Anyone see this on the Discovery Channel?

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NewDayRising

 
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Anyone see this on the Discovery Channel?

by NewDayRising » Wed Feb 17, 2010 6:41 am

Mega crystals found in Naica Mine:
http://news.discovery.com/earth/naica-big-pics.html

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sneakyracer

 
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by sneakyracer » Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:49 am

Real life Superman's Fortress of Solitude, pretty amazing

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jonesa37

 
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by jonesa37 » Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:47 am

These are huge calcite crystals so rad! Watch planet earth the caves edition oh and one of the more recent national geographic issues has a sick article on the cave and the formation of the crystals. If only I could figure out how to make a stable enviroment in my room to grab one of these crystals....

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xDoogiex

 
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by xDoogiex » Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:01 am

watched a special about it awhile ago. it ruled!

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Sierra Ledge Rat

 
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by Sierra Ledge Rat » Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:17 pm


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MoapaPk

 
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by MoapaPk » Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:22 pm

jonesa37 wrote:These are huge calcite crystals so rad! Watch planet earth the caves edition oh and one of the more recent national geographic issues has a sick article on the cave and the formation of the crystals. If only I could figure out how to make a stable enviroment in my room to grab one of these crystals....


I believe they are gypsum crystals; you would need something more soluble than calcite. That cave has been known for a while; it's odd that the attention is suddenly so great.

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Sierra Ledge Rat

 
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by Sierra Ledge Rat » Sat Mar 06, 2010 4:39 am

MoapaPk wrote:I believe they are gypsum crystals; you would need something more soluble than calcite. That cave has been known for a while; it's odd that the attention is suddenly so great.


The cave was discovered more than 12 years ago.

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jonesa37

 
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by jonesa37 » Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:12 am

MoapaPk wrote:
jonesa37 wrote:These are huge calcite crystals so rad! Watch planet earth the caves edition oh and one of the more recent national geographic issues has a sick article on the cave and the formation of the crystals. If only I could figure out how to make a stable enviroment in my room to grab one of these crystals....


I believe they are gypsum crystals; you would need something more soluble than calcite. That cave has been known for a while; it's odd that the attention is suddenly so great.


I stand corrected. I totally messed, up when I wrote that up, they are gypsum, haha and I call myself a geologist. Ever since Planet Earth this cave has exploded into the mass media.

While on the subject of geology I do believe that large calcite crystals are also possible some crystals found in iceland were ~250 tons (P. C. Rickwood (1981). "The largest crystals". American Mineralogist 66: 885–907. http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM66/AM66_885.pdf.)

When you say that you need something more soluble than calcite what are you referring to their formation or something else?

Both calcite and gypsum have retrograde solubility become less soluble in water as the temperature increases.
Sweet stuff! I always like a geology discussion!


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