KARTCHNER CAVERNS STATE PARK SOUVENIR PINBACK NIP

This is a KARTCHNER CAVERNS STATE PARK SOUVENIR PIN.  It is brand new still attached to its plastic backing.  This gold-tone and enamel pin measures 7/8” x 1 1/8”.  It is in unused/mint condition and sold as shown with US postage included in the price.  I post SAME-DAY when payment is received before 11:00 AM. 

In November 1974 two young cavers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, were exploring the limestone hills at the base of the Whetstone Mountains of Arizona.  In the bottom of a sinkhole they found a narrow crack leading into the hillside. Warm, moist air flowed out, signaling the existence of a cave. After several hours of crawling, they entered a pristine cavern.

The formations that decorate caves are called “speleothems.” Usually formations are composed of layers of calcite called travertine deposited by water. The form a speleothem takes is determined by whether the water drips, flows, seeps, condenses, or pools.

Kartchner Caverns is home to:

• one of the world's longest soda straw stalactites: 21 feet 2 inches (Throne Room)
• the tallest and most massive column in Arizona, Kubla Khan: 58 feet tall (Throne Room)
• the world's most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk (Big Room)
• the first reported occurrence of “turnip” shields (Big Room)
• the first cave occurrence of “birdsnest” needle quartz formations
• many other unusual formations such as shields, totems, helictites, and rimstone dams.

Thanks for taking a look!