Carlsbad Caverns

Today I visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park . The park is a 3 hour drive from Alamogordo where I am staying, all on remote roads, some of them winding.

According to the website, the cavern was dissolved along cracks and faults in the limestone rock by sulfuric acid. The limestone was laid down about 265 million years ago, as part of a reef complex along the edge of an inland sea. About 16–20 million years ago, the ancient reef rocks that had been buried under thousands of feet of younger rocks began to lift upwards. Tectonic forces pushed the buried rock layers up and erosion wore away softer minerals to expose the ancient reef as the Guadalupe Mountains. Deep in the basin, a brine originating from oil and gas deposits and rich in hydrogen sulfide was forced into the limestone at the edge of the basin. When this brine encountered oxygen-rich rainwater moving down through the rock, it created sulfuric acid. This acid dissolved the limestone creating cave passages. As the Guadalupe Mountains continued to lift up, the water drained out of the cave allowing fresh water to percolate through and leave minerals on the ceiling, walls, and floors that we know as cave decorations.

The caverns are replete with stalactite, stalagmites and all manner of additionally-named decorations. In this case nature has exceeded any fantasy that could be imagined by the human brain. It is truly epic.

I entered the caverns about noon. The standard walking tour is estimated at about 1.5 hours. I lost all sense of time at about 750-850 ft. underground. Underground and ended up spending more than 3 hours in the caverns. When meant that I was navigating the end of those winding roads, yet again, in the dark.

For my photography friends, editing these images required some decision making. The caverns are lit by incandescent spots, so the light is all yellowish and uneven. I had no way to know what was the natural color of the rock. I ended up reducing the garish yellow a bit on most of the images, but I have never had this exact situation before. I would be curious if any of you have any thoughts or suggestions.

This was my last full day in New Mexico. After one additional activity tomorrow morning, I will head to Texas.

Many more images are available in the Gallery.