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These photos are from an early summer (2007) trip to Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. Great Basin also includes the beautiful Lehman Caves. Great Basin National Park rises nearly 8,000 feet above the valley floor that surrounds it, producing terrain that varies from desert sagebrush to glacier-clad 13,000 foot alpine peaks. The park contains groves of Bristlecone Pines, the oldest living organisms on Earth (nearly 5,000 years old).

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Shields are the formation that Lehman Caves is best known for. Lehman Caves has an unusually large concentration of shields, more than 300. Shields consist of two round or oval parallel plates with a thin medial crack between them. The medial crack is thought to be an important clue to their formation. Shields tend to form in caves with highly fractured limestone (like Lehman). Shields grow at all sorts of angles from the ceiling, wall, and floor of the cave. The most accepted theory for how shields form relates to fractures in the bedrock. Water under hydrostatic pressure moves through thin fractures in the limestone. As it enters the cave passage by means of capillary action, the water deposits calcite on either side of the crack, building plates of calcite with a thin, water-filled crack between them. Shields may be decorated with popcorn or helictites on the top and along the medial crack, and draperies and stalactites on the bottom. Sometimes the speleothems on the bottom plate get too heavy and pull the shield apart.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:55:40 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=677 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=677
An underground lake in Lehman Caves in Nevada.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:55:40 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=675 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=675
A view along the Alpine Lakes trail in Great Basin National Park.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:55:40 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=673 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=673
A piece of driftwood on the shores of Stella Lake.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:55:40 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=671 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=671
A nice view of Wheeler Peak.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:51:31 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=669 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=669
A mountain stream along the Alpine Lakes Trail in Great Basin National Park.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:51:31 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=667 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=667
A red Columbine along the Alpine Lakes Trail in Great Basin National Park.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:51:31 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=665 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=665
A red Columbine along the Alpine Lakes Trail in Great Basin National Park.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:51:31 -0500 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=663 http://www.mesalight.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=663
Weather in caves tends to be very consistent, compared to the surface conditions. Lehman Caves is 50° F year round. The relative humidity varies between 90 and 100%.]]> photo Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:55:40 -0500