The Real Crystal Cave

Are you a person familiar with Superman's Fortress of Solitude, the crystal frozen headquarters of the popular superhero? While the descriptions of the fortress have changed over the years, most people picture it as a place of tremendous cold and enormous frozen crystals. It's a wonderful piece of cartoon imagination, except that a real life version has been found in Mexico, and it is just as amazing as anything that human minds have dreamed up for the fictional Clark Kent.

The Cave of the Crystals is a massive underground chamber connected to the Naica Mine, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is the site of some of the largest natural mineral formations ever discovered, with the heaviest, made of selenite, measuring 36 feet long and weighing 55 tons. The spot was originally discovered in 1910 by miners, who uncovered a cavern that they dubbed 'Cueva de las Espadas'.

This original area, whose name translated to 'Cave of Swords', formed because Naica lies on top of a fault line, and is heated by underground magma pockets. The gypsum-rich groundwater filled the spaces for nearly half a million years, resulting in the massive mineral formations. The giant crystal cavern was discovered in 2000, no one realizing that Cueva de las Espadas was just the beginning. The floor and walls are comprised of these immense formations, just as in the Fortress of Solitude conception - some so big you can easily walk on them.

Further drilling in 2009 revealed a new cave, which has been named the Ice Palace; it contains formations which are smaller, some tiny enough to resemble threads or cauliflower. All of the crystals are made of selenite, a clear mineral which is a type of gypsum, comprised of calcium sulfate. No organic matter such as ancient bacteria has been found as yet, although scientific researchers have taken samples. As they are exposed to air, all of the cores begin to deteriorate, unfortunately.

If you're thinking of strapping on a spelunker's cap and a Superman cape, you may be out of luck. The Naica Mine is privately owned land, and the Cave of the Crystals is not exactly a walk in the park. Temperatures reach up to 136 Fahrenheit and humidity regularly measures between 90 and 99 percent, making exploration next to impossible. Without protection, visitors can survive for approximately ten minutes inside before being overcome by the heat.

Special cooling suits had to be invented for the trip by the Italian crystallographers in 2006, but they only allowed them to extend their search by twenty minutes. So while it might be impossible to see on your own, if you happen to know (or be) a mineralogist, then your vacation in Mexico could be the start of the best business trip ever conceived.

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