Surprise discovery of world’s 2nd deepest blue hole could provide window into Earth’s history

The second deepest blue gap on the earth has been found off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The large, underwater cavern, positioned in Chetumal Bay, is round 900 ft (274 meters) deep and spans an space of 147,000 sq. ft (13,660 sq. meters).

That is simply shy of the report set by the world’s deepest identified blue gap — the Dragon Gap within the South China Sea — which was found in 2016 and is considered greater than 980 ft (300 m) deep.

Blue holes are giant, undersea vertical caves or sinkholes present in coastal areas. Many include a excessive range of plant and marine life, together with corals, sea turtles and sharks. The one in Chetumal, named Taam Ja’ which suggests “deep water” in Mayan, has steep sides with slopes of just about 80 levels, and the mouth of the cavern sits round 15 ft (4.6 m) beneath sea degree. Scientists from El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosur), a public analysis middle coordinated by Mexico’s Nationwide Council of Science and Expertise (Conacyt), first found it in 2021. A examine of the discover was printed Feb. 23 within the journal Frontiers in Marine Science (opens in new tab).

3D map showing the second deepest blue hole in the world

3D map exhibiting the world’s second deepest identified blue gap, which sits off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. (Picture credit score: Alcérreca-Huerta et al/Frontiers in Marine Science)

Blue holes type when sea water meets limestone. Limestone could be very porous, so water simply permeates the rock, enabling chemical compounds within the water to react with the limestone, consuming it away. Lots of the world’s blue holes probably fashioned throughout previous ice ages, when the repeated flooding and draining of coastal areas eroded the rock and created voids. When the final ice age ended round 11,000 years in the past and sea ranges rose, these caverns stuffed with water and a few had been utterly immersed.

Associated: Unusual ‘alien’ holes found on the ocean flooring

As a result of blue holes are so arduous to succeed in, scientists have not studied lots of them.

Underwater photos showing the inside of the Taam ja' blue hole

The Taam ja’ blue gap is simply 80 ft shallower than the deepest identified blue gap on the earth, the Dragon Gap within the South China Sea (Picture credit score: Alcérreca-Huerta et al/Frontiers in Marine Science)

“They’re largely poorly understood,” Christopher G. Smith (opens in new tab), a coastal geologist on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who has studied different submarine sinkholes however was not concerned within the newest analysis, informed Reside Science in an electronic mail. Smith added that the distinctive seawater chemistry in blue holes suggests they could work together with groundwater and presumably aquifers — our bodies of rock or sediment that maintain groundwater.

Blue holes include little oxygen, and daylight solely shines on the floor. Regardless of these situations, the big voids are teeming with life that has tailored to the low-oxygen setting.

Blue holes could provide a snapshot of what life was like 1000’s of years in the past. With out a lot oxygen or gentle, fossils could be well-preserved, enabling scientists to determine the stays of extinct species, the researchers famous within the examine.

Blue holes may inform us extra about life on different planets. In 2012, researchers peering into blue holes within the Bahamas discovered micro organism deep within the caverns the place no different lifeforms dwelled. Such findings may provide clues as to what life could exist within the excessive situations elsewhere in our photo voltaic system.

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