This unassuming, gated-off hole in the ground is actually a natural entrance to a giant underground chamber buried beneath the desert at Wupatki National Monument. The blowhole is so named because it "breathes", pushing air out or sucking air in depending on the temperature and pressure outside. When we were there the blowhole was blowing air out of it, though we at first couldn't tell which way the air was blowing. There are several blowhole sites around Wupatki, and like I said above these are entrances to underground chambers; these chambers are called earthcracks and appear as a result of earthquake activity in the surrounding limestone bedrock, which enlarge over time. Each chamber and blowhole is connected by one or more passages, though as of yet nobody has explored the size, depth, or complexity of the earthcracks. Wouldn't it be cool to do a little spelunking in the area?
Leave me a comment below and tell me if you've ever heard of earthcracks or blowholes. They aren't really caves, though they seem pretty similar if you ask me!
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