2023-06-16 16:09:11
Caves are environments normally shrouded in mystery that attract the attention of experts and curious people. Some may revolutionize what we know about our own history, others have walls decorated by human hands with enigmas that are difficult to unravel, and there are also those where nature itself is the agent responsible for intriguing phenomena.
This is the case of an underground cave system located in Mialet, in the south of France, called the Trabuc Caves.
First identified in 1823, they have been explored ever since to be nearly 10 kilometers across, although speleologists – people who study caves – believe the system extends two to three times farther than that, according to the tourism website Atlas Obscura.
In addition to a rich history of human use – serving, for example, as a refuge for various groups since prehistoric times – the caves are known for a strange and inexplicable phenomenon called “100 thousand soldiers”.
In 1945, explorers who went a little deeper than others had already reached came across what appeared to be thousands of tiny soldiers on alert (hence the name) – but which are actually a unique type of geological concretion. until today without explanation.
Read more:
Strange geological formation has never been seen in any other cave in the world
Standing just a few inches tall, the “soldiers” litter the cave floor, having been seen nowhere else in the world.
Little is known other than the fact that these mysterious mineral masses form underwater and are composed of 95% calcite and 5% clay. Structured in small overlapping disks, each “soldier” is particularly different from the other, probably due to the different water levels.
The most well-known cave mineral formations, stalagmites and stalactites, grow in pairs, on the floor and ceiling, respectively. As water passes over the limestone and runs off, these deposits that look like spears or drops of ice take shape. The 100,000 soldiers, however, form without an agglutinated partner, discarding this means of conception.
Over the years, various hypotheses have been postulated, ranging from bacteria to electrostatic forces, but none have ever been able to fully explain this mystery. And so the Trabuc Caves, which also have a variety of colorful minerals, waterfalls and pools, remain guarding their secrets.
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