Dark Roasted Caves

I have linked to Dark Roasted Blend before, but they have a terrific post on caves today that I just gotta point out.

This looks more like icicles in an overhang than something I would call a "cave," and the jointed rock to the lower and middle left looks suspiciously like columnar basalt- not typically associated with "caves." (Basaltic lava tubes are quite abundant in Central Oregon, but you don't see columnar basalt in those tubes; if it's present, it's in a different part of the flow) Still, I love the textures in this picture.I saw some pictures of this cave not too long ago- some of the largest crystals (gypsum) ever found. The cave was drained during mining operations a couple of decades ago, then discovered. It's very hot and humid (>110 F/44 C, 90-100% humidity), but I would definitely refrain from whining for an opportunity to see these first hand. These are just two of many, many wonderful pictures.

I should also point out that the science is shallow, and in a couple of cases, just wrong (for example, you cannot scratch calcite with your fingernail- you can damage it, but calcite is 3, fingernail 2 1/2 on the Mohs scale). But the visuals are the thing here.

Other recent posts I've enjoyed at DRB include Castles, Creative Ads (actually, see a pic from that one below), and a typical, "mixed bag" sort of post.