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| Spelunking
in Lechuguilla Cave By Maureen Keller  Wriggling
through tunnels barely big enough for a man’s body, rappelling down
jagged cliffs and slowly traversing slippery, slime-covered rocks, all in
complete darkness more than 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Earth
may sound like a nightmare to some.But to Paul Burger BSc Geol ’91, MSc Geol ’99, it’s the job of his dreams. Burger is a hydrologist at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. One of his duties is to help researchers collect samples in Lechuguilla [lech uh GEE yah] Cave, the greatest cave discovery in the past 50 years. "Not a day goes by where I don’t think ‘I can’t believe I’m paid to do this,’" he says. The discovery and exploration of Lechuguilla Cave is an exciting one fraught with danger and intrigue. That story is told by Burger and three co-writers in a recently published book, Deep Secrets. Lechuguilla Cave, named for a blue-green plant in the agave family found in the surrounding area, is located in the Guadalupe Mountains of southern New Mexico on national park land. Despite the discovery of nearby Carlsbad Caverns 100 years ago, Lechuguilla remained unknown, except as a shallow cave where bat guano was harvested in the 1800s. In the mid-1950s, a park ranger visiting the cave noticed a strong wind blowing through rocks at the back of the cave and recorded his observation in a report. In the late 1970s, members of the Cave Research Foundation (a private, non-profit group dedicated to promoting the long-term preservation of caves) came across the report and decided to check it out. Caves react to changes in barometric pressure, so strong winds indicate the presence of an extensive network of passages. When the pressure falls, air inside the cave rushes out. When pressure rises, air rushes in. The larger the cave, the more wind rushes in or out as the cave tries to reach equilibrium. Digging at the back of the small cave began in earnest in 1984. Work was sporadic as expeditions had to be arranged when people were off work, usually during holidays. In 1986, the diggers finally broke through and were awestruck by what they found. During this time, Burger was growing up on Air Force bases around the country. In the early 1980s, his family moved to Colorado and to keep her children occupied for the summer, his mother signed them up for a spelunking class, although she didn’t know what it was. Burger says he was afraid of heights, the dark, and was also claustrophobic. But he conquered his fears and, he says, "I started caving in 1984 and have been caving almost every weekend since then." In 1988, he made his first trip to Lechuguilla. Lechuguilla Cave was formed by sulfuric acid rather than carbonic acid like most other caves. Rising hydrogen sulfide from nearby oil fields mixed with water from the surface to create sulfuric acid. The acid ate away the limestone, forming the cave. The enormous cave—more than 100 miles of corridors have been mapped so far—contains some of the most beautiful selenite crystal stalactites ever found. It also has the longest soda-straw stalactite, more than 24-feet long compared to the previous record-holder of 8 feet. Although not part of the original team to discover the cave, Burger has chartered previously unexplored territory and has been able to name some of the cave’s rooms, passages and pits. The discovery of Lechuguilla Cave caused enormous excitement among the caving community, but six months after it was penetrated, in-fighting among various parties interested in exploring the cave caused the park to close it for a year. It is now classified as a research-only cave and is not open to the public. Only six expeditions are allowed per year with no more than 12 members on each expedition. "The environment is so sensitive to traffic," Burger says. In the past, fabulous discoveries were quickly exploited and caves were badly damaged. "The thrill of cutting-edge exploration just creates that excitement," he continues. It’s difficult to stop oneself from forging down passages where no other human has ever been. In addition to mapping and exploring on his own time, Burger helps conduct research projects in the cave. One of the projects is a study of microbes that grow on rocks and pools within the cave. "These microbes are using rock as food to survive in an extreme environment. There’s a possibility of these types of microbes being found on Mars so NASA is interested," he says. "There’s a potential for those microbes to be used to fight cancer. They are so aggressive, some microbes will consume leukemia cells." Burger came about his dream job at Carlsbad Caverns by following his heart. While still an undergraduate, he started taking a week off every other month to explore the cave. "It didn’t help my grade point," he says. "But it became my priority. I thought, ‘What will I remember in 15 years: what I got on a physics exam or how I explored Lechuguilla?’" The answer is obvious. |
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