A 1,380 feet deep Blue Hole where Scientists haven’t even reached the bottom yet
Researchers have discovered what may be the world’s “deepest known blue hole,” reaching so far below the surface has not yet been discovered. The immense depths of the underwater abyss may contain a “biodiversity to be explored,” according to a new study that appeared in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science by researchers.
The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole (TJBH), which is situated in Chetumal Bay off the Yucatan Peninsula, is in fact positioned at least 1,380 feet (420 metres) below sea level, which is almost the height of Trump Tower in Chicago, according to recent measurements made during a scuba-diving expedition. This is 480 feet deeper beyond the previous record holder, the South China Sea’s Sansha Yongle Blue Hole, also known as the Dragon Hole, which is 990 feet below the surface.
Blue holes are essentially vertical marine caverns that were sculpted over hundreds of thousands of years by glacial runoff during the Ice Age. These formations are known in scientific circles as Karst formations. These expansive sapphire sinkholes can span an equivalent or greater extent across in addition to often extending hundreds of feet below the surface.
But research on blue holes is sometimes restricted since it is dangerous for humans to enter the abyss without the necessary equipment due to the lack of oxygen—hydrogen sulphide is the gas that fills these portals.
The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole
In fact, when TBJH was first found in 2021, scientists were only able to record its depth down to 900 feet because of technical constraints with the echo-sounder technology they were employing at the time. This method determines speed based on sound waves.
In order to gather precise measurements for this most recent expedition—which sought to evaluate the environmental conditions in TBJH—the crew employed a conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) profile. This cutting-edge apparatus uses a cable that descends 1,640 feet to capture and transmit water data in real time to the top.
Scientists were unable to determine the maximum depth of TBJH despite its state-of-the-art capabilities since the cable broke at 1,380 feet, maybe due to underwater currents or a cliff. On their subsequent expedition, the scientists aim to reach the bottom.
Researchers also confirmed that in 2021, instrumental restrictions prevented them from measuring the undersea sinkhole’s greatest depth; but, with those limitations removed, they were able to obtain additional measurements and insights into the sinkhole’s depth. Regretfully, it would be exceedingly challenging to obtain the exact measurements without diving to the bottom.
The undersea sinkhole’s salinity is similar to that of the nearby Caribbean Sea, which the scientific team also observed, indicating that the two bodies of water may be connected by submerged tunnels.
What About Sinkholes?
A similar investigation was carried out in Belize in the past, when a group of scientists measured the bottom of a large marine sinkhole and found that it was full of dead bodies and trash. Underwater sinkholes are not uncommon; they are roughly circular depressions with steep walls that get their name from the contrast between the lighter blue shallow waters surrounding the depressions and the darker blue waters associated with higher depths.
Conclusion
Like a subaquatic black hole, this underground structure might perhaps provide a link to space and time.
Researchers looking for blue holes in the Bahamas in 2012 found bacteria in places where there was no other life, possibly bridging the “gap” in our understanding of the kinds of lifeforms that could exist on other worlds.
The Great Blue Hole, an enormous underwater sinkhole measuring 300 metres in width and 125 metres in depth that is situated about 100 kilometres off the coast of Belize, is still the largest sinkhole overall, despite Taam Ja’s official designation as the deepest known sinkhole.
