In 2000, while working in the Naica mine in Mexico, about 300 meters underground, two miners accidentally discovered an astonishing chamber unlike any other. This cave is unlike any other; it contains the largest natural crystals ever found on Earth.

    by girl_beautifull

    47 Comments

    1. And the cave is so hot and toxic that you can’t enter it without protective gear, and there’s a time limit to how long you can stay. Fascinating stuff.

    2. theoverwhelmedparent on

      If I remember correctly they wanted to seal it off again as the outside air and human presence ruins the natural crystal. Also it’s uncomfortable in there due to heat.

    3. I believe they allowed the chamber to fill with water again (it had been completely submerged when found and they stopped pumping after exploration) It was too hot and humid to be in it for more than a few minutes at a time.

    4. darcyhollywood39 on

      Didn’t think it was that big until i noticed the dudes in there. Then realized it’s huge

    5. Who knew that the scenes from the 60s or 70s movie “Journey to the center of the earth” would become wildly true one day!!! Still love that movie, and I’m an 80s kid

    6. What if those two miners didn’t tell anyone and make a company and attract investment and dig it themselves?

    7. DickMc_LongCock on

      I’m getting flashbacks to darksouls and trying to get to Seeth the dragon through the invisible path in the crystal caves 😂

    8. Drzewo_Silentswift on

      Oh man that’s unlike any other thing I’ve ever seen, nothing like other things.

    9. Gypsum crystals people, the same stuff in the walls of your home.

      Otherwise it would have been plundered years ago.

    10. Lex Luthor would never have guessed that Superman’s fortress of solitude was in Mexico…

    11. A super cool confluence mineral content in a fluid and temperature changes! This cave is normally flooded, they drained it for exploration and I believe its flooded again now. It was full of a supersaturated mineral solution (hotter water can carry more dissolved minerals than cold water). The same mineral concentration is fully dissolved elsewhere in the cave network, but once it flows to this cave system it cools a bit. The carrying capacity of the fluid for the dissolved minerals drops as it cools, causing a precipitation of solids. These unusually huge crystals form thanks to this quirky system

    Leave A Reply