Crystal Cave

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:05 am

What do you think of this?
A very hot environment.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... tals-cave/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... als_2.html
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/ ... /shea-text
http://www.canyonsworldwide.com/crystals/index.html
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/e ... 9/Overview
http://www.crystalinks.com/mexicocrystals.html

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:33 am

Doesn't Superman live there?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:43 am

He was out.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:11 am

Nat Geo has a great spread in August 2008 on these caves.

they are alreday starting to deterorate form human traffic and the lack of water -

they are owned by a Mexican mining company and although preservation is high on their list - the budget to do so is not there.

if it wasnt so far from anything tourism would be able to pay the way to preserve it. kind of an oxymoron isnt it? tourists money needed to protect it from tourists?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:21 am

I wonder how many tourists they could have at 150 degrees?
They think there may be a lot more under the mountain too.
Eventually the water will fill up again and they will go back to growing for another 500,000 years.
And man will just be the thin line on the cliff face.

Pretty amazing stuff.

Post by **Elderberry** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:08 am

mdmf007 wrote:Nat Geo has a great spread in August 2008 on these caves.

they are alreday starting to deterorate form human traffic and the lack of water -

they are owned by a Mexican mining company and although preservation is high on their list - the budget to do so is not there.

if it wasnt so far from anything tourism would be able to pay the way to preserve it. kind of an oxymoron isnt it? tourists money needed to protect it from tourists?

The way I read the article it is the mining company that is causing the problem. They are pumping the water OUT of the caves so they can mine them. All they need to do to 'preserve' them is to STOP pumping the water out.

The pictures are amazing. I've seen smaller crystal deposits in caves, but wasn't aware that such large crystals existed--except for seeing them in the superman movie. I wonder if those caves were the inspiration for the movie effect?

JK

JK

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:31 am

stunning!

i doubt they were the inspiration for the movie, because they were only discovered in 2000 ...

but wow ... i wonder what other incredible stuff we have not discovered deep in the earth.

maybe they can get enough info to make some kind of replica, like they did in france with the lascaux caves.

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:57 am

I also read this article in NG. They never fail to impress me with their awesome pictures. I wonder how many trophy wives looked at those crystals and said hmmmmm...........

"Honey, have Jeeves warm up the Lear"

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:57 am

Photoshop, can't you tell?

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:49 pm

the Nat Geo show was pretty cool. The caves were underwater until the mining company pumped them out as a side effect of their operation. The edges of those crystals are apparently sharp even though the mineral is soft (can be carved by tools). They recovered some material that was buried in the crystal (from many thousands of years ago). The deterioration is in part due to the softness of the crystals.

I also got a kick out of their cooling solution (ice in-line with a ventilation system), just like I used in my 2007 spacesuit costume....

Post by **mdmf007** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:04 pm

when I first saw the pics a few years ago - i though they were totally photoshopped.

Preservation is good, and I agree flooding them would be the best to preserve the crystals. Thats not oging to happen though.

This is a working lead and silver mine - so the crystals are not the ci=hief priority for the time being.

money talks

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:42 am

when I first saw the picture I thought is was photoshoped or it was a scene from Journey to the Center of the Earth movie.

That is simply amazing. that is so fantastic. A rock hounds dream come true-

and for so many pasos you too can have one

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:32 pm

Apollonaris Zeus wrote:A rock hounds dream come true- and for so many pasos you too can have one

Yeah, but I bet shipping and handling costs would be a bitch

"What? No, I'm not talking about you Lisa"

Mrs.Sunshine · Post by **Mrs.Sunshine** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:05 pm

Sail Man wrote:I also read this article in NG. They never fail to impress me with their awesome pictures. I wonder how many trophy wives looked at those crystals and said hmmmmm...........

"Honey, have Jeeves warm up the Lear"

I have talked to them, and sent them pictures for a job in the future! (like the way future) and they said i have some amazing talent for just picking up a camera and snapping some photos!!!

If you wanna check them out!

flickr.com/people/sunshine775

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:18 am

Sail Man wrote:I also read this article in NG. They never fail to impress me with their awesome pictures. I wonder how many trophy wives looked at those crystals and said hmmmmm...........

"Honey, have Jeeves warm up the Lear"

Trophy wifes are not known for their intelligence!

Dogtooth Crystal they are!

Or spar!

Rates about a hardness of 2

I think the trophy wife would get more excited at their phallic form!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:24 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8466493.stm

Fire_Moose · Post by **Fire_Moose** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:43 am

Damn, i gotta go cut me some of those!

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:53 am

Something for a smallish ring?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:00 pm

I think they call that the ring of the dwarves.

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:51 pm

Fire_Moose wrote:Damn, i gotta go cut me some of those!

Calcite rings