Thursday, June 24, 2010

Don't Touch! That is Not a Sea Anemone




This sparkley, prickly, delicate looking "wet fur" was something I photographed recently while walking through a natural tourist attraction.  According to the guide there are only three known places on this immense globe where these can be seen.  The story of their discovery is even more interesting.  It involves a researcher, a shovel, and lots of mud.  The researcher/explorer was digging out mud to follow a cavern opening.  When the researcher put his shovel into the mud it became irremovable!  It was just like the sword in the stone.  He pulled and pulled and the shovel would not become free.  He actually had to get a number of friends to help him pull out the shovel and when it finally broke free his watch and hat were sucked off of his body and into the vacuum that had been released by the hole in the mud left behind.  When he widened the hole, the delicate hairy spikes are what he found on the ceiling of the cave that was revealed behind the wall of mud and shown in the photo above.



These are cave formations called Anthodites which is taken from a Greek word meaning flower-like.  They are calcium carbonate forming aragonite crystals.  Exotic sounding and precious.  Because of their delicate nature and rareness they are protected by Federal law.  It takes 7,000 years for an inch on these to form, but because these are no longer in a vacuum, they are no longer growing.  These have been around for a long, long, long, long time.  Hard to get my mind around that.  One of them was 18 inches long.  I guess we all missed that time in history even though it was much much later than the big bang.




There is a new book out called Blind Descent by author James Tabor (no relation).  The author discusses caving and one of the deepest caves which is 7000 vertical feet!  I have not read it, but it sounds very intriguing.  



Caves have such a garden-like thing going on and cave researchers are such poets in naming cave formations.  According to E-notes. com "One-hundred and two cave minerals are known to form coatings and crusts, 57 form stalactites and stalagmites, 23 form moonmilk, 15 form anthodites, 14 form helictites, 12 form Angel hair, 7 form coralloides and pearls, and 6 form cave balloons."

It is so magical this earth of ours.

11 comments:

  1. how cool about those formations...i used to go free caving a lot in HS and college...have not been in a couple years...excet to take the boys into the caverns ina much more civilized fashion...

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  2. Stunning! Time to visit these beautiful, enchanting places, so precious and fragile.

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  3. Oh how beautiful and delicate are those formations. Yes, there is so much to see and appreciate here on earth!!
    Thanks for sharing these pics
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  4. We visited Mammoth Cave National Park several years ago. I don't remember seeing anything this beautiful. Perhaps I need to expand my cave viewings. Fascinating story about the man and shovel.

    Always amazed at what I don't know.

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  5. These are beautiful - but - visits to some caves with children, many years ago - left me unsettled. I cannot go into a cave. The contractor who built my woods home has built his home above a cave not far from me. Interesting...

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  6. Lovely!! Thanks for telling us about these! It was interesting.

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  7. Great post Tabor, I love caves but am very unnerved by them so thank you for posting this wonderful information. I will return to read more of your blog.
    Smiles

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  8. That's a fabulous tale. As exciting as the formations are stunning.

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  9. Wonderful. I had no idea.

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  10. incredible.
    something I'd like to see IRL , but would not go into a cave to do...
    so the photo will suffice

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  11. Wow.. that's fascinating. Yes, the Earth holds so many amazing stories.

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.