World's Deepest Blue Hole Discovered In Mexico May Have Caves And Tunnels Inside
Taam Ja¡¯ Blue Hole (TJBH), is located in Chetumal Bay off the Yucatan Peninsula and it is estimated to be at least 1,380 feet (420 metres) below sea level. This makes TJBH the deepest known underwater sinkhole in the world.
Scientists have announced the discovery of what they describe as the world¡¯s deepest blue hole, off the coast of Mexico. Taam Ja¡¯ Blue Hole (TJBH), is located in Chetumal Bay off the Yucatan Peninsula and it is estimated to be at least 1,380 feet (420 metres) below sea level. This makes TJBH the deepest known underwater sinkhole in the world.
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What is a blue hole
Blue holes are water-filled vertical caverns, or sinkholes, found in coastal regions where the bedrock is made of soluble material, such as limestone, marble or gypsum. They form when water on the surface percolates through the rock, dissolving minerals and widening cracks, which eventually causes the rock to collapse.
How Taam Ja' Blue Hole was found
Taam Ja' Blue Hole was first identified by researchers in 2021 and the initial measurements had suggested that it had a depth of 900 feet, making it the second-deepest blue hole found on the planet.
However, a new study estimated that Taam Ja' Blue Hole is much deeper than initially thought.
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New measurement of Taam Ja' Blue Hole
According to researchers, Taam Ja' Blue Hole is 480 feet (146 m) deeper than scientists initially documented, and 390 feet (119 m) deeper than Sansha Yongle Blue Hole, also known as the Dragon Hole, in the South China Sea which is has an estimated measurement of 990 feet (301 m).
In December 2023, researchers undertook a scuba diving expedition was conducted to identify the environmental conditions prevailing at the TJBH.
Based on their measurements with a conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) profiler researchers have concluded that the Taam Ja' blue hole is "the world's deepest known blue hole, with its bottom still not reached."
What is inside Taam Ja' Blue Hole
They believe that the bottom might be an intricate network of caves and tunnels, potentially interconnected. This unseen world could be a haven for unknown lifeforms, thriving in the darkness.
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Scientists are now planning to"decipher TJBH's "maximum depth and the possibilities of forming part of an underwater intricate and potentially interconnected system of caves and tunnels.
"Within the depths of TJBH could also lie a biodiversity to be explored," they said.
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