Buried a thousand feet (300 meters) below Mexico’s Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert, a cave was discovered by two miners excavating a new tunnel for the Industrias Peñoles company in 2000. The cave contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found: translucent gypsum beams measuring up to 36 feet (11 meters) long and weighing up to 55 tons.
Nearly the Size of a Basketball Court
Delicate as glass, the "megacrystals" require great humidity and a temperature of about 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) to maintain their current form.
A special door has been constructed to seal off the Cave of Crystals from the rest of the mining complex, which is ventilated to keep it at a comparatively brisk 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius).
