In the southeastern part of the state of New Mexico in the United States, in the Guadalupe Mountains, there is a national park called the Carlsbad Caves. The main attraction of the park are karst caves, which are about 250 million years old. The park is also home to bats, the total number of which has already reached one million individuals. Also in this park is the Lechugia (or Lechugilia) cave, which is one of the longest caves in the world.
The total length of all the halls of the Lechugia Cave is 222.5 kilometers. It is located underground at a depth of about half a kilometer. It is interesting that scientists were able to find out its real length relatively recently - in 1986. And although it has been known since 1914, almost no one has ever explored the cave, it was not of particular interest for science either. In the 1950s, cavers heard the sound of the wind in the rubble at the bottom of the cave. And in 1984, researchers from Colorado managed to get permission to excavate. So two years later, an important discovery for world science occurred - the seventh longest cave was found.
It is now the deepest American cave. But its uniqueness lies not so much in the size as in the ecosystem. Due to the fact that it is located very deeply, neither sunlight nor organic matter gets into it, in a word, nothing that could support life here. In addition, an abnormal amount of hydrogen sulfide was found here. And yet, in this seemingly unsuitable environment for life, microorganisms were found.
Also in the cave were found lakes with clean and transparent water, which is quite habitable by microorganisms. Interestingly, due to lack of nutrition, bacteria still found a way out - they somehow adapted and learned to eat chemical elements - manganese, for example. In addition, bacteria eat even the walls of the cave.
The study of microorganisms inhabiting the Lechugia cave attracted the interest of not only microbiologists, but also NASA workers. They suggest that studies of these underground inhabitants will provide answers to many questions about the existence of life on other planets. Scientists also want to study the local bacteria and, with the help of them, create medicines for such serious diseases as oncology.
Promotional video:
And the cave is not only unique, but also very beautiful. Here you can see a large number of different drip and crystalline formations. Among the unique forms there are giant plaster "chandeliers", the size of which reaches six meters. The researchers found that such a variety of mineral formations was made possible by the special effect of sulfuric acid.
Large deposits of oil are located directly under the underground corridors of the cave, which have evaporated hydrogen sulfide for a long time. When mixed with water, it formed sulfuric acid, which in turn corroded the limestone. Because of this, Lechugia's unique formations are very fragile. And so that curious tourists do not harm such a unique natural object, the cave was closed from visits, and the entrance to it is kept secret. In addition, the Lechugia cave is also one of the most dangerous in the world, since the constantly emitted sulfur gases lead to explosions. Therefore, due to any careless action, all these beautiful formations can fall at any moment.
