@Nathan6692 27 February 2021 more from that month

Cave of the Crystals in Chihuahua, Mexico Miners first discovered the Cave of Swords, located directly above the Cave of the Crystals, in 1910. The crystals there are much smaller than in the Cave of the Crystals (a mere 1-2 meters versus a whopping 12 metres!), and the temperature is cool, which may be why the crystals stopped growing. The Cave of the Crystals, on the other hand, was discovered in 2000 and contains the largest natural selenite crystals ever found. The biggest crystal found here was 12 meters in length and 4 meters in diameter! As opposed to the Cave of Swords, the average temperature here is 50-58 degrees Celsius with 90-99% humidity. Because of this extremely hot temperature, this cave is relatively unexplored. Even scientists and researchers with the proper protective gear can only stay in the cave for 30-45 minutes at a time. So how were these incredible crystals formed? Over time, gypsum-rich groundwater began seeping into the cavern that is now the Cave of the Crystals, filling the hollow space with gypsum. This alone might not do much, but thanks to the pool of magma beneath the cave, the groundwater remained at 50 degrees Celsius for 500,000 years, allowing selenite crystals to form and grow to gigantic sizes. Fun Fact The Cave of the Crystals was only ever accessible because of the pumping operations of the mining company that was working in the nearby Naica Mine. Mining stopped in 2017, and the cave has since been re-flooded in an attempt to return it to an undisturbed state in which its crystals can continue to grow. #info #EverythingsInfo