| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
SBC Yahoo
Guest
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject: Snowy River Cave Has Pure Calcite Deposits |
 |
|
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/24/tech/main4289136.shtml
Just as I was getting ready to stake a claim and bring in the drills, they
want to make it a tree hugger preserve. What>s wrong with "Underground Mine
Preserve?"
- - - - -</> <\> - - - - -
(AP) Hundreds of feet beneath Earth>s surface, a few seasoned cave explorers
venture where no human has set foot. Their headlamps illuminate mud-covered
walls, gypsum crystals and mineral deposits.
The real attraction, though, is under their shoes.
A massive formation that resembles a white river spans the cave>s floor. A
closer examination reveals that the odd formation is an intricate crust of
tiny calcite crystals.
The explorers have reached Snowy River - thought to be the longest
continuous cave formation in the world.
"I think Snowy River is one of the primo places underground in the world and
there>s still so much left that we haven>t discovered. ... We don>t even
know how big it is," said Jim Goodbar, a cave specialist with the federal
Bureau of Land Management.
The survey expedition by members of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Project in
early July added several thousand feet to the measurement of the spectacular
formation, which is at least four miles long. The explorers who have been
following the passage under the rolling hills of southeastern New Mexico say
there>s still more of Snowy River to be discovered. |
|
| |
|
 Back to top |
Jo Schaper
Guest
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:04 am Post subject: Re: Snowy River Cave Has Pure Calcite Deposits |
|
|
SBC Yahoo wrote:
[quote]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/24/tech/main4289136.shtml
Just as I was getting ready to stake a claim and bring in the drills, they
want to make it a tree hugger preserve. What>s wrong with "Underground Mine
Preserve?"
- - - - -</> <\> - - - - -
[/quote]
Not a tree hugger, SBCYahoo. No trees down there. Obviously, these folks
are flowstone huggers. Imagine. 4 miles+ floored with pure Tums. That>s
what we>ve got here. It>s also a carbon sink. (Calcium carbonate.)
Look at the photo. You cannot fall off the floor.
Most cavers don>t mind drilling as long as it doesn>t tear up known
paradise. Yates Energy drilled near Dark Canyon and Lechuguilla, but the
cavers made them do it slant, not through known passage. We>re less sure
of CO2 underground sequestration, because if such gases escape (Yeah, I
know they are heavy, but they flow downhill and get taken up by water)
we>ll be the first to go.
Now, sequestering carbon as cave formations, and limestone, which
dissolve to make new cave formations-- that>s the answer! |
|
| |
|
| Back to top |
|
