{"id":5504,"date":"2020-10-20T17:29:35","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T17:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.riosecreto.com\/?p=5504"},"modified":"2022-01-27T15:40:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T20:40:53","slug":"what-happens-if-you-touch-the-cave-formations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riosecretotours.net\/?p=5504","title":{"rendered":"What happens if you touch the cave formations?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The popular stalactites and stalagmites are part of the speleothem family,<\/strong> that is, of all mineral structures that have been created over millions of years. These formations are of utmost importance, not only scientific and historical, but for nature and many living beings, as they contribute to maintaining stable ecosystems within the caves.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Contrary to what many might think, the apparently uninhabited caves, with either water or barely moisture on the walls, are home to several species unknown to most of the population.<\/strong> Such is the case of some species of fish such as the Blind Lady<\/strong> (Sak Kay, as the Mayan-speaking peninsular people call it), catfish and terrestrial animals that seem to come directly from the age of dinosaurs,<\/strong> such as a spider from the family\u00a0Amblypygi<\/strong> which is often called \"water well spider\"<\/strong> in the Yucatan peninsula.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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All these ecosystems and living beings have adapted to the delicate conditions that exist dozens of meters underground; And this has been possible thanks to the fact that the amount of minerals, water residues, earth and other biological materials have been the same since the imposing stone peaks that we can find in these places began to form.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Although, in the region in which we live, access to these millenary places has become popular, we must be very careful to modify them as little as possible when we are about to explore them, since in a moment of neglect (or leisure) we could affect severely the natural cycle of these mythical places; causing, in the worst case, the extinction of an entire ecosystem.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Now that you know the importance of preserving these amazing places, don't miss the opportunity to meet them in person; and remember that you can live this experience, unique like no other, in R\u00edo Secreto, Natural Reserve.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Bibliography:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/semanadelaciencia.fundaciondescubre.es\/files\/2013\/10\/ruta-de-espeleotemas-2008.pdf<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/307978140_Los_espeleotemas_un_archivo_de_informacion_paleoambiental_de_los_ultimos_millones_de_anos_Speleothems_an_archive_of_paleoenvironmental_information_from_the_last_million_years<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/digital.csic.es\/bitstream\/10261\/128203\/1\/Castanar_book_cap05.pdf<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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