That's Superman's fortress of solitude. :) On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote:
> > > This is freakin' awesome! Who says you need to go to outer space to find > alien environments? This reminds me of innumerable scifi films I've seen > over the years with similar settings... > > This is definitely worth taking a look at. Click on the pics for a larger > view. > > ************************* > http://www.stormchaser.ca/Caves/Naica/Naica.html > > The Crystal Cave of Giants was accidentally discovered in 2000 by miners > working in the silver and lead mine at Naica, Mexico. It lies almost 300 > meters (900 feet) below the surface of the Earth and it contains the largest > crystals known in the world, by far. The largest crystals are over 11 meters > long (36 feet) and weigh 55 tons. > > The crystals themselves are made of selenite which is crystallized gypsum, > the same material used in drywall construction. Except these crystals formed > over a span of about half a million years in a hot water solution, saturated > with minerals. The the temperature inside the cave remained very > consistently hot for the entire time the crystals were growing. > > It is still incredibly hot in the cave due its proximity to a magma > chamber, deep underground. The air temperature is 50C with a relative > humidity of over 90%, making the air feel like an unbearable 105C (228F) > Entering the cave without special protective suits can be fatal in 15 > minutes. I will be entering the cave wearing a special cooling suit with > chilling packs inside and a specialized backpack respirator which will allow > me to breath chilled air. Even with all this equipment, I will still only be > able to stay in the cave for no more than 45 minutes at a time. > > In extreme heat, the body begins to lose higher brain functions which made > the expedition much more difficult with the risk of falling into deep pits, > or being impaled on a sharp crystal. All the camera gear needs to be slowly > brought up to temperature beforehand by pre-heating it and most cameras with > moving parts and tape mechanisms simply will not work at all. > > It is as dangerous as it is beautiful. > > When the call comes over the radio to get out... It is time to go. > Climbing up onto one of the larger crystals. > When we first arrived at the Naica mine, Manuel and his crew took us inside > without wearing the special cooling suits. This was in order to get us used > to what REAL heat is like. There is a steel door protecting the cave and as > soon as you pass through it, the temperature hits you like a truck, but as > soon as you get your first glimpse of the incredible crystals, you want to > keep going deeper. We were inside for only 14 minutes, which was pushing the > danger limits without cooling suits. When we exited, the staging area was a > "cool" 41 Celsius. My heart was pounding and I was completely soaked in > sweat, my shirts, pants, socks & boots... Everything. All we could do was > sit, drink and rest. > > The next day, the real exploration began. We had left our camera gear > inside the cave the night before, sealed up in air tight bags so that it > could slowly warm up to the ambient temperature of the cave. Without doing > this, all the gear would fog up, form a layer of condensation and become > totally useless. > > > -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
