10 BEAUTIFUL NATURAL SHELTERS NOW
As we explore the beauty of shelter all this week, we continue, today, with a look at some beautiful natural shelters. Some are millions of years old, with recent discoveries that make them relevant, both today and for the future.
1. DEER CAVE -- MALAYSIA
The Deer Cave System contains the largest genuine cave passage in the world, at 4.1 kilometers long. It has the greatest ceiling height, at 125 meters. With many other superlatives, this cave offers plenty of spectacle and room for beautiful shelter.
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2. MOON CAVES -- EARTH’S MOON
While they might not win a beauty prize for their visual attributes, moon caves may offer the beauty of shelter in an otherwise hostile environment. They might just shelter future astronauts.
NASA has recently identified more than 200 lunar pits on the moon's surface,which lead to caves below. They range from 5 yards to 1,000 yards in diameter, so they can offer ample shelter for a number of people from the hazards of radiation, micrometeorites, dust, and wild day-night temperature swings.
The caves may have been formed when ancient lava flows created voids beneath the moon’s surface, after which meteor strikes caused the roofs to cave in.
3. RUSSELL CAVE -- ALABAMA
Over 11,000 years ago, a portion of Russell Cave’s entrance collapsed, creating a shelter for prehistoric people in what is now the state of Alabama. This magnificent cave has yielded one of the most complete records of prehistoric history, dating from 10,000 B.C. to 1650 A.D, offering clues to the indigenous North American life.
4. SAO VICENTE LAVA CAVE -- MADEIRA, PORTUGAL
São Vicente’s famous volcanic caves and beautiful gardens featuring Madeira’s endemic flora, are a dream destination for seekers for beautiful shelters.
The caves are composed of a series of lava tubes, the result of an eruption that happened 400 thousand years ago.
You can walk for a half hour along an underground corridor of 700 meters. Along the way, check out the volcanic stalactites, lava accumulations, known as “lava cakes.”
5. ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICAN SHELTER -- ALABAMA
This beautiful natural shelter was once used by ancient Native Americans in Alabama. Decorated with some of the earliest American writing and art: petroglyphs, this cave is a treasure trove for scientists, adventurers, philosopher and more.
6. ZHIJIN CAVE -- CHINA
Found in Minzhai Village in Guizhou Province, China, the Zhijin Cave is an enormous karst cave -- it spans 8.4 miles in length. It has the largest unsupported roof span found in any cave worldwide!
There are more than 120 various crystalline formations and stalactites found along the cave’s interior. Check out the “Silver Rain Tree,” giant 56-foot tall flower-like transparent crystal.
7. DEVETASHKA CAVE -- BULGARIA
One of the biggest caves in Europe, Devetashka Cave, was discovered in 1921. Roughly 35 meters high and 55 meters wide, this cave has extraordinarily beautiful interior formations and 11 underground lakes! According to archaeological records, this cave has sheltered people since the late Paleolithic Era.
8. CARLSBAD CAVERNS -- NEW MEXICO
Found in a clandestine spot in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico, the Carlsbad Caverns consist of 119 known underground caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone. A show cave is a cave set up for tourism or public viewing.
This cave has the 3rd largest chamber in the North America, and 7th in the whole entire world. It’s biggest chamber is known as the ‘Big Room’ - it is made out of limestone and is an insane 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high.
This grand shelter holds incredibly deep rocky canyons and ancient sea ledges as well as living cacti, grasses, and thorny shrubs.
9. ONONDAGA CAVE -- MISSOURI
Missouri is often known as “The Cave State”. It’s National Natural Landmark can be found in the very depths of Onondaga Cave State Park. Filled with stalagmites, stalactites and even active flowstones, the caves within the park are beautiful statements of nature.
10. BLUE GROTTO -- ITALY
Perhaps the most famous cave, the Blue Grotto, or Grotto Azura, in Italy, is one of several sea caves in the world that is flooded with blue light. Its light comes from a small hole in the cave wall at the water line. You can enter only via small rowboat.
The second source of light is a second hole, with a surface area about ten times as large as the first, but it yields much less light, per square meter.
The water in the cave is more light-filled than the air. If you place your hand in the water, you can see it "glow."
Read more about Beautiful Shelters, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact, including 10 Beautiful New Books on Beautiful Shelters.
Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Friendships in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 12.07.2014. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!
PHOTO CREDITS:
- Photo: by Gido. Deer Cave - Garden of Eden.
- Photo: by Daniel Pietzsch. Deer Cave.
- Video: by NASA Goddard. NASA | Peeking Into Lunar Pits.
- Photo: by J. Stephen Conn. Stream Flowing into Russell Cave.
- Photo: by Rupert Ganzer. Inside Sao Vicente lava cave.
- Photo: Courtesy of A Leaf on the Wind. Ancient Shelter used by Native Americans in Alabama
- Photo: Courtesy of China Whisperer. Zhijin Cave. Guizhou Province, China.
- Photo: by Plamen Stoev. Devetashka Cave. Bulgaria.
- Photo: Courtesy of NPS Photo by Peter Jones. Carlsbad Caverns. New Mexico.
- Photo: by Matt Lehrer. Onondaga Cave State Park.
- Photo: Courtesy of Frédéric de Goldschmidt. The Blue Grotto. Italy.
- Photo: Courtesy of Allison Taylor. Isola Capri, Italy.
- Photo: Courtesy of Look And See. Bingara.