Stop #1 - We started the day at some of the Ione kaolinite quarries.
Garry paints a picture of the tropical conditions and massive flood plain/delta that existed here 40-50 million years ago. Probably analgous to a river very…
The quarries are currently deeper than the water table. Several of these nearby quarries also contain a large amount of unusually pure quartz beach sands.…
Pump and intake seen in the distance. I wonder if this a sign the quarry will re-open? Gotta get that kitty litter from somewhere.
Stop #2 - Black Chasm Caverns. The story about its discovery. A good portion of the cave entrance is degraded thanks to miners paying a pinch of gold dust to…
Down we go...
Don was a delightful storyteller.
Cave column. The artificial lighting has introduced some algae into the caves.
Looking up at some flow stone.
Cave bacon.
There are quite a lot of submerged caverns that have been explored by professionals. We can peer down into the abyss about 70' below us.
Happy students soaking in the views. The cave itself is about 1.5 million years old. The marble in which it resides is about 300Ma and was part of exotic…
I think Don was pointing out the cave gator.
Food for thought... when this cave started to form 1.5 Ma, the water table was much higher, dissolving/eroding the marble into the ever large caves. But as…
Upside down winter forest with a lot of helictites among some flowstones. Rate of growth was something like 1mm in 300 yrs for dripstones and 1mm/500yrs for…
Helictites are so cool.
Garry pauses to appreciate the awesomeness.
Helictites galore. They form by pore pressure and squeezing the water out and capillary pressure allowing the precipitation of calcium carbonate to happen…
