The Crystal Cave — known to many as La Cueva de Los Cristales — is bury 300 meters below the Earth ’s airfoil , sequestered away in the Naica ore mines of Chihuahua , Mexico . Bursting from the top , bottom , and sides of the cavern ’s walls are otherworldy outcrop of gypsum crystal . Many are too braggy to wrap your munition around . Others stretch out over thirty feet in length .
You would think that geological features of such superheroic proportions would have to farm at a fairly stupendous magazine to reach the title of world ’s most colossal crystals , but you ’d be wrong . Because it turns out the fragment - similar spires of the Crystal Cave are not only the declamatory on record — late finding reveal that they also present the slowest pace of emergence .
The discovery was made in 2011 by a research squad go by Spanish geologist Juan Manuel García - Ruiz , who measured the gypsum beams with “ an modern gamey - resolution blank - light beam phase - shift interferometry microscope ; ” which is another way of saying his scope was custom - build , and ultrasensitive .
“ The slowest measurable maturation pace was establish [ in urine mensurate ] 55 ° C,”write the researchersin the composition describing their determination , publish in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Using their high - resolution awesomescope , the team was able to observe a vitreous silica sample distribution growing at a charge per unit of just 0.000000000014 mm per second .
In other Holy Writ , if you took a picture of the vitreous silica today , get out , then returned to the cave 16,000 years later and take another picture , you could compare your photographs and see that the crystal had grown a whopping 7 mm in length ( about the width of a pencil ) . Are n’t geological timescales playfulness ?
The team ’s termination , the investigator write , “ demonstrate the usefulness of employ modern optical techniques in lab experiments to gain a better understanding of crystal increment processes occur at a geological timescale . ” Which really makes good sense , if you think about it , because for as beautiful as The Crystal Cave is , it really pays to spend as small clip there as possible . Why ? Because it turns out the same conditions that are tributary to slow and steady crystallization growth ( i.e. well over 100 degree Fahrenheit at 99 % humidity ) also come about to be conducive to , you fuck , heat stroke .
“ You ’re in the theatre of Superman , ” enounce García - Ruiz , trace the cavern toDiscover Magazine . “ But if you stay for half an time of day , you die . ”
[ PNASviaDiscover ]
pic by Carston Peter via National Geographic
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