10. Tree Roots over Khmer Temple
Nothing compares with the giants found in Cueva de los Cristales, or Cave of Crystals. The limestone cavern and its glittering beams were discovered in 2000 by a pair of brothers drilling nearly a thousand feet below ground in the Naica mine.
One of Mexico’s most productive, yielding tons of lead and silver each year. The brothers were astonished by their find, but it was not without precedent. The geologic processes that create lead and silver also provide raw materials for crystals, and at Naica.
Mminers had hammered into chambers of impressive, though much smaller, crystals before. But as news spread of the massive crystals discovery, the question confronting scientists became: How did they grow so big.
