Spelunkers Explore Crystalline Cave In New Mexico

onehitwonder writes "New Mexico cavers have set foot — for the first time ever — on a 'river' of tiny, white calcite crystals covering a four-mile stretch of the floor of the Fort Stanton Cave in New Mexico. The privileged few spelunkers who have explored the 'Snowy River' formation say they've seen nothing like it. Not only is Snowy River exquisite, it is also home to some three dozen species of microbes previously unknown to man."

Comments

Judging by the picture...

[Adreno]

... this isn't a cave at all, but a well-crafted hoax by some cauliflower farmers!

The common sense questions:

[Fluffeh]

From the article

It took several months for Snowy River to dry out, leaving scientists with another set of questions about where the water came from and where it went.

Well, it came in at one end of the cave, likely uphill from the other end. It then made it's way through the cave that is at the center of this puzzlement. Amazingly, and rather surprisingly it went out the other end of the cave, downhill from the aforementioned uphill part of the cave. That's also the opposite direction of where it came from. Next question please.