'100,000 soldiers' structure in French cave

Trabuc Cave contains countless small solid masses, likened to thousands of tiny soldiers standing guard, but in fact is a form of concretion not found anywhere else in the world .

The "100,000 Soldiers" structure in Trabuc Cave is an unsolved geological mystery. Photo: David PAGIS/ Wikimedia Commons

Trabuc Cave is the largest underground cave system in the Cévennes Mountains, Mialet, France. It was first explored in 1823. Since then, experts have discovered about 10 km of caves. However, they believe Trabuc is two to three times longer, IFL Science reported on June 10.

Trabuc bears the marks of a rich past of human activity. The cave served as a refuge for various groups of people from prehistoric times, including the Camisards, and later the Trabucaires.

Trabuc is also famous for a strange and unexplained phenomenon called "100,000 Soldiers". During an expedition in 1945, speleologists came across structures that looked like thousands of tiny soldiers standing guard, but were actually a unique form of concretion that has yet to be explained.

The “soldiers” scattered across the cave floor are just a few centimeters tall and have not been found anywhere else in the world. These mysterious mineral formations formed underwater, made up of 95% calcite and 5% clay. Each appears to be a series of stacked disks, likely due to varying water levels. Other than that, experts know very little about how they were formed.

Stalagmites and stalactites, the more familiar cave structures, form in pairs on the ceiling and floor of the cave. As water flows through the limestone and drips down, these sedimentary rocks gradually form. However, the “100,000 Soldiers” are present without a corresponding structure above them, so this formation method has been ruled out. Over the years, various theories have been put forward, from bacteria to electrostatic forces, but none have been able to fully explain the strangeness of the “100,000 Soldiers.”

Thu Thao (According to IFL Science )

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