It comes from the roselite family and has a white Mineralogists from the Earth Science Institute at the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) have discovered a new mineral in the Slovenské Rudohorie mountains but a mixture of cobalt gives it a light pink hue Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names announced at the beginning of February 2021 that the mineral was classified as the 23rd mineral found on Slovak soil, said Katarína Gáliková, spokesperson of the SAV, as reported by the Korzár regional daily. The new mineral is named Dobšináit, after the location in which it was found: Dobšiná, near the Slovenské Rudohorie mountains. It belongs to the roselite family of rare arsenate minerals. In this location, the ore veins, or the mounds of rock containing ore, represent a significant accumulation of nickel and cobalt in the Western Carpathians. Martin Števko from the SAV’s Earth Science Institute explained that “Dobšiná used to belong to the most important producers of these metals in Europe”. Together with his colleagues from the National Museum in Prague, Masaryk University, Moravian Museum, and the Institute of Physics at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Števko contributed to the discovery of this mineral. The Earth Science Institute in Banská Bystrica also confirmed the nature of the mineral through chemical analysis with an electron microanalyser in a detached geological workspace. The oldest ice in the cave is approximately 2,600 years old The amount of ice in the Dobšinská Ice Cave depending on the climate and the effects caused by cave visitors the condition of ice in the cave is stable shows data obtained from extensive multidisciplinary research by scientists of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains the initial estimates of the amount of ice in the cave turned out to be surprisingly accurate: with a volume of 115,000 to 120,000 cubic metres refined by more modern methods to 110,000 m3 in 1995 the cave is one of the largest in the world," said Earth Science Institute Director Ján Madarás He added that the current ice has a maximum thickness of around 25 metres "We have the first georadar measurements of the thickness and characteristics of ice from 1995 Compared to the results of regular measurements from the 2011/2012 season ice has decreased by one to two metres in some parts of the cave but has increased in others," said Madarás He explained that at the time of the cave's discovery a continuous layer of ice with a thickness of several metres is currently located in the lower parts of the cave which were not glaciated at the time of discovery," the scientist pointed out Changes in the ice environment are influenced by the presence of visitors and technical operation negative impacts can be mitigated by strict seasonal visiting regulations as well as by technical changes in lighting they apply a set of geodetic and geophysical measurements because ice develops dynamically "The purpose of the measurements is to determine the thickness and volume of the ice massif in different parts of the cave to record changes in the thickness of the ice at the same locations - the dynamics of the ice its melting or increase in different parts of the cave," said the geologist The Dobšinská Ice Cave has the advantage of being located in the northern part of Slovak Paradise National Park it belongs to the coldest locations in Slovakia up to an altitude of 1,000 metres SAV pointed out that due to shorter winters milder winters with a decreasing number of very cold days richer summer precipitation and also the influence of tourism changes underground may occur in the long term the detailed long-term monitoring of the ice is extremely necessary," the expert concluded A helping hand in the heart of Europe thanks to the Slovakia travel guide with more than 1,000 photos and hundreds of tourist spots A detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains Lost in Bratislava? It's impossible with our City Guide