Villa Luz Cave, Spanish name Cueva de Villa Luz (''lit.'' Cave of the Lighted Town), also known as Cueva del Azufre and Cueva de las Sardinas, is a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

near

Tapijulapa Tapijulapa () is a community in the municipality of Tacotalpa, Tabasco. It is a mountain community ninety kilometres from the state capital of Villahermosa, named a ''Pueblo Mágico'' (Magical Town) for its white houses with red tiles roofs along ...

in the southern

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

. The springs within the cave are rich in

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...

, a gas that is a potent respiratory toxicant and smells like rotten eggs. Within the water sulfide is oxidized to colloidal sulfur which gives the water a milky appearance, and creates

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

. The cave is essentially a maze about two kilometers in length and primarily etched out of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

by the sulfuric acid in the water. Hydrogen sulfide is also used by chemoautotrophic bacteria, which form the base of the

food web A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Position in the food web, or trophic level, is used in ecology to broadly classify organisms as autotrophs or he ...

. The cave is a popular tourist destination and visited by many, partly because it is easily accessible. It has been featured on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's series ''

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is ...

'', and ''

Wonders of the Solar System ''Wonders of the Solar System'' is a 2010 television series co-produced by the BBC and Science Channel, and hosted by physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox. ''Wonders of the Solar System'' was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Tw ...

''.

References

External links

* Hose L. D., Pisarowicz J. A. (1999
Cueva de Villa Luz, Tabasco, Mexico: reconnaissance study of an active sulfur spring cave and ecosystem
Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 61(1): 13–21.
Cueva de Villa Luz Biological InvestigationsResearch on cave molliesResearch using the Cueva de Villa Luz
Caves of Mexico Limestone caves Wild caves Landforms of Tabasco {{Tabasco-geo-stub

See also

References

External links