CHIHUAHUA, Mexico – Imagine stumbling upon giant crystals, over three feet in diameter, resembling massive swords measuring up to 36 feet long filling a cave.
Sounds like something out of a DC or Marvel movie doesn’t it? These crystals have grown in a place for at least a half million years, uninterrupted. The crystals themselves are not fatal to humans, it’s the environment they grow in that poses a threat.
Gypsum is actually an ingredient found in drywall. The soft sulfate mineral is made up of calcium sulfate dihydrate and is mined in North America to make panel products or building plasters. It’s also used to improve soil — overcoming the corrosive effect of alkalinity and can be added to muddled water to settle the dirt without hurting aquatic life.
Some may have seen gypsum as a food additive too. It’s found as a dietary source of calcium and often used as an ingredient in canned veggies, ice cream, flour and other foods.
In 2000, miners found massive gypsum pillars buried 984 feet, the same height as the Eiffel Tower, beneath the Sierra de Naica Mountain in Chihuahua, Mexico.
While it sounds like an amazing thing to see for adventure seekers, it’s not the most hospitable environment. In fact, it can potentially kill you.
The cave, heated by magma along the fault lines that run under the mountain, sits at a steamy 113-122 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity ranging from 90-100%. That kind of environment takes a huge toll on the human body. Staying too long with that much humidity can lead to fluid condensing inside the lungs, which can be fatal.
So how did humans see this without dying? It was an accident. Two miners saw the massive crystals after water was pumped out by the mining company they worked for. There have been a few others to see the massive crystals, but the risk explorers took going down there was high and required special suits. Scientists, like NASA’s Astrobiology Institute director Dr. Penelope Boston, ventured into the cave twice.
Donning specially designed cooling suits packed with ice bags and respirators with chilled, breathable air, the team was advised to stay no more than 30 minutes. During the 2009 excursion, Boston and her team studied ancient microbes found in samples taken from the cave. The goal of the study is to understand the sort of environments that might accommodate life on other planets by studying life that forms in extreme environments, like this cave, here on Earth.
Before you go Googling the cave, planning your trip, and collecting ice for a suit, just know this cave is no longer accessible. The cave was flooded again after the mining company broke into an aquifer allowing the groundwater to refill the cave. Why wouldn’t they stop this? Well, up until the cave was drained those crystals had grown in mineral-rich, magma-heated water. Exposure to air for almost twenty years basically compromised the structural integrity of the crystals. The air can produce a weakening in the crystals leading to cracks, ultimately ruining the wondrous giant formations. By allowing the water to refill the cave, it prevents human access and it’s hopeful the crystals will start growing again.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: