Written By Kalpitaa Rajesh (Grade 12)
Natural in itself is pulchritudinous. The beauty of nature is perpetual. Though man is the feeder of Mother Earth yet there are numerous alluring features which man didn’t feed to her. Instead, she had it unexplored in herself and one such contour is the lethal Crystal Cave.
The unearthing of the Cueva de los Cristales (Crystal Cave) is quite engrossing. Pinpointed in the Naica Mine in Mexico’s state of Chihuahua it was luckily discovered in 1881 by two agrarian youths William and George Vanasse while they were in the woodland chasing down a woodchuck when it dropped out of sight all of a sudden. The two inquisitive brothers just explored and pushed with a stick that vanished out of sight within the blink of an eye. The actual exploration occurred the next day when they decided to go down and set foot into a cupola enveloped with clay and detritus. They then sank deep down into what is now the main room of the second level. The men were taken aback when they noticed only flimsy access to clay-filled galleries on the higher levels. The presence of other levels was not suspected. Initially, it was called Sander’s Corner Cave.
It was found by archaeologists in 2002 during a mining operation while gouging for a new underpass in pursuit of deposits of lead, zinc and silver. It appeared as a horseshoe-shaped cavity in limestone rock which was considerably wide and long. The floor was engulfed in lucid and perfectly characterised blocks. The colossal crystal beams protrude out from both the blocks and the floor. The origin of the crystal caves is found to be volcanic pursuits. The volcanic activity that was set about 26 million years ago created Naica mountain and filled it with high-temperature anhydrite, which is the anhydrous—lacking water—form of gypsum. Anhydrite is firm above 136 degrees Fahrenheit (58 degrees Celsius). Below that temperature gypsum is the stable form. When magma beneath the mountain cooled and the temperature dropped below 58 degrees Celsius, the anhydrite began to soften and disintegrating in due course of time. The anhydrite slowly enriched the water with sulphate and calcium molecules, which for mega annum have been deposited in the caves in the form of enormous selenite gypsum crystals. This provided the perfect conditions for crystal growth.
In long-standing laboratory research, they sent samples of the Naica crystals to various gaseous and liquid surroundings to analyse any variations or scum that could pose a hazard to the gypsum’s long-term probity and appearance. The hope is that one day, the crystal-filled caves will be submerged once again, boosting the advancement and reconstruction of the world’s largest crystals.
Featured Image Courtesy – El Mundo
