#cave crystals

[redrcs]

Lake Cave, near Margaret River

On my travels

[playingforpix]

These glowing cave crystals would make some epic costume jewelry.

[wilburwhateley]

Microbes wake up from 10,000-year nap in cave crystals

Microbes that once slumbered inside giant crystals in a Mexican cave are alive and well, according to NASA scientists.

“A new find from otherworldly underground crystal caves raises hopes for finding life on, well, other worlds.

During exploration of Mexico’s inhospitable Naica caves, a team of scientists managed to extract, and revive, long dormant microbes from inside the giant crystals that populate the caverns. With genetic patterns unlike most other life on earth, the critters may have been dozing for many millennia.

If it holds up, the NASA-backed discovery would raise both hopes for finding life in the extreme environments of other worlds and fears of extraterrestrial contamination by hardy earthborn superbugs.

Like a real life Fortress of Solitude, the surreal Naica mine of Northern Mexico is riddled with crisscrossing translucent spikes dozens of feet in length. Originally developed by miners hunting for silver and other precious metals, the site also attracted scientists interested in extremophiles – life forms that thrive in often oxygen-free intense environments of fire and ice: deep sea vents, antarctic ice, and volcanoes.

Located nearly a thousand feet underground, exploring the Naica caves is not for the faint of heart. Even specially developed ice-suits equipped with ventilators piping in ice-cooled air only permitted human visitors to brave the sweltering temperatures for an hour at a time.

But for the chemosynthesizing microbes that call this hot, pitch black cave home, it’s no big deal. Unlike most familiar ecosystems that ultimately derive their energy from sunlight, life forms in these dark environments break down rock minerals for food like little miners.

Researchers already knew microbes lived in the caves, but no one suspected they might actually be lurking inside imperfections in crystals themselves, some of which date back millions of years...”  more

[endlesdreamerz-blog]

With this I was going for the crystaly shiny cave gem look, or was at least attempting too. I did give it a story just for fun, you can find that on my deviant art page.(http://therealitydreamers.deviantart.com/) Also feel free to share your own story.

I also rendered this from an different angle and I will share that on this blog as well. 

[nargodian]

I wanted to see if I could light a cave with colored light...

[daytraveling]

Cave of Crystals - Naica, Mexico

980 ft below the surface lie some of the largest natural crystals ever found, these giant selenite crystals were formed above a magma chamber, the magma below heated the ground water which became saturated with minerals, including large quantities of gypsum. The hollow space of the cave was filled with this mineral-rich hot water and remained filled for about 500,000 years; during this time, the temperature of the water remained very stable at over 50 °C. This allowed crystals to form and grow to immense sizes.

 The cave is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to these factors. Without proper protection people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time.

Below is a video from a BBC TV show about these amazing formations.