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Great Blue Hole
Massive underwater sinkhole made famous by Jacques Cousteau
Category Watery Wonders, Geological Oddities, Curious Caves
Great Blue Hole
Source www.flickr.com
The Great Blue hole, located just 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the coast of Belize, is an underwater sinkhole that researchers believe is the largest of its kind. Circular in shape and characterized by its rich, blue color, it is over 300 meters (984 ft) across and 125 meters (410 ft) deep. It lies in the center of an atoll called Lighthouse Reef, where an island of coral encircles the shallow, light turquoise-colored waters of a lagoon. Water levels there are so shallow that parts of the ring surrounding the dark blue sinkhole are even known to crest the surface at low tide.
The sinkhole originally formed as a limestone cave during the last glacial period, a time when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise, the cave system flooded and eventually collapsed, creating a "vertical cave" in the ocean. As such, the site is popular among divers, who flock to the area to see the geological formations that now lie in the ocean's depths.
One such diver was undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, who made the site famous in 1971 by declaring it one of the top ten best diving places in the world. At the time, Cousteau, sailing on his ship Calypso, investigated the sinkhole's depths and confirmed that it had, indeed, originated from a limestone cave formation. Huge stalactites and stalagmites were also found below the surface, some even reaching 9-12 meters (30-40 ft) in length.
These geological formations can still be viewed by divers today. It is said that the deeper one goes, the water becomes more clear and the formations, more complex. The Great Blue Hole is part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
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- Address Belize
Some dive tours can be booked out of hotels on Long Caye and the Turneffe Islands, Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker and Belize City.
Comments
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Anonymous
October 25, 2011
Hi all, The content was really very interesting. Thanks for all your hard work and the info you give. -
Anonymous
November 19, 2010
this is so cool one day i might just have to go! :)
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I have heard that the Great blue hole in Belize is the only Blue Hole been seen from space with the naked eye. It was originally an above ground cave but as the water levels rose the weight of the water caused the roof to collapse in and form an almost perfect circular hole. Your photo depicts the density of the deep sink hole and is now tempting me to explore it once in life time. Also heard that the Blue Hole is more of dive destination but it also offers excellent snorkeling around the rim of the hole. http://www.travelamerica360.com/counting-the-colors-of-the-great-blue-hole.html
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Anonymous
May 24, 2010
jey guys im a student in universty of zululand in S.A. of recreation and tourism doing my final year also i did tourism in my unoir levels in high school, my point is that please there people who are like me who does ever had of such place in their life so i think this is not well marketed aorund the world as a styudent as i belive i should be the person who should knw about this atraction because we are dealing with... so please guys trie to market it
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A sinkhole is merely a hole, any type of hole really, caused by the removal of soil or rock by water. There is no one mechanism and sinkholes can occur through slow dissolving of limestone (the "expanding" you are referring to), can be human induced, or created by the collapsing of a cave, as is the case of the Great Blue Hole. It is also known to be 410 feet deep.
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Anonymous
December 13, 2009
It ISN"T a sink hole! If it wre, it wouldn't still be the same size, or circular. It would have been expanding. It's mysterious, but please, don;t invent, and present to the public what is supposedly, is! Nobody can say what it is, or how deep, or whre it goes.
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This has got to be one of the "wonders of the world." This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful sites on our planet. I hope to come back here to see more of what you find. I always seem to learn something new.
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