Gypsum needles (sometimes called filamentous crystals or selenite needles) are fragile formations found in sulfate and carbonate caves. Unlike common stalactites, their growth is not governed by gravity, but by the laws of capillary pressure. Growth Mechanism The main feature of gypsum needles is that they grow from the base rather than the tip. The …
Location. The cave is located in the Eastern European region, at the point where the borders of three states meet: Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. One of the borders—the Moldovan-Ukrainian border—passes directly above the cave, dividing it into two parts: the northwestern Ukrainian part and the southeastern Moldovan part. The cave labyrinth extends from the entrance …
In the mass media, three dates for the discovery of the cave are encountered: 1959, 1969, 1977. This is due to the following. In 1946, in the area of Criva village, in the north of the former Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (hereafter MSSR), following geological exploration, a gypsum deposit was discovered, which was close to …