 Millions of years ago, during the Cambrian period, a great sea covered what is now eastern Nevada and western Utah. Sand and other sediment carried into the sea over the centuries, along with precipitates from the water, were converted by pressure and cementation into layers of sandstone, shale and limestone, thousands of feet thick. Intense heat and pressure later changed these rocks. The limestone was recrystallized into marble. During the Mesozoic era, tremendous stresses within the Earth slowly uplifted this area, causing fractures and faults in the rocks. Much later, water, following these fractures, dissolved out large underground caves. Water containing carbon dioxide is an effective creator of caves. Absalom layman begins to investigate the mysterious hole discovered on his Nevada ranch. His past experiences as a miner prove valuable to him as he explores. But his lantern cannot show him the subterranean palace obscure in the darkness. Layman never saw his discovery as it really is. The beginning of the formation of the caves dates back to the time of the Great Earth uplift here, millions of years ago. Rock became tilted as it was gradually forced upward from the sea thousands of feet to form what has become the snake range with impressive Wheeler Peak as its pinnacle. Within the eastern slope of Wheeler Peak, which later became covered by a pygmy forest of pinion pine and juniper, layman caves began to form. During the Pleistocene epoch, the Ice Age, water was abundant. Several high valleys of the snake range were occupied by glaciers and there were lakes in the lower valleys. Water percolating downward from the surface of the ground became a weak solution of carbonic acid as it was charged with carbon dioxide from the air and from decaying vegetation. As the acidic water seeped downward, it entered ready-made avenues of descent into the marble rock and as it continued to follow the joints, crevices and fault lines, it eventually reached the water table, the top of the zone of saturation. Through the centuries, the acidic water did most of its work in the upper levels of this saturated zone. The crevices widened as the marble was dissolved, forming water-filled chambers. With passing time, the water table lowered either because of a drier climate or because surface streams cut below the level of the caves, causing the water containing the dissolved marble or calcite to drain out into stream-cut valleys. Acidic water continues to seep downward from the ground surface, dissolving small quantities of marble. When this solution reaches the cave openings, confining pressure is reduced, carbon dioxide escapes, and the mineral calcite is deposited. As drops of water fall from the ceiling, very small ring-shaped calcite deposits mark the beginnings of stalactites or other speliathems. Each successive drop leaves behind delicate calcite crystals which build the ring downward into fragile, thin-walled, soda straw stalactites. These hollow straws may reach several feet in length. When a soda straw becomes plugged or when there is excessive moisture, water flows over the outside of the straw and calcite deposits increase its diameter. The increase in length of some cave stalactites has been calculated to be about an inch per 100 years. The work of a drop of water is not finished when it forms the ring of calcite on the ceiling. Still containing some mineral, the drop falls to the floor where a mound of calcite begins to accumulate and a stalagmite is born. With the passing of time, the stalactite and the stalagmite join to form a column. As water continues to seep into the cave, moving slowly over the outside of the column, irregularities in deposition produce artistic patterns. The most magnificent examples of columns in the caves are the massive fluted pillars known as the pearly gates. In contrast, delicate, curiously shaped halectites grow with apparent disregard for gravity. Each halectite has an almost microscopic central opening, extending from the cave wall or ceiling to its tip. Water-containing calcite moves through the opening under pressure, and as it emerges at the tip, calcite is deposited. The flow of water is so slow that drops do not form. Best known of the decorations in the caves is the parachute. It is a shield formation. Shields are relatively rare. Perhaps some of the best examples in the United States are in layman caves. Each shield consists of two parallel plates separated by a crack. The crack is an extension of a break in the cave's surface or formation from which the shield develops. The shield grows as water seeps out of the crack and deposits calcite on the rims of both plates. Hydrostatic pressure controls the flow of water, making it possible for shields to form at any angle. When water flow is excessive, stalactites form on the edges of shields, decorations such as the parachute. Calcite is also deposited around the edges of pools of water, building attractive, miniature terraced rimstone dams. Scallops along the walls indicate that sometime after the cave system was formed, a stream flowed for a while within the caves. The shape of these solution cavities indicate that the stream flowed toward the cave entrance. Cave coral is one of the most common of all cave formations. These knobby clusters, as well as sparkling, frost-like, aragonite crystals, grow on formations, walls, ceilings and floors. The beauty and variety of cave decorations defy description. Each decoration is a work of art. Water trickles slowly down a sloping ceiling, graceful, sheer draperies form. Their beauty is enhanced by the banded effects produced by varying amounts of iron minerals. And as water flows over sloping walls and floors, flowstone forms. Iron oxides are the most abundant coloring minerals in the caves. They account for the yellows and browns, also the reddish hues. Within the subterranean world of the caves, calendars of man cannot measure time. Only if the mind can go far back into the distant past can the creation of the caves be perceived. Over 10,000 years ago, a massive earthquake jolted the southern snake range. Major damage was done in the talus room. Great pieces of rock fell from the ceiling and shattered, piling up jumbled masses of talus. The process of cave decoration, though interrupted, did not stop. Redecoration of the talus room is gradually adding new cave beauty. The processes of earth follow fixed laws and patterns. Here nature dissolved solid rock forming caves and then began to fill them with material of artistic beauty. If these processes continue, in time noticeable changes will occur. But during our generations, we can enjoy these masterpieces in rock. For here there are shapes, shadows, a magic of minerals, beauty and treasures of subterranean nature.