Kartchner Caverns & Bosphere 2

Kartchner Caverns State Park - Two young cavers followed a narrow crack in 1974 only to discover a "living" cave.  Dazzling formations in unique sizes, shapes and colors drop down thousands of feet and are still growing after starting to form over 200,000 years.  It has the longest soda-straw formation in the U. S. It measures 21 feet, 2 inches.  It is the tallest and widest column in the state of Arizona.  The skeleton of an 80,000 year old Shasta ground sloth was found in the cave.




Shasta Ground Sloth

A colony of common cave bats returns to Kartchner State Park each spring. The State Park Rangers count the bats each summer by climbing into the sink hole at twilight. As the bats leave the cave the rangers use a hand-held counter to count each one they see. In one season the colony consumes half a ton of insects, including flying ants, beetles, mosquitoes and termites.




"Fried Egg" Stalagmite

"Soda Straw Stalagtites
 

Artificial Earth In the Middle of the Desert

Time Life Books called Biosphere 2 in Oracle, AZ one of the 50 must see wonders of the world. Texas oil magnate Edward Bass donated $150 million to fund the building of Biosphere 2 in the middle of the Arizona desert. (Planet Earth is Biosphere 1.) He donated $250 million. This sealed glass house was an attempt to completely recreate the conditions and environment of Earth including a rain forest, desert, marsh and a mini ocean.



In September, 1991 eight Biosphereans walked into Biosphere 2 which was sealed behind them.  They signed a two-year contract to grow their own food and conduct environmental experiments while sealed inside the complex.  What started as a science project turned into a psychological experiment.  Crew members grew to despise each other due to loss of weight and oxygen.  When they emerged their experiment was largely dismissed as a scientific failure. 



Inside the Biosphere
 

Some of the early designers and managers were interested in space travel and the possibility of colonizing the Moon or Mars.  By building and sealing people inside, they hoped to learn what problems would arise from living in a closed system.

Unused for many years, the facility was bought by the University of Arizona.  They are currently developing a Landscape Evolution Observatory, the first major renovation of Biosphere 2 since its original construction.  Scientists are studying water resources and global sustainability.