Not so long ago, in 2000, in Mexico, in Chihuahua, under the city of Nike, the miner brothers Sánchez, Juan and Pedro, while developing a new branch of faces in the existing system of working mines, discovered a unique underground cave in which giant crystals formed at a depth of 300 m.
They are located throughout the cave in a chaotic manner and are many hundreds of times better than all known stalactites and stalagmites in beauty and parameters.
The history of the discovery of the cave dates back to the distant 1794 year. But then she did not represent such value and was used as a mine for the extraction of zinc, silver and lead. Her several rooms will be opened much later.
The very first hall of the cave was discovered in 1910, it lies relatively shallowly – at about 120-150 m deep. Because of the peculiar kind of crystals, this hall was called the “Cave of Swords”. Here, their height reached only a meter. Scientists associate this with the fact that the temperature of the air in the hall dropped much earlier and thus stopped the subsequent growth of crystals.
At the turn of the millennium, nature allowed man to once again penetrate one of their unique secrets. Throughout the cave, there are huge 15-meter-high handsome selenite crystals, reaching 1.5 meters in diameter. The weight of this miraculous beauty is also impressive – it reaches 55 tons for each crystal.
After nearly 90 years, geologists discovered another hall, this time in the form of a horseshoe, which was given the name “Cave of Crystals”. In 2009, we found another “room” of this unique cave. He was called the “Ice Palace” for the beauty and elegance of crystals. The cave attracts not only professional geologists and tourist speleologists, but also biologists: in the cracks of crystals, the oldest bacteria have survived in their original state.
Selenite, or moonstone, of which the crystals are composed, is one of the most amazing varieties of gypsum of crystalline form. It got its name three times due to the similarity of its white glow with the light emanating from the moon. Selenite is endowed with a variety of therapeutic and philosophical properties. This cave is also called the Sistine Chapel of Crystals. So people want to emphasize the uniqueness of the natural miracle.
Scientists believe that such a miracle of nature could begin to form millions of years ago by merging thermal waters with a temperature of 52 degrees C and cold, which include sulphides and oxygen. The fact is that under the cave there is a magma chamber, which heats the water, saturated with gypsum rocks.
In addition, the climatic conditions of the cave itself were a favorable background for the formation and growth of crystals. The air of the dungeon, extremely saturated with hydrogen sulfide, is heated to 50 degrees C, and the humidity exceeds 90%.
To safely visit the cave, you must wear special equipment that can cool the air and protect the body from overheating. If you descend to this depth of 300 meters without appropriate equipment, then without harm to your health, you can spend no more than 15 minutes there. Therefore, before visiting this miracle of nature, even professional researchers must undergo instruction and dress in special costumes.
After the end of geological work, the crystal cave can be flooded to preserve the crystals in their original form, because under the action of air they begin to collapse, and pumping out water from the cave to conduct research and open it to the public leaves enormous funds. But while the “Nike Project” is working, one can approach one of the intimate secrets of Mother Nature.
