Lechuguilla Cave

Lechuguilla Cave
The Chandelier Ballroom in Lechuguilla Cave

Lechuguilla Cave is, as of June 2011, the sixth longest cave (130.24 miles (210 km)) known to exist in the world, and the deepest in the continental United States (1,604 feet (489 m)), but it is most famous for its unusual geology, rare formations, and pristine condition.

The cave is named for Agave lechuguilla, a plant found near its entrance. It is located in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. Access to the cave is limited to approved scientific researchers, survey and exploration teams, and National Park Service management-related trips.

Contents

Exploration history

Lechuguilla Cave was known until 1986 as a small, fairly insignificant historic site in the park's backcountry. Small amounts of bat guano were mined from the entrance passages for a year under a mining claim filed in 1914. The historic cave contained a 90-foot (27 m) entrance pit known as Misery Hole, which led to 400 feet (122 m) of dry dead-end passages.[1]

The cave was visited infrequently after mining activities ceased. However, in the 1950s cavers heard wind roaring up from the rubble-choked floor of the cave. Although there was no obvious route, different people concluded that cave passages lay below the rubble. A group of Colorado cavers gained permission from the National Park Service and began digging in 1984. The breakthrough, into large walking passages, occurred on May 26, 1986.[1]

Since 1986, explorers have mapped over 130 miles (209 km) of passages[2] and have pushed the depth of the cave to 1,604 feet (489 m),[2] ranking Lechuguilla as the 6th longest cave in the world (4th longest in the United States)[2] and the deepest limestone cave in the country. Cavers, drawn by the caves' pristine condition and rare beauty, come from around the world to explore and map its passages and geology.[1]

Geology

Stalagmites, stalactites, and draperies by a pool

Lechuguilla Cave offered even more than just its extreme size. Cavers were greeted by large amounts of gypsum and lemon-yellow sulfur deposits. A large variety of rare speleothems, some of which had never been seen anywhere in the world, included 20 feet (6.1 m) gypsum chandeliers, 20 feet (6.1 m) gypsum hairs and beards, 15 feet (4.6 m) soda straws, hydromagnesite balloons, cave pearls, subaqueous helictites, rusticles, U-loops and J-loops. Lechuguilla Cave surpassed its nearby sister, Carlsbad Caverns, in size, depth, and variety of speleothems, though no room has been discovered yet in Lechuguilla Cave which is larger than Carlsbad's Big Room.[1]

Scientific exploration has been conducted as well. For the first time a Guadalupe Mountains cave extends deep enough that scientists may study five separate geologic formations from the inside. The profusion of gypsum and sulfur lends support to speleogenesis by sulfuric acid dissolution. The sulfuric acid is believed to be derived from hydrogen sulfide which migrated from nearby oil deposits. Thus, this cavern (as well as Carlsbad Caverns) apparently formed from the bottom up, in contrast to the normal top-down carbonic acid dissolution mechanism of cave formation.[1]

Rare, chemolithoautotrophic bacteria are believed to occur in the cave. These bacteria feed on the sulfur, iron, and manganese minerals and may assist in enlarging the cave and determining the shapes of some unusual speleothems. Other studies indicate that some microbes may have medicinal qualities that are beneficial to humans.[1]

Lechuguilla Cave lies beneath a park wilderness area. However, it appears that the cave's passages may extend out of the park into adjacent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. A major threat to the cave is proposed gas and oil drilling on BLM land. Any leakage of gas or fluids into the cave's passages could kill cave life or cause explosions.[1]

Filming

Lechuguilla Cave was shown in the BBC documentary series Planet Earth. The fourth episode, titled "Caves", aired on April 22, 2007 and documented a team of scientists and filmmakers exploring Lechuguilla cave including the Chandelier Ballroom where high quality crystals are found. It took the team two years to get permission to film the cave and local authorities are unlikely to allow another film crew to enter in the foreseeable future.[3]

The Denver Museum of Natural History (now known as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science) filmed one of the first documentaries in the cave titled "Lechuguilla Cave: The Hidden Giant" in 1987 featuring many of the cavers responsible for the breakthrough and initial survey work. The video was broadcast on the Denver PBS station KRMA in 1989 and was available for purchase at the Denver Museum until the early 1990s.

The National Geographic Society program titled Mysteries Underground was also filmed extensively in Lechuguilla Cave.[citation needed]

Fiction

Lechuguilla is the location of the Nevada Barr mystery starring Anna Pigeon, Blind Descent.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Lechuguilla Cave". NPS. http://www.nps.gov/cave/naturescience/lechuguilla_cave.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-22. 
  2. ^ a b c Bob Gulden. "USA Longest Caves". http://www.caverbob.com/usalong.htm. Retrieved September 2, 2009. 
  3. ^ "Caves". Planet Earth. 2007-04-22. No. 4, season 1.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cave — For other uses, see Cave (disambiguation). Cavern redirects here. For other uses, see Cavern (disambiguation). Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to… …   Wikipedia

  • Lechuguilla — Grotte de Lechuguilla La grotte de Lechuguilla se trouve au sein du parc national de Carlsbad Caverns (Nouveau Mexique) aux États Unis. En 2006, elle développait 193 km de réseau pour une profondeur de  489 m, ce qui en fait une des plus… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cave rescue — environments. Cave rescue borrows elements from firefighting, confined space rescue, rope rescue and mountaineering techniques but has also developed its own special techniques and skills for performing work in conditions that are almost always… …   Wikipedia

  • Cave Research Foundation — The Cave Research Foundation (CRF) is an American private, non profit group dedicated to the exploration, research, and conservation of caves. The group arose in the early 1950s from the exploration efforts at Floyd Collins Crystal Cave, now… …   Wikipedia

  • Cueva Lechuguilla — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Estalagmitas y estalactitas de la cueva Lechuguilla La Cueva Lechuguilla tiene una longitud de 196 kilómetros (122 millas), es hasta ahora la quinta cueva más larga conocida en el mundo, y la más profunda continental …   Wikipedia Español

  • Agave lechuguilla — Taxobox name = Lechuguilla image width = 240px regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Liliopsida ordo = Asparagales familia = Agavaceae genus = Agave species = A. lechuguilla binomial = Agave lechuguilla binomial authority = Torr.,… …   Wikipedia

  • Grotte de Lechuguilla — Lac souterrain dans la grotte de Lechuguilla La grotte de Lechuguilla se trouve au sein du parc national de Carlsbad Caverns (Nouveau Mexique) aux États Unis. En janvier 2010, elle développait 207 km de réseau pour une dénivelée de 489 m, ce …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Selenite — This article is about the mineral: for other meanings, see Selenite (disambiguation). Selenite, satin spar, desert rose, and gypsum flower are four varieties of gypsum; all four varieties show obvious crystalline structure. The four crystalline… …   Wikipedia

  • Лечугия — Lechuguilla …   Википедия

  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park — a national park in SE New Mexico: site of Carlsbad Caverns. 71 sq. mi. (184 sq. km). * * * Preserve, southeastern New Mexico, U.S. Established as a national monument in 1923 and as a national park in 1930, it covers 73 sq mi (189 sq km). Beneath… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”