Researchers Found Something Completely Unexpected After Traveling Through a 700-Foot Cave

The Lechuguilla Cave was discovered in 1986 in New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Since then, people have gone caving to explore this underground wonderland.

But it wasn’t until October 2019, that a team of spelunkers—aka people who explore caves—went deeper into a labyrinth that had never been explored, and what they found left them speechless.

As they traveled deeper into the cave, the men on the journey quickly lost all visual indications of the world around them and with each turn they took, they got farther away from the entrance they had come in through.

Would their journey be fruitless or would they be the first humans to witness a natural marvel?

Meet the Carlsbad Caverns

The Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico’s southern region. The vast park is 70 square miles long and it contains over 80 caves. Over the years, the Carlsbad Caverns have attracted many spelunkers.

And yet, the caves have been around for a very, very long time.

The Caverns Are Over 250 Million Years Old

The caverns’ wondrous geological formations were created approximately 250 million years ago back when dinosaurs reigned supreme. But as time passed, many of the secrets held deep within these caves remained forgotten, until now.

The Park Was Once Covered by Ocean and Living Reef

In ancient times, the land that would eventually become the park was blanketed by a shallow sea that was home to 100 miles of living reef.

But while the region doesn’t look anything like it did back in the day, there are some remnants of yesteryear.

The Area Could No Longer Support the Reef

As the sea evaporated over time, the area became so saline that it was incapable of supporting life. This caused the reef to die out. But instead of decomposing and vanishing into nothingness, something amazing happened.