It is well known that black holes exist outside our solar system.
But equally mysterious features on Earth are blue holes: huge sinkholes in our oceans that can span the length of skyscrapers.
Believed to have formed during the last ice ages, blue holes are considered “ecological hot spots” with abundant plant and animal life.
Now, scientists have identified the world’s largest blue hole, located in Chetumal Bay off the coast of Mexico.
Known as Taam Ja’, which means “deep water” in Mayan, it reaches at least 420 meters (1,380 feet) below sea level, and scientists haven’t even reached the bottom.
Aerial view (left) of the entrance to Taam Ja’, the world’s deepest blue hole, as well as underwater view of the mouth of the hole (right)
Taam Ja’ is located in Chetumal Bay off the southeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Scientists previously thought Taam Ja’ was the second largest blue hole, but new measurements show it surpasses the previous record in China.
Sampling and studies of the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole (TJBH) were carried out in September 2021, but it was not until last year that researchers revealed its existence.
However, they calculated its depth at 900.2 feet (274.4 meters), about the same length as the Williams Tower in Houston.
In fact, this previous estimate is nearly 400 feet short of its now-confirmed depth: an epic 1,380 feet, which is about the same length as Chicago’s Trump Tower.
Experts in Chetumal, Mexico, managed to obtain more precise measurements of Taam Ja’ in December last year using a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) profiler.
This device consists of a set of probes attached to a circular metal frame, which is lowered through the water using a cable.
Previously, they had used echosounder mapping, a different technique that uses pulses of sound waves.
“On December 6, 2023, a diving expedition was carried out to identify the environmental conditions prevailing in the TJBH,” the team says in a new study, published in Frontiers in marine sciences.
The location of the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole (TJBH) in Chetumal Bay, Mexico, is presented along with photographs of TJBH dive explorations at depths (B) 16 feet below sea level (C) 65 feet below sea level from the sea and (D) 98 feet below sea level
Taam Ja’ was previously thought to reach a total depth of 900.2 feet (274.4 meters), approximately the same length as the Williams Tower in Houston, Texas.
In the image, a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) profiler. This device consists of a set of probes attached to a circular metal frame, which is lowered through the water using a cable (file photo)
‘CTD profiler records at TJBH exceeded 420 mbsl (meters below sea level) without reaching the bottom yet, establishing TJBH as the deepest blue hole known worldwide.
“It was not possible to confirm the maximum depth due to instrumental limitations during the 2021 scientific expeditions, resulting in the need for further exploration and analysis.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, blue holes are similar to sinkholes on Earth, except they are filled with water, so oceangoing ships can pass over them.
They are diverse biological communities full of marine life, including corals, sponges, mollusks, sea turtles, sharks and more.
However, little is known about them due to their lack of accessibility and their “unknown distribution and abundance.”
Blue holes have been popular with daredevil deep-sea divers, although attempts to traverse their depths have proven fatal.
The researchers say there are still “mysteries hidden in TJBH” and urge “further exploration, monitoring and scientific investigation.”
Taam Ja’ takes the record from China’s Dragon Hole, also known locally as Longdong, which is located southeast of Hainan Island.
Scientists previously thought Taam Ja’ was the second largest blue hole, but new measurements show it surpasses the previous record holder in China: the blue hole, also known locally as Longdong (pictured).
Pictured is the Great Blue Hole in Belize, Central America, described as one of the best diving sites in the world.
Dragon Hole drops 987 feet (300.89 meters), making it only about 30 feet shorter than The Shard skyscraper in London.
Meanwhile, the Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize in Central America, described as one of the world’s best diving sites by French explorer Jacques Cousteau, is 120 meters (407 feet) deep.
A team of explorers, including Virgin billionaire Sir Richard Branson, led an expedition to the Great Blue Hole in 2018.
Branson himself saw plastic bottles at the bottom of the hole, as well as a “graveyard” of conch shells created by thousands of shellfish that fell into the abyss.
Other notable blue holes are Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas (about 662 feet or 202 meters) and the Dahab Blue Hole in Egypt (426 feet or 130 meters).
JACQUES COUSTEAU AND THE BIG BLUE HOLE
The Great Blue Hole was made famous by French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, who declared it one of the five best diving sites in the world.
In 1972 he brought his renowned research ship, the Calypso, to investigate the depths of the sinkhole.
The expedition found some stalactites submerged in the hole and was able to conclude that the Blue Hole formed before the ocean level rose.
The Great Blue Hole was made famous by French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau (left), who declared it one of the five best diving sites in the world. In 1972 he brought his renowned research vessel, the Calypso, to investigate the depths of the sinkhole.
Investigations from this expedition confirmed the origin of the hole as typical karst limestone formations, formed before sea level rise in at least four stages, leaving ledges at depths of 21 m (69 ft), 49 m (161 ft) and 91 m (299 ft). foot).
Stalactites were recovered from submerged caves, confirming their previous formation above sea level.
Some of these stalactites were also off 5˚ vertical in a constant orientation, indicating that there was also some past geological change and tilting of the underlying plateau, followed by a long period in the present plane.
The tilt indicates that this was a movement of the earth, rather than a rise in sea level alone.
