Deep below the surface of the Bahamian island of Abaco, lies a secret cave few humans have
ever visited.
The journey here is dark and treacherous, but the cave contains valuable secrets of
the Earth’s ancient climate.
They are hidden in these formations, made of the purest calcite crystal.
They were created by dripping water during an ice age, when sea levels were hundreds
of feet lower and this cave was dry.
Brian Kakuk is a world-renowned cave explorer.
Today he is on a mission to recover a stalagmite sample from deep inside the cave.
Scientists can analyze these crystal formations to unlock a valuable history of climate going
back hundred of thousands of years.
Sixteen hundred miles away, at the University of Minnesota, cave paleoclimatologist Dr.
Gina Moseley removes a sample from a stalagmite.
DR MOSELEY: Through looking at these deposits I get information about how the climate has
changed in the past, how the sea level has changed in the past, and also how the landscape
has evolved above the cave.
Dr. Moseley works with Dr. Larry Edwards, the world’s foremost expert in dating cave
samples.
DR. EDWARDS: It turns out that one of the huge advantages of cave deposits is that you can
date them really, really well.
Oh Wow!
It’s incredible
Doctor Edwards and Doctor Mosley began their work together exploring the Earth’s ancient
climate in this dry cave in Minnesota.
Oh Gina, come take a look at this, would this be a good specimen?
That’s perfect.
It’s already broken and it looks like a nice long record in there.
But as they gathered data from caves elsewhere around the globe, there were new questions
about what causes the great fluctuations in the Earth’s temperature that lead to ice
ages, droughts, and sea level change.
The answers require samples from some of the most difficult and dangerous places on Earth.
Ancient Caves is a giant screen film that follows expeditions to some of the world’s
most astonishing caves in search of clues about our changing planet.
The film takes viewers to the Nevada desert, the Yucatan in Mexico, and the deep, stunningly
beautiful and treacherous Crystal Cave in the Bahamas.
DR. MOSELEY: I love the journey you go in, in a cave.
You never know what’s around the next corner.
Ancient Caves is the first giant screen film in more than 30 years to be shot and produced
specifically for the OMNIMAX format.
Shot with a combination of traditional 15/70 and high-tech ultra-high resolution digital
cameras, our film crew can go where traditional cameras cannot.
Ancient Caves is a science adventure film and a story of exploration.
The underwater sequences will be shot in the most beautiful and dangerous caves in the
world.
DR. MOSELEY: Anything below the current sea level is hard for us to get to so we’re reliant
on diving experts basically to collect the samples for us and it’s dangerous work and
as a result of that there has been limited work done below sea level.
Caves offer an incredible environment for OMNIMAX because there is something to see
in all directions--even straight up.
It’s perfect for the immersion experience that only these theaters can provide.