Bob told me his folks went touring "out west" for their honeymoon. I remember seeing some pictures. I can see why his Dad called Carlsbad Caverns his favorite. It is eerily beautiful. I'm sure the lighting is different now than then, but the formations change so slowly, I think our world looked a lot like theirs did 60 years ago.
We chose to miss the aliens in Roswell, NM, since there was a snow storm and freezing temperatures. Seeing the caverns makes me wonder if the the alien "true believers" got their ideas in the otherworldly atmosphere below. Add to that the bat exodus every evening in the summer, and I might think aliens had something to do with it too!
 |
Twin Peaks
|
 |
| The view straight up above us |
The geology of the place is fascinating too. Unlike most caves that are formed by carbonic acid in surface water enlarging cracks and passageways, these caves were formed by the combination of hydrogen sulfide from oil deposits, and microbes combined with oxygen in the water table, which resulted in sulfuric acid that dissolved rock and created passageways much more quickly and without flowing water. These caves are pretty dry, especially since there is very little surface water above to seep through the cracks. The shifting of the Earth's crust, collapse at the top of the cave, and surface erosion opened the cave for us to explore.
Lots of the formations have been named. Years ago, tours would end at "Rock of Ages", and the awestruck group would sing the hymn.
 |
| Rock of Ages |
 |
Totem Pole
|
The Visitor Center does a great job explaining the Caverns. They show a video about caves which also describes Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and the lava tubes in Hawaii- a great lead in to our trip to the Big Island in a week or so!
No comments:
Post a Comment