Billionaire With Strong Back Wanted

To Wrestle Monster Minerals Into Museum 
No wonder the Aztecs believed in a magical underworld called Xibalba.

Once upon a time in Mexico, it was 136 degrees in the shady interior of this cathedral sized crystal cavern. As eons passed , the submerged pool of  calcium sulfate brine sprouted anhydrite and gypsum crystals the size of the columns of the   Parthenon. 

While Central America and Mexico abound  with  Lost mines , the region's caves are usually filled with dull calcite stalactites.

Not  those beneath Las Delicias in Chihuahua's mining district - the spectacular find is already a major tourist attraction  But don't drink the water-it's anything but delicious , still supercharged with  calcium salts.

This riot of Plaster of Paris on steroids came to light as the Naica zinc mining company dewatered new levels to uncover more  ore.  Work stopped  out of sheer awe of the fearful symmetry emerging as the cavern drained. Yet though fit to make Superman feel homesick , these crystals are not the largest on Earth

Six sided beryl  'logs' twice the size of the Las Delicias crystals are found in coarse-grained silicate  rock formations called pegmatites in Russia. But they are enclosed , while these perfect anhydrite prisms are free-standing and mighty enough to relegate the gypsum blades found  years ago in the nearby 'Cave of Swords' to toothpick status.

The water temperature of the new finds formation has been pinned at 136 degrees F  because that temperature marks the  phase boundary betwee the hydrated and water -free forms of  crystalline calcium sulfate that coexist in the Las Delicias cavern

The find pushes the limit of touristic accessibility . It's a long way from anywhere down a mineshaft in a desert, and seems liable to decay if left open. The crystals are soft as plaster, and sensitive to splitting if exposed to sudden temperature or humidity  changes.  But the rock enclosing this Megageode is easily quarried.

Respectable billionaires with dreams of outdoing Ozymandias are invited to tender takeover bids to their favorite Museum Of Natural History. Bringing the crystal cavern back alive  for installation as  Your Name Here Hall  should cost little more than relocating the Temple of Abu Simbel  or King Kong's extended family.Interested curators and trustees are invited to get in shape and acclimate for the heavy lifting  by helping recover a 300 ton jade boulder from a mountainside in Guatemala. It could be pretty warm work.

Cavern Photo credits National Geographic

Comments

[John]

Has anyone estimated how long it took these minerals to crystallize out of the supersaturated solutions? A matter of minutes? Centuries? Millennia?

Russell Seitz Replies :
I don't know ,and I'd love to go and find out by checking liquid inclusions . I'd reckon a millimeter a year a healthy low temperature growth rate for anhydrite, so milennia may be on the low side

[fahrrad]

Dies ist ein großer Ort. Ich möchte hier noch einmal.

[generic propecia]

Is it possible to have king kong jumping around and surviving his
various crash landings? Why not? Please explain this in terms of
atomic physics using natural units (planck units). An answer might
discuss the force of the impact of King Kong (use approximate
equations) and the chemical bonds in his bones. Ignore factors of 2,
pi, and such pesty constants.

[generic viagra]

The crystals are soft as plaster, and sensitive to splitting if exposed to sudden temperature or humidity changes.

[generic viagra]

I woke up this morning and the first thing I normally do in the morning is look for newer information for my knowledge, but the article that I read today which was written by you just blew me off. I cannot believe anything ever can happen. I too agree with your conclusion and more and more furor should be raised on such topics.

[merchant services]

I did watch it on discovery channel, the place is so amazing. Such a wonders of the earth.