This is kinda cool for folks who grew up watching" journey to the center of the earth" ( no "survival" implications): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ystals-discovered-1-000ft-Mexican-desert.html Pictured: The Cave of Crystals discovered 1,000ft below a Mexican desert By Victoria Moore Created 10:15 PM on 27th October 2008 Comments (24) Add to My Stories Until you notice the orange-suited men clambering around, it's hard to grasp the extraordinary scale of this underground crystal forest. Nearly 1,000ft below the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico, this cave was discovered by two brothers drilling in the Naica lead and silver mine. It is an eerie sight. Up to 170 giant, luminous obelisks - the biggest is 37.4ft long and the equivalent height of six men - jut across the grotto like tangled pillars of light; and the damp rock of their walls is covered with yet more flawless clusters of blade-sharp crystal. Scroll down for more Enlarge Crystal forest: People clambering through the Cave of Crystals in Mexico wearing suits and backpacks of ice-cool air to cope with the 112F temperature The giant obelisks are formed from groundwater saturated in calcium sulphate which filtered through the cave system millions of years ago They are formed from groundwater saturated in calcium sulphate which, warmed by an intrusion of magma about a mile below, began filtering through the cave system millions of years ago.
Neat stuff. Calcium sulfate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Calcium_sulfate_hemihydrate.jpg" class="image" title="Calcium sulfate hemihydrate"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Calcium_sulfate_hemihydrate.jpg/200px-Calcium_sulfate_hemihydrate.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/a/a7/Calcium_sulfate_hemihydrate.jpg/200px-Calcium_sulfate_hemihydrate.jpg
It's an oven! I saw a special on Nat Geo about it. Pretty cool stuff. I couldn't help but think of "journey" myself
The humidity is near 100% and the temperature every bit as high. I read somewhere that the Mexican government is trying to make this cave more comfortable so it can be opened as a tourist attraction.
Nope, not just you. They do look fishy. It may have been touched up for affect. There are a few sites about the cave: http://www.crystalinks.com/mexicocrystals.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/photogalleries/giant-crystals-cave/ http://www.canyonsworldwide.com/crystals/mainframe3.html
Now that the cave has been dewatered, the growth of the crystals is stopped. The whole crystal growth thing is based on submergence in the undisturbed solution. But you knew that from growing rock candy in the fridge when you were a kid.
Adding to the "weird look" is the lighting. Cavers use "painting with light" techniques to light massive rooms. The camera is set upon a tripod,in the dark room, the shutter is locked open and some body moves around theroom and fires flashes at various places in the cave, one flash pop would not be enough light for a massive room. Notice the "hotspots" through out the picture. Folks usedtuo use alot of the largest old "bulb type" flashbulbs because they were fairly rugged in the wet,put out a lotof lightand could be fired with a low voltage battery.