Amazing Places

Mexico's Record-Breaking Giant Crystal Cave

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If you visit Naira, Mexico, you'll find the Giant Crystal Cave, also called the "Sistine Chapel of crystals." As its name suggests, the cave boasts the largest crystals ever found, measuring in at 12 meters long. It might sound like a natural wonder, but the cave's conditions are extremely hostile—hot, humid, and spike-y. Humans can only survive roughly 10 minutes unprotected in the cave. But, life has been found! In February 2017, scientists extracted long-dormant microbes from the crystals and revived them. Discover more about the Giant Crystal Cave in the following video, then learn more about peculiar caves.

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See that person in the bottom right of this picture? That should give some perspective on just how giant the giant crystals really are.
Alexander Van Driessche
This gypsum crystal weighs 5.7 pounds.
Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com

Mexico's Giant Crystal Cave

Humans can only survive roughly 10 minutes unprotected in the cave.

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Weird Places: Mexico's Giant Crystal Cave
– SciShow

Key Facts In This Video

  1. The Giant Crystal Cave in Naica, Mexico has giant 12-meter long crystals. 00:11

  2. A human can only survive in the Giant Crystal Cave unprotected for about 10 minutes. 00:40

  3. The Cave of Swords in the Naica Mountain contains lots of selenite crystals. 02:54

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Written by Curiosity Staff July 31, 2015