That you had something to do with all this??  “No sooner do I spout knowledge of gypsum,” blah blah.. “and look what we stumble upon…”

Well, thanks to faithful reader Dan P. we now know that this is the “Cave of Crystals” According to the Wiki, the main chamber contains giant selenite crystals (gypsum, CaSO4·2 H2O), some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The cave’s largest crystal found to date is 12 m (39 ft) in length, 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and 55 tons in weight. The cave is extremely hot, with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to these factors. Without proper protection, people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time.  So you’d all best get the hell out of there…

So, yes, we are in Mexico now, bending the space time continuum, sweating our asses off for no apparent reason.  At some point the author needs to understand that a collection of non-sequitur events does not a plot line make…

But as long as we are here, let’s learn about Gypsum… C’mon, it’ll be fun!!  Known through the centuries across multiple civilizations for its properties and usefulness, below are the 2014 stats for mining production:

Go China!  Now we know where all the wallboard comes from!!