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Lechuguilla Cave is, in 2006, the sixth longest cave (116 mi, or 187 km) known to exist in the world, and the deepest in the continental United States (489 m, or 1604 ft), but it is most famous for its unusual geology, unparalleled formations, and pristine condition.
It is located in the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. Access to the cave is limited to approved scientific researchers, survey and exploration teams, and National Park Service management-related trips.
Exploration history
Lechuguilla Cave was known until 1986 as a small, fairly insignificant historic site in the park's backcountry. Small amounts of bat guano were mined from the entrance passages for a year under a mining claim filed in 1914. The historic cave contained a 90-foot (27 m) entrance pit which led to 400 feet (120 m) of dry dead-end passages.
The cave was visited infrequently after mining activities ceased. However, in the 1950s cavers heard wind roaring up from the rubble-choked floor of the cave. Although there was no obvious route, different people concluded that cave passages lay below the rubble. A group of Colorado cavers gained permission from the National Park Service and began digging in 1984. The breakthrough, into large walking passages, occurred on May 26, 1986.
What followed has become one of the world's most exciting cave explorations into one of the finest known caves on the planet. Since 1984, explorers have mapped 100+ miles of passages and had pushed the depth of the cave to 1604 feet (489 m), ranking Lechuguilla as the 6th longest cave in the world (4th longest in the United States) and the deepest limestone cave in the country. Cavers, drawn by the caves' pristine condition and never-before-seen beauty, come from around the world to explore and map its geology.
A story of questionable authenticity surfaced in 2001 about Lechuguilla cavers breaking through into Carlsbad Cavern. It subsequently disappeared from the Internet shortly after being posted.
Geology
Lechuguilla Cave offered even more than just its extreme size. Cavers were greeted by large amounts of gypsum and lemon-yellow sulfur deposits. A fantastic array of rare speleothems, some of which had never been seen anywhere in the world, included 20 foot (6 m) gypsum chandeliers, 20 foot gypsum hairs and beards, 15 foot (5 m) soda straws, hydromagnesite balloons, cave pearls, subaqueous helictites, rusticles, U-loops and J-loops. Lechuguilla Cave surpassed its nearby sister, Carlsbad Cavern, in size, depth, and variety of speleothems, though no room has been discovered yet in Lechuguilla Cave which is larger than Carlsbad's Big Room.
Scientific exploration has been exciting as well. For the first time a Guadalupe Mountains cave extends deep enough that scientists may study five separate geologic formations from the inside. The profusion of gypsum and sulfur lends support to speleogenesis by sulfuric acid dissolution. Rare, chemolithoautotrophic bacteria are believed to occur in the cave. These bacteria feed on the sulfur, iron, and manganese minerals and may assist in enlarging the cave and determining the shapes of some unusual speleothems. Other studies indicate that some microbes may have medicinal qualities that are beneficial to humans.
Lechuguilla Cave lies beneath a park wilderness area. However, it appears that the cave's passages may extend out of the park into adjacent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. A major threat to the cave is proposed gas and oil drilling on BLM land. Any leakage of gas or fluids into the cave's passages could kill cave life or cause explosions.
Filming
The BBC recently broadcast the documentary series Planet Earth. The fourth episode, entitled "Caves", documents a team of scientists and filmmakers entering the Lechuguilla cave and filming the "chandelier ballroom", where the most exquisite crystals can be found. It took the team two years to get permission to film the cave and local authorities are unlikely to ever allow another film crew down.
External links
"Lechuguilla Cave"