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Cave of the Crystals
Cave of the Crystals or Giant Crystal Cave ((スペイン語:Cueva de los Cristales)) is a cave connected to the Naica Mine below the surface in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico.
The main chamber contains giant selenite crystals (gypsum, CaSO4·2 H2O), some of the largest natural crystals ever found.〔 The cave's largest crystal found to date is in length, in diameter and 55 tons in weight. The cave is extremely hot, with air temperatures reaching up to 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Giant Crystal Cave Comes to Light )〕 with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to these factors. Without proper protection, people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time.
A group of scientists known as the ''Naica Project'' have been heavily involved in researching these caverns.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = NAICA Project )〕
==Formation of the crystals==
Naica lies on an ancient fault above an underground magma chamber below the cave. The magma heated the ground water which was saturated with sulfide ions (S2−). Cool oxygenated surface water contacted the mineral saturated heated water, but the two did not mix due to the difference in their densities. The oxygen slowly diffused into the heated water and oxidized the sulfides (S2−) into sulfates (SO42−). The hydrated sulfate gypsum crystallized at an extremely slow rate of over the course of at least 500,000 years forming the enormous crystals found today. The key to this process is the slow diffusion of oxygen from the cool, low density surface water into the hot, high density ground water. 〔http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070406-giant-crystals.html〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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