Let's go spelunking.

Name: --

In "Slime Hunters" (p. 18), you read about Dr. Diana Northup's journey into Cueva de Villa Luz in southeastern Mexico. Suppose you were her research assistant, and you follow her to Lechuguilla, a cave in New Mexico's Guadalupe Mountains. Your duty: Go inside the Cave Entrance (see box, below), and explore the different sections to complete your Field Journal (below).

CAVE ENTRANCE

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/caves/jewel.html#fea_top

(Hint: Be sure to explore the cave glossary.)

FIELD JOURNAL

1. I can't believe it. After a long plane ride, I'm finally in New Mexico. I can't wait to meet up with Dr. Northup and start exploring Lechuguilla. I hear it's a calcite cave. Calcite is crystallized --, the same ingredient used to make antacids such as Turns.

2. Wow, the cave is more amazing than I ever imagined. It even has formations called cave pearls! Just like the pearls that oysters make, cave pearls are made of -- formed around a nucleus of --.

3. In the Glacier Bay area of the cave we find towering blocks of the snow-white mineral gypsum. Guess what? My home and this cave have something in common: Gypsum, which is made of --, is used to make the -- that divide the rooms in my house.

4. Hoodoo Hall is really cool looking! It resembles a creepy chamber from a horror movie. There are lots of spiky formations sticking up from the cave floor called --.

5. We find lots of pillars in the Chandelier Ballroom and Underground Atlanta. Some are hanging from the ceiling, and others are protruding from the floor. Dr. Northup keeps talking about stalagmites and stalactites, and I can't remember the difference. I'd better take notes so I remember:

Stalagmites are --

Stalactites are --

6. There are lots of bumpy formations on the ceiling of Lake Louise. Scientists call them --.

7. What an exciting day! I can't wait to e-mail my friends and tell them about my adventure. Only researchers are allowed to visit this cave. Unfortunately, my friends may never get to see this amazing place in person. I know they will be especially interested to learn about the features inside the Chandelier Graveyard, Oasis, Nirvana, and Great Beyond. (Write the e-mail describing these cave sites on a separate piece of paper.)

ANSWERS

1. calcium carbonate 

2. calcium, sand

3. calcium sulfate, wallboards

4. raft cones

6. Stalagmite: cave formation that forms from the cave floor upward. It's made from mineral-bearing solutions--usually calcite--that drip from the ceiling.

Stalactite: cave formation that forms from the cave ceiling downward. It's made from mineral-bearing solutions-usually of calcite-that seep from the ceiling.

6. mammillaries

7. E-mail descriptions will vary