Giant crystals enjoyed perfection - 04/05/07 04:41 PM
With lengths over 11m, the giant gypsum crystals found in Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales are a great natural wonder.
Now, a Spanish-Mexican team thinks it can explain how these marvels acquired their immense form.
The scientists studied tiny pockets of fluid trapped in the crystals and conducted back-up lab experiments.
They report in the journal Geology that the solution from which the crystals grew must have been kept in a very narrow, stable temperature range.
The researchers' analysis leads them to believe there are other dramatic caves waiting to be discovered in the Naica mine complex south-east of Chihuahua city.
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