Crystal formations in the earth

[Zolar V]

so i was watching National Geographic's program Explorer where they explored a Giant Crystal Cave in Naica, and watching it i saw all the scientist wonder in amazement over the giant gypsum crystals.

 

Is it really all that suprising that there are giant crystal caves?

i mean honestly, how could you not know that there are these subterranian caves? personally, i think the book Journey to the Center of the Earth isn't all that far-fetched. you have alot of area near old and new magma vents that could form such caves and we see this in the naica cave. if anything i am suprised we haven't found a Giant "ruby" Cave or other gem stones. all ruby takes is iron.. or maybe copper for emerald.. or dare i say diamond

[insane_alien]

well, the larger they get, the more chance there is that it collapses from external shear forces.

 

its not a surprise at all that large caves of crystaline material form at all. its just that seeing a giant cave full of crystals is a jawdropping experience even if you have seen a fair number of them before.

 

also, gypsum crystals form evapouratively. they do not require a magma chamber.

 

as for ruby, emerald and diamond caves, well. there is a reason they are so valuable. they're quite rare so the concentration would be too low for large structures to form. gypsum on the otherhand is all over the shot.

[Zolar V]

yea i know that they are considered rare and that gypsum is quite common, hence why our drywall is omade out of it most of the time. but i would think that givin the age/size/volume of the planet that somewhere there is a cave filled with giant precious stones. you could almost call the Debeers diamond mine in souther arfrica a giant diamond cave just because of the sheer immensity of the volume of diamonds found there, despite their lack of size.

 

its would just be really awesome to find a cave filled with giant precious stone. quartz and gypsum are interesting in their crystal structure but others would also be abit more interesting imho.

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think of what organisms could live in lets say a ruby cave.

[insane_alien]

just because a mineral is found in abundance somehwere doesn't mean that there will be and large scale formations.

 

for diamonds which are formed quite deep down with lots of temperature and pressure and then brought relatively close to the surface, this means that there will be lots of shearing forces applied as they rocks they're in get moced towards the surface ruining any larrge structures that form.

 

also, the carbon remains in a solid phase while all crystal cavern formations have the crystaline mineral being in a liquid or aqueous phase and then deposited.

[John Cuthber]

" i saw all the scientist wonder in amazement over the giant gypsum crystals.

 

Is it really all that suprising that there are giant crystal caves?

"

Scientists are allowed to have emotional responses to beauty; understanding the geology doesn't detract from that..

[Moontanman]

yea i know that they are considered rare and that gypsum is quite common, hence why our drywall is omade out of it most of the time. but i would think that givin the age/size/volume of the planet that somewhere there is a cave filled with giant precious stones. you could almost call the Debeers diamond mine in souther arfrica a giant diamond cave just because of the sheer immensity of the volume of diamonds found there, despite their lack of size.

 

its would just be really awesome to find a cave filled with giant precious stone. quartz and gypsum are interesting in their crystal structure but others would also be abit more interesting imho.

+

think of what organisms could live in lets say a ruby cave.

 

I have to ask, what would rubies have to do with organisms that live in a cave?

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BTW, when you say crystals do you count basalt crystals? They have six sides and about as big as telephone poles. They have been used make buildings almost like log houses. Then there are emeralds as big as railroad cross ties. Not gem quality to be sure but emeralds none the less.

[Zolar V]

what i was referring to was in a cave where you you would have large rubies growing you would have an extreemly iron saturated enviornment. and asking what type of organisms would live in there, is asking what kind of organism can develop and use the chemicals in the environement for energy. in this case the main chemical would be a form of iron. knowing extremeophile organisms and how they use alternate sources for energy, will help us understand that on other planets that cannot recieve enough energy from the sun, there could be organisms living there using these alteranate forms of energy.

[insane_alien]

none, the temperatures and pressures involved would not allow complex organic molecules to form.

 

oh, and rubies are aluminium oxide with a slight chromium impurity.