Some of the most exciting places in the world are actually underground. Humans have barely scratched the surface in exploring the Earth, so many of the great explorations of our world yet to be done are underground. It has been said that we know more about the moon than we do the interior of the Earth.
There’s a cave in S. California, that is filled with black and white bands of marble. No marble table ever looked as pretty.
Some friends and I went to Mexico in 2001 and decended into El Sotano De las Golandrinas, an 1100′ deep sinkhole that is spread out over 14 acres at the bottom. The trees on the floor were only a few inches tall due to the short time each day that sunlight actually reached the bottom of the shaft.
Lechuguilla cave in New Mexico has over 126 miles worth of surveyed passage and contains some of the most beautiful formations anywhere in the world. This cave was formed from sulfur gas rising from below, mixing with water from above, forming sulfuric acid, which dissolved the limestone and left great blocks of gypsum. The acid is long gone, but the formations left behind boggle the mind. Remnants of a sulfur-loving bacteria are still present near some of the pools. Living versions of these bacteria can still be found in a sulfur-spring cave in S. America.
There are local caving organizations, called grottos, that have public meetings and organized trips into known caves. A grotto near you can be found on the NSS website at: