You have got to see this!

[badknees]

Nature at work


Thanks

http://www.crystalinks.com/mexicocrystals.html

[Casa Grande]

wow!  that looks unreal.....Superman's hideout found?

[Al]

That is incredible.

Al

[homerboy2u]

Badknees...you beat me to the punch....!.

 These caves are near Delicias,Chihuahua Mexico. I have never been there, check out National Geographics: La Cueva de Los Cristales (cave of crystals). Each picture has a story. A very good read, indeed.

 I bet my time being here, that Alpine Joe knows more of this than anybody here.

[bdann]

that is incredible!  Homero, do you have a trip planned yet?

[homerboy2u]

No, but i am posting a request of information on a Mexican jeep board to get anything i can grasp from the fellow jeep trailerers from Chihuahua. I should get some info very soon...why not, make it the very first trip there.

[Buck]

Interesting that the crystals "have a magical or metaphysical personality independent of their chemical structures".  The super-secret reason for this, that I can only reveal here, is that the Cave of Crystal Gnomes use their 'magic lanterns' to infuse 'personality dust' into the crystals as they grow.  The gnomes are impervious to the heat and work diligently night and day preparing crystals so that they can later be shipped to Sedona, Las Angeles and Santa Fe.  There is a photo of one of the elusive gnomes at http://mysite.verizon.net/supportservices/legpull.jpg.

[sleepy]

so, the mining company pumped out water and revealed the crystals?  i wonder if that stopped the crystal growth?

[SA Bill]

Wow! I glanced at the pic and thought "Nice crystals"...then I noticed the human figures and thought "WOW!". Amazing!
  Bill

[Boojum1]

I'd be interested in an explanation of how it can be 100 degrees at 1200' below the surface.

[presidio]

I'd be interested in an explanation of how it can be 100 degrees at 1200' below the surface.

It's more than 100 degrees in that particular instance. The deeper you go in the earth the warmer things are, generally. The extremely deep gold mines in Africa are equally hot. Sometimes it is helped along by magma bodies not so far below that heat things up. Such is the case with hot springs, some of which are well above the boiling point when contained in the rock and flash into steam when the pressure is released as it reaches the surface. Same principle as a pressure cooker. The core of the planet is molten.

Water itself exhibits a curious property not shared by any other substance on earth. Water expands when it freezes, every thing else contracts. A most fortunate circumstance for, if it also contracted, the oceans would have long ago been frozen solid. If water contracted when becoming ice, the ice would then have sunk to the ocean floor, further cooling the water and resulting in no liquid water rather than floating on the surface of this extremely large weather-moderating system.

[homerboy2u]

Presido isn't wrong at all.

  According to what i submitted, this is what i have gotten so far:

* The entrance to the caves is very restricted, in part to the extreme heat that emanates from with in.
* The tours to the inside of the caves, are controlled by the mining company and don't last more than 10 minutes at best.
* Because the inside of the cave si so dangerous, the minimum age to go in is: 17 yrs.old.....sorry Viper: wish you could have tag along.
* There is a request period to visit them of two months and then the window of opportunity is no longer than 2 weeks to go to the place , or you will miss the train.
* The maximum tour group allowed is: 10, and there are no weekly tours, so basically you either hop to it or kiss that baby goodbye.

  Oh yeah, the Gnomes and Superman is true. The gnomes are actually in charge of the tours and Superman is hosting house visits.

 More info, as i get it.

Saludos

[homerboy2u]

Well , looks like Superman´s hide away, is going to stay hidden.

* Minera Peñoles (the mining company) and Speleoresearch have signed a 3-5 year agreement where there will only be access to the caves for scientific purposes, hence restricting the entrance to the general public now.
* Even if we could get it, the scientists are going in with very special suits: refrigerated suits, masks and other tech accesories.
* the cameramen that get to go in, are requested to comply with a minimum phisical condition rate, and still they only get in for 10 minutes.
* The inside temperature is 50°C , that people is very very hot..worst than being in the desert in summer and they 100% relative humidity...a real sauna , if you ask me.
* Plus, with all the going around there they have set up special screens to limit the exposure of air conditions of the surface, permitting only visitations to the main chamber from a far.


 There is another cave there , that is called la Cueva de las Espadas (cave of the swords) which is open to the public and can be visited. When i get more information, i will post it for you.

Homero.

[Big Bender]

This site has been making the rounds in the geology circles for a couple of years.  I had an opportunity to visit the cave a few years ago but the trip fell apart at the last minute.  It is basically located in one of the lower levels of the mine and is basically a large vug.  The conditions in the vug were suitable to grow large crystals over time.  That is hot and stable for a long time.

The cave is very hot as it is faily deep below the surface.  The Cave of the Swords, which is located in the same mine, has 4 foot tall gypsum crystals.  They found that section of the mine in the early 1960's.  Part of the crystal specimens are located on display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

When the mine plays out and they turn off the pumps, the mine will fill with water and access to the vug will be lost.

If you really want more information on the mine, I can dig through some of my geology books of Mexico and find the chapter on the mines.  I read it a couple of years ago when I was looking at visiting the mine.  It is basically a silver mine found in limestone.

Geary

[homerboy2u]

Yes, I want more information. Please.