Tau.Neutrino said:

Weird Life Found Trapped in Giant Underground Crystals

Boston, MassachusettsCreatures that thrive on iron, sulfur, and other chemicals have been found trapped inside giant crystals deep in a Mexican cave. The microbial life-forms are most likely new to science, and if the researchers who found them are correct, the organisms are still active even though they have been slumbering for tens of thousands of years.

More…

Inside selenite, that’s new.

I wouldn’t have been nearly as surprised in they were trapped inside gypsum.

I’ve been reading a book about the discovery of extreme caves (caverns, helictites, chasms, waterfalls, cave pearls, bear statures, bones, a mouse, plants growing in pitch darkness etc.) in caves under the Pyrenees prior to WWII. And would life to know more.

Very interesting. Will be keen to hear where they fit in.

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Weird Life Found Trapped in Giant Underground Crystals

Boston, MassachusettsCreatures that thrive on iron, sulfur, and other chemicals have been found trapped inside giant crystals deep in a Mexican cave. The microbial life-forms are most likely new to science, and if the researchers who found them are correct, the organisms are still active even though they have been slumbering for tens of thousands of years.

More…

Inside selenite, that’s new.

I wouldn’t have been nearly as surprised in they were trapped inside gypsum.

I’ve been reading a book about the discovery of extreme caves (caverns, helictites, chasms, waterfalls, cave pearls, bear statures, bones, a mouse, plants growing in pitch darkness etc.) in caves under the Pyrenees prior to WWII. And would life to know more.

Opal has water trapped in it.

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Weird Life Found Trapped in Giant Underground Crystals

Boston, MassachusettsCreatures that thrive on iron, sulfur, and other chemicals have been found trapped inside giant crystals deep in a Mexican cave. The microbial life-forms are most likely new to science, and if the researchers who found them are correct, the organisms are still active even though they have been slumbering for tens of thousands of years.

More…

Inside selenite, that’s new.

I wouldn’t have been nearly as surprised in they were trapped inside gypsum.

I’ve been reading a book about the discovery of extreme caves (caverns, helictites, chasms, waterfalls, cave pearls, bear statures, bones, a mouse, plants growing in pitch darkness etc.) in caves under the Pyrenees prior to WWII. And would life to know more.

Opal has water trapped in it.

So that’s why he’s building the wall :)

Selenite is identical to gypsum chemically (CaSO4·2H2O). Selenite is not a preferred mineralogical term, but persists anyway. Selenite is not a selenium mineral.

Michael V said:

Selenite is identical to gypsum chemically (CaSO4·2H2O). Selenite is not a preferred mineralogical term, but persists anyway. Selenite is not a selenium mineral.

Thanks, that now makes sense. Gypsum (as opposed to calcite) tends to form in cave pools where evaporation slowly increases the concentration beyond saturation. The gypsum seed crystals originally form on the surface and then sink to the bottom, and further growth can then occur on those settled crystals. My (incomplete) understanding is that gypsum comes out of solution before calcite so that a slow trickle of water out of the pool is sufficient to keep the calcite in solution as the gypsum grows. Calcite, on the other hand, is formed whenever evaporation is rapid.

Taking of weird life underground, stinky albino vegetation (grass) has been observed to grow deep in caves in the complete absence of light. I thought light was needed for vegetation growth.

Can there be invisible light?

bob(from black rock) said:

Can there be invisible light?

Certainly. The electromagnetic spectrum extends from 0Hz (cycles per second) to somewhere very high (there’s no upper limit). The visible spectrum is a very narrow region of this, between about 390nm and about 700nm, depending on the eye of the beholder. These numbers correspond to about 430 to about 770 terahertz (THz, 10¹² hertz.) Any EM radiation outside that region (including broadcast radio waves (AM and FM), TV, X-rays, gamma rays, cosmic rays, etc) is invisible light. (Using “invisible” to mean invisible to an unaided human eye.)

btm said:

bob(from black rock) said:

Can there be invisible light?

Certainly. The electromagnetic spectrum extends from 0Hz (cycles per second) to somewhere very high (there’s no upper limit). The visible spectrum is a very narrow region of this, between about 390nm and about 700nm, depending on the eye of the beholder. These numbers correspond to about 430 to about 770 terahertz (THz, 10¹² hertz.) Any EM radiation outside that region (including broadcast radio waves (AM and FM), TV, X-rays, gamma rays, cosmic rays, etc) is invisible light. (Using “invisible” to mean invisible to an unaided human eye.)

Thanks btm.