Cave/Subterranean Lighting












1














I have a cave that is ravine like and stretches approximately one kilometer down into the Earth. Let's assume that the cave has a clear, crystalline roof allowing some light in.



Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?



I want the cave to have enough available light for average plants and such to grow with the upper half of the ravine.






environment flora







share|improve this question





























    1














    I have a cave that is ravine like and stretches approximately one kilometer down into the Earth. Let's assume that the cave has a clear, crystalline roof allowing some light in.



    Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?



    I want the cave to have enough available light for average plants and such to grow with the upper half of the ravine.






    environment flora







    share|improve this question



























      1












      1








      1







      I have a cave that is ravine like and stretches approximately one kilometer down into the Earth. Let's assume that the cave has a clear, crystalline roof allowing some light in.



      Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?



      I want the cave to have enough available light for average plants and such to grow with the upper half of the ravine.






      environment flora







      share|improve this question















      I have a cave that is ravine like and stretches approximately one kilometer down into the Earth. Let's assume that the cave has a clear, crystalline roof allowing some light in.



      Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?



      I want the cave to have enough available light for average plants and such to grow with the upper half of the ravine.






      environment flora




      environment flora






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 2 hours ago









      L.Dutch♦

      75.3k24180366




      75.3k24180366










      asked 3 hours ago









      Thalassan

      502110




      502110






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          3














          Ice.



          ice cave



          https://www.getyourguide.com/joekulsarlon-l2030/crystal-ice-cave-tour-from-jokulsarlon-t73050/



          The Icelandic ice caves (in glaciers) are made of translucent ice which admits sunlight from above. The light bounces around, refracting within the ice, reflecting off of other ice surfaces within the cave and illuminating the interior to a degree you would never see in a regular stone cave.






          share|improve this answer

















          • 1




            100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
            – JBH
            1 hour ago



















          0















          Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?




          I am afraid not. While it can happen that some naturally occurring materials are transparent (think gems), to have reflection you need to have both the right material AND the right surface condition, meaning a polished surface.



          While some metals can be worked to make a pretty decent mirror, they never naturally come in nicely polished surface state. They shine, but don't reflect like a mirror.



          Think of gold or silver nuggets, since they are the only two naturally occurring metals.



          gold nuggets



          You can still have reflective surfaces in the right conditions, like grazing light on water surface, but that would




          • complicate the internal design of your caves to have the light traveling deep into the cave

          • work only in precise moments of the day, since the external light source won't be stationary in the sky






          share|improve this answer





















          • Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
            – Thalassan
            7 mins ago











          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "579"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f134643%2fcave-subterranean-lighting%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes








          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          3














          Ice.



          ice cave



          https://www.getyourguide.com/joekulsarlon-l2030/crystal-ice-cave-tour-from-jokulsarlon-t73050/



          The Icelandic ice caves (in glaciers) are made of translucent ice which admits sunlight from above. The light bounces around, refracting within the ice, reflecting off of other ice surfaces within the cave and illuminating the interior to a degree you would never see in a regular stone cave.






          share|improve this answer

















          • 1




            100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
            – JBH
            1 hour ago
















          3














          Ice.



          ice cave



          https://www.getyourguide.com/joekulsarlon-l2030/crystal-ice-cave-tour-from-jokulsarlon-t73050/



          The Icelandic ice caves (in glaciers) are made of translucent ice which admits sunlight from above. The light bounces around, refracting within the ice, reflecting off of other ice surfaces within the cave and illuminating the interior to a degree you would never see in a regular stone cave.






          share|improve this answer

















          • 1




            100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
            – JBH
            1 hour ago














          3












          3








          3






          Ice.



          ice cave



          https://www.getyourguide.com/joekulsarlon-l2030/crystal-ice-cave-tour-from-jokulsarlon-t73050/



          The Icelandic ice caves (in glaciers) are made of translucent ice which admits sunlight from above. The light bounces around, refracting within the ice, reflecting off of other ice surfaces within the cave and illuminating the interior to a degree you would never see in a regular stone cave.






          share|improve this answer












          Ice.



          ice cave



          https://www.getyourguide.com/joekulsarlon-l2030/crystal-ice-cave-tour-from-jokulsarlon-t73050/



          The Icelandic ice caves (in glaciers) are made of translucent ice which admits sunlight from above. The light bounces around, refracting within the ice, reflecting off of other ice surfaces within the cave and illuminating the interior to a degree you would never see in a regular stone cave.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 1 hour ago









          Willk

          100k25191423




          100k25191423








          • 1




            100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
            – JBH
            1 hour ago














          • 1




            100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
            – JBH
            1 hour ago








          1




          1




          100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
          – JBH
          1 hour ago




          100K! Congratulations! Also, does this meet the OP's requirement that plants can grow? Less light is needed to illuminate than to sustain life.
          – JBH
          1 hour ago











          0















          Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?




          I am afraid not. While it can happen that some naturally occurring materials are transparent (think gems), to have reflection you need to have both the right material AND the right surface condition, meaning a polished surface.



          While some metals can be worked to make a pretty decent mirror, they never naturally come in nicely polished surface state. They shine, but don't reflect like a mirror.



          Think of gold or silver nuggets, since they are the only two naturally occurring metals.



          gold nuggets



          You can still have reflective surfaces in the right conditions, like grazing light on water surface, but that would




          • complicate the internal design of your caves to have the light traveling deep into the cave

          • work only in precise moments of the day, since the external light source won't be stationary in the sky






          share|improve this answer





















          • Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
            – Thalassan
            7 mins ago
















          0















          Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?




          I am afraid not. While it can happen that some naturally occurring materials are transparent (think gems), to have reflection you need to have both the right material AND the right surface condition, meaning a polished surface.



          While some metals can be worked to make a pretty decent mirror, they never naturally come in nicely polished surface state. They shine, but don't reflect like a mirror.



          Think of gold or silver nuggets, since they are the only two naturally occurring metals.



          gold nuggets



          You can still have reflective surfaces in the right conditions, like grazing light on water surface, but that would




          • complicate the internal design of your caves to have the light traveling deep into the cave

          • work only in precise moments of the day, since the external light source won't be stationary in the sky






          share|improve this answer





















          • Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
            – Thalassan
            7 mins ago














          0












          0








          0







          Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?




          I am afraid not. While it can happen that some naturally occurring materials are transparent (think gems), to have reflection you need to have both the right material AND the right surface condition, meaning a polished surface.



          While some metals can be worked to make a pretty decent mirror, they never naturally come in nicely polished surface state. They shine, but don't reflect like a mirror.



          Think of gold or silver nuggets, since they are the only two naturally occurring metals.



          gold nuggets



          You can still have reflective surfaces in the right conditions, like grazing light on water surface, but that would




          • complicate the internal design of your caves to have the light traveling deep into the cave

          • work only in precise moments of the day, since the external light source won't be stationary in the sky






          share|improve this answer













          Is there any sort of crystal, mineral, substance, or something else naturally occurring that could reflect light into most parts of the cave?




          I am afraid not. While it can happen that some naturally occurring materials are transparent (think gems), to have reflection you need to have both the right material AND the right surface condition, meaning a polished surface.



          While some metals can be worked to make a pretty decent mirror, they never naturally come in nicely polished surface state. They shine, but don't reflect like a mirror.



          Think of gold or silver nuggets, since they are the only two naturally occurring metals.



          gold nuggets



          You can still have reflective surfaces in the right conditions, like grazing light on water surface, but that would




          • complicate the internal design of your caves to have the light traveling deep into the cave

          • work only in precise moments of the day, since the external light source won't be stationary in the sky







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 2 hours ago









          L.Dutch♦

          75.3k24180366




          75.3k24180366












          • Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
            – Thalassan
            7 mins ago


















          • Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
            – Thalassan
            7 mins ago
















          Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
          – Thalassan
          7 mins ago




          Thanks for your Input! Any possible way I could explain naturally occuring silver and gold deposits that are polished. Whether it be through natural chemical or physical means.
          – Thalassan
          7 mins ago


















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to Worldbuilding Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid …



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





          Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


          Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid …



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f134643%2fcave-subterranean-lighting%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          -

          Popular posts from this blog

          Accessing regular linux commands in Huawei's Dopra Linux

          Image
          4 Backstory: I have a Huawei HG8245 router in my house and I want to change the default username/password. I've tried following this guide but the config file always gets reset. My ISP isn't helping either so I'm looking for other ways to accomplish this. The router has telnet access so this seems like a way to change the credentials. The first shell I gain access to looks like this: WAP> Pressing "?" gives me a list of available commands which I've pasted here, the two interesting ones are "su" and "shell". I can't seem to get su access, even after logging in as root (challenge password prompt, and then nothing happens), but shell gives me a proper linux shell. WAP>shell BusyBox v1.18.4 (2017-12-26 17:06:34 CST) built-in shell (ash) Enter 'hel...
          Read more

          Can't connect RFCOMM socket: Host is down

          Image
          up vote 3 down vote favorite I have bluez 5.4.3 and I am attempting to communicate with a ble device through minicom. These two deceives (my computer and a bluno nano) are alreadt paired and this has been my method so far. #bluetoothctl # pair xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx # exit Everything is working well so far then... #sudo rfcomm connect /dev/rfcomm0 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx 1 & [1] 3665 Can't connect RFCOMM socket: Host is down Does anyone know how to resolve this issue? Any help would be very much appreciated. bluetooth bluez share | improve this question asked Feb 9 '17 at 18:46 Brandon Knape 46 2 ...
          Read more

          Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal Exception in Interrupt

          Image
          0 Every day this error occured on my pc, kernel panic error on interrupt, what will be the problem? linux-mint share asked 6 mins ago Vinod Selvin Vinod Selvin 1 1 New contributor Vinod Selvin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering. Check out our Code of Conduct. add a comment ...
          Read more