The gypsum crystals of the "Cueva de los Cristales" in the Naica mine of northern Mexico reach 11 meters in length. The hellish conditions (54°C, 100 percent humidity) will prevent this from becoming a tourist attraction, but they preserve the giant crystals of clear selenite. I bring all this up because the upcoming Geology features this image on its cover, heralding a paper on the origin of the crystals by a Spanish-Mexican research team.Truly the cave is a world-class wonder, but I still hope there is a way—perhaps another chamber—where these crystals can be harvested for museums to display. Pictures, even those at naica.com.mx, can hardly do them justice.
Gypsum spears in Cueva de los Cristales — GSA
Comments
These selenite crystals are incredible! I feel they deserve to stay in the ground where they were born and hopefully will continue to grow. I agree it is impossible for photographs to fully show these crystals, yet taking them away from their home may be a greater injustice. These pictures give people a view of earth’s deep wonders and light our imaginations. We all can freely visit crystal caves like these in dreams better than museum exhibits.