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Cave of the Crystals (Spanish: Cueva de los cristales), also known as Naica Cave (Spanish: Cueva de Naica) or the Giant Crystal Cave, is a cave connected to the Naica Mine at a depth of 300 metres (980 ft), in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico.

It takes the form of a chamber within the limestone host rock of the mine, and is about 109 metres (358 ft) long with a volume of 5,000 to 6,000 cubic metres (180,000 to 210,000 ft3). The chamber contains giant selenite crystals (gypsum, CaSO4 · 2 H2O), some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The largest is 11.40 metres (37.4 ft), with a volume of about 5 cubic metres (180 ft3), and an estimated mass of 12 tonnes. When not flooded, the cave is extremely hot, with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored because of these factors. The cave was discovered in April 2000 by brothers Juan and Pedro Sánchez while drilling in the mine. As of October 2015, the mine had reflooded and the cavern filled once more with the water rich in minerals required for the crystals to grow.

Naica lies on a fault above an underground magma chamber which is approximately 3–5 kilometres (2–3 mi) below the cave. When the overall temperature of the cave started to drop below 56 °C (133 °F), the hydrothermal and sedimentary anhydrite crystals dissolved, and gypsum (CaSO4 · 2 H2O) crystals formed. The hydrated sulfate gypsum crystallized at an extremely slow rate over the course of at least 500,000 years, forming the enormous crystals found today.

In 1910, miners discovered a cavern beneath the Naica Mine workings, the Cave of Swords (Spanish: Cueva de las espadas). It is located at a depth of 120 metres (390 ft), above the Cave of the Crystals, and contains spectacular, smaller (1-metre (3 ft 3 in) long) crystals. It is speculated that at this level, transition temperatures may have fallen much more rapidly, leading to an end in the growth of the crystals. Giant Crystal Cave was discovered in April 2000 by miners excavating a new tunnel for the Industrias Peñoles mining company located in Naica, Mexico, while drilling through the Naica fault, which they were concerned would flood the mine. The Cave of Crystals is a horseshoe-shaped cavity in limestone. The crystals deteriorate in air, so the Naica Project attempted to visually document the crystals before they deteriorated further. Two other smaller caverns were also discovered in 2000, Queen's Eye Cave and Candles Cave, and another chamber was found in a drilling project in 2009. The new cave, named Ice Palace, by James Marc Beverly on a National Geographic expedition, is 150 metres (490 ft) deep and is not flooded, but its crystal formations are much smaller, with small "cauliflower" formations and fine, threadlike crystals.

A scientific team coordinated by Paolo Forti, specialist of cave minerals and crystallographer at the University of Bologna (Italy), explored the cave in detail in 2006. Stein-Erik Lauritzen (University of Bergen, Norway) performed uranium-thorium dating to determine the maximum age of the giant crystals, estimated at about 500,000 years. Van Driessche directly measured the growth rates of these giant gypsum crystals using present-day water of the Naica. Penelope Boston (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, USA), speleologist and geomicrobiologist specialist of extremophile organisms, realized sterile sampling of gypsum drillcores by making small boreholes inside large crystals under aseptic conditions. Boston, announced the discovery of bacteria found in inclusions embedded in some of the crystals. Other researches covered the fields of palynology (pollen study), geochemistry, hydrogeology and the physical conditions prevailing in the Cave of Crystals.

The cave was featured on the Discovery Channel program Naica: Beyond The Crystal Cave in February 2011.

Quick Facts

• The chamber contains giant selenite crystals (gypsum, CaSO4 · 2 H2O), some of the largest natural crystals ever found.
• It is located at a depth of 120 metres (390 ft), above the Cave of the Crystals, and contains spectacular, smaller (1-metre (3 ft 3 in) long) crystals.
• Two other smaller caverns were also discovered in 2000, Queen's Eye Cave and Candles Cave, and another chamber was found in a drilling project in 2009.
• When the overall temperature of the cave started to drop below 56 °C (133 °F), the hydrothermal and sedimentary anhydrite crystals dissolved, and gypsum (CaSO4 · 2 H2O) crystals formed.
• The new cave, named Ice Palace, by James Marc Beverly on a National Geographic expedition, is 150 metres (490 ft) deep and is not flooded, but its crystal formations are much smaller, with small "cauliflower" formations and fine, threadlike crystals.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Cave of the Crystals". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.