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...solvent PCE (perchloroethylene), a chemical that is listed under the Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant. Perc, as it is commonly known, can cause dizziness and headaches in workers, and some controversial studies link it to miscarriage and cancer. Perc is also fingered for contaminating underground water systems as well as apartments and restaurants adjacent to dry-cleaning establishments...
Getting there requires the skills of a subterranean mountain climber, which is why Lake of the Clouds is off limits to the public. The underground trek involves scrambling through narrow passages, navigating around steep crevasses and using ropes to descend two drop-offs -- the second of which encompasses a 60-m (200 ft.) cliff. Turn off the miner's light on your helmet, and you cannot see your hand in front of your face...
Caves can be pounded into existence by ocean waves, plowed open by ice or formed by lava. But to speleologists, the most interesting are those that have been etched out of limestone by acidic water flowing underground. For a long time, researchers believed that nature could accomplish this feat in only one way: through the action of carbonic acid, which is produced when water reacts with carbon dioxide. The weak acid slowly dissolves bedrock. An underground stream forms, and an elaborate network of chambers like those found at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky takes shape. The unusual limestone terrains where this...
...newly carved cave fills with air, drops of water seep in through the walls and ceiling. Minerals trapped in these trickles begin to precipitate out of solution, hardening into a stunning array of underground ornaments. Stalactites drip down from the ceiling. Stalagmites creep up from the floor. Miniature forests made of twisted branches of calcium carbonate stretch out from the walls. Many of the formations are so delicate that they can easily be destroyed by the presence of humans...
...Cabot House Underground Theater...