Giant blue hole discovered: Humans are not capable of exploring yet!

The Taam Ja' blue hole is at least 420m below sea level and may be connected to a system of hidden caves and tunnels .

During a diving expedition on December 6, 2023 to determine the prevailing environmental conditions at Mexico's Taam Ja' blue hole , researchers discovered that this is the deepest underwater sinkhole in the world even though it is not yet known. Measure to the bottom. The new research was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science on April 29, conducted by Juan Carlos Alcérreca-Huerta, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico, and colleagues.

Scientifically known as Karst terrain, these blue holes are essentially vertical sea caves (also known as sinkholes) formed over thousands of years by flows from the Ice Age, with The depth can be up to hundreds of meters. They form when surface water seeps through the rock, dissolving minerals and causing cracks to widen, eventually causing the rock to collapse.

This latest blue hole system was discovered off the coast of Chetumal Bay of the Yucatan Peninsula and has been researched by scientists through forms such as surveys, sampling, using sonar techniques and many other methods. other law.

New measurements show that the Taam Ja' blue hole in Chetumal Bay, off the southeastern coast of the Yucatan peninsula, is at least 420 meters below sea level . Thus, this structure is 146 m deeper than measured data when first discovered in 2021 and 119 m deeper than the previous record-holding structure - Sansha Yongle blue hole , also known as Dragon Hole, 301 m deep in the East Sea.

Blue holes are found in seas with depths of up to hundreds of meters.

More notably, the Taam Ja' blue hole has a slope of nearly 80 degrees, forming a large cone-shaped structure. The surrounding walls created from the crater help shield the water inside the hole from the tides, making its flow completely still, and thereby creating a completely isolated habitat for living creatures. object inside.

Unfortunately, despite their high biological value, very few scientists are able to conduct research on blue holes. The reason is because the tidal flow causes the water to be clearly stratified by a layer of fresh water on the surface, preventing oxygen from reaching the dense salt water below.

Therefore, instead of oxygen, these blue holes are filled with toxic hydrogen sulfide gas that can be life-threatening to those who approach without the right equipment.

Images of the structure inside the hole.

Despite the harsh conditions, blue holes are truly "ocean oases" filled with creatures that have the ability to adapt to low-oxygen conditions. Besides, researchers also believe that this lack of oxygen also unintentionally has the side effect of perfectly preserving fossils, allowing them to identify some long-extinct species.

In fact, blue holes under the sea can provide a huge amount of information about both space and time. For example, in 2012, during the exploration of blue holes in the Bahamas, scientists discovered bacteria deep in caves where no other life could exist. This discovery has the potential to fill a gap in knowledge about life forms that could potentially exist on other planets.