iguana!

[Solly Mack]

6. Fortress of Solitude was my first thought on seeing the picture. NEAT!!!!

I could happily (and lovingly) walk around with a soft cloth polishing with abandonment and wonder.

[Political_Junkie]

7. Awesome!

nt

[smalll]

9. MORE problems with the Olympic Cauldron?!?

First they couldn't get it up, and now it collapses? I hope no-one was injured in this accident. These Vancouver Games just go from disaster to disaster.

[Blue-Jay]

14. Dammit. I was getting ready to make a similar joke.

:D

[smalll]

22. Yep, you gotta be fast around here -

I've been beaten to it more than a few times here! :)

[Odin2005]

24. DUzy!!!

:rofl:

[xchrom]

10. Recommend

[t0dd]

11. National Geographic video on the cave here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgUFb_l4DLE

[The_Commonist]

12. Wow!

That's quite beautiful.

[KittyWampus]

13. it's an over used word, but AWESOME!

[pleah]

15. K&R

[suffragette]

16. Wow!

Amazingly beautiful.
Thanks for sharing this.

[onethatcares]

17. quick give haliburton a concession stand there,

they'll be gone in a week.

[RedCappedBandit]

18. Quick! Find a way to exploit it for monetary gain!

[malaise]

19. Watched an NGC program on this

mind-blowing.

[Cirque du So-What]

20. I thought I'd seen everything!

Goes to show ya, there are plenty of wonders in this world to keep these jaded eyes of mine busy for a long time.

[TexasObserver]

21. Recommend

[Odin2005]

23. WOW! It looks like something out of a high fantasy video game.

[arcadian]

29. In the sc-fi movie 'The Core' the earth ship goes through similar formations.

I don't know if they got the idea from these actual formations or not, I wonder how long geologists have known about these gigantic crystalline structures.

[asdjrocky]

25. Looks like a scene form Land of the Giants or something.

I saw a special on this place, absolutly amazing what can happen on our own planet.

[sarge43]

26. Unreal.

:wow:

[slackmaster]

27. Whenever I see something that striking, I think about what other undiscovered wonders may exist

What a planet!

[winyanstaz]

28. K&R...That is beautiful...thank you for the link and the post :)

It is only my own opinion but I think they need to leave the place alone and let it fill back up and be as The Creator made it.

That is a world treasure and should be protected to stay as natural as possible.

[Call Me Wesley]

30. I saw this in a GEO a few years ago.

Absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous.

[calimary]

31. Extraordinary!!!

On my finger... :D

Thanks for posting, arcadian! Just gorgeous! Spectacular! Fortress of Solitude, indeed!

[LeftishBrit]

32. k &r & WOW

[marmar]

33. Increible !!!! Dios Mio !!!

Looks like something from a movie set.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

34. and I spent all last summer searching the north pole for this

I want to go see this
thanks for the link!

[walldude]

35. So how do I get my pot plants that big? n/t

[tekisui]

37. Amazing and impressive.

[suede1]

38. Amazing!

[DawgHouse]

39. Stunning!

Thanks for the link!

[Kyril Enko]

41. Fools! Those aren't crystals! They're WMD!

We must invade immediately!!!!!

[Motown_Johnny]

42. it is just a very very tiny person in the photo... nothing to see here

:sarcasm:

[OnyxCollie]

43. Wow!

[Shining Jack]

44. That's amazing !

I've seen crystals caves before but this is incredible. :)

[proudohioan]

45. Wow! Just breathtaking!!!

[DFW]

46. I heard about this some time ago

I'm a minerology fan anyway, so I was blown away by it, and wanted to go visit ASAP.

Then I was told that conditions were such that humans couldn't last more than a few minutes at a time due to the heat
and fumes. If I ever went inside a place like that, I'd want to stay hours, so I might die happy, but I'd die for
sure. Better I stick to gaping at the pictures.

[shellgame26]

47. Wow

[mmonk]

48. Wow. Interesting.

[Joe Bacon]

50. See, Superman had to move his Fortress of Solitude!

Because the old place by the North Pole was sinking into the sea! :-)

[Swamp Rat]

51. k&r

[TransitJohn]

52. Gypsum.

Lackluster. :evilgrin:

[SirRevolutionary]

55. Someone's going to be happy with this discovery

Kneel before General Zod!

[farmout rightarm]

56. Woops never mind someone already beat me to it

;-)

[punkin87]

57. Incredible.

[liberal N proud]

58. Incredible things this big blue ball has us

[davidpdx]

59. I love caves

This one looks incredible.