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All Mexico Undersea Brine Lake

Undersea Brine Lake

A lake at the bottom of the ocean.

Mexico

Added By
Sarah Brumble
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The brine pool’s “shore” and surface ripples beneath the Gulf of Mexico.   http://green.yahoo.com/blog/environmentalg...
The brine pool’s “shore” and surface ripples beneath the Gulf of Mexico.   http://green.yahoo.com/blog/environmentalg...
Mollusk “reefs” form on the edge of the brine pool.   http://scienceblogs.com/deepseanews/2007/0...
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About

Imagine discovering a lake whose waves gently lap at its shores, leaving high water marks and ripples in the nearby sand. Now imagine the very same scene, located more than 650 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists plumbing the ocean’s depths just off the Yucatan Peninsula stumbled upon just such an unfathomable sight when, in otherwise dark waters, their submersible’s lights were reflected by the bright white, mirrored surface of the undersea lake.

Composed of super-concentrated, denser-than-water brine (not to be confused with the ocean’s run-of-the-mill "briny blue" seas), these "brine pools" are thought to form as the byproduct of salt tectonic shifts dating back to the Jurassic period. Due to lethal levels of hyper-salinity, only bacteria and other microorganisms are able to live within these underwater lakes. Mollusks and crustaceans are indigenous to their shores, though crabs and urchins placed in the pool during scientific testing were, effectively, pickled.

Those who have witnessed the pools first-hand report that the liquid is so dense it feels as if submarines bump into it rather than glide through.

Related Tags

Wonders Of Salt Lakes Oceans Salt Recursive Places Water
Atlas Obscura Adventures

Yucatan Family Adventure: Meteors, Pyramids & Maya Legends

Explore Maya temples and learn about the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

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Community Contributors

Added By

littlebrumble

Published

October 8, 2009

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Sources
  • http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/logs/may31/may31.html
  • http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2006/09/15/undersea-lakes-exotic-lakes-lakes-inside-lakes/
  • http://www.rps.psu.edu/mar95/voyage.html
  • http://green.yahoo.com/blog/environmentalgraffiti/73/lakes-650ft-beneath-the-waves.html
  • http://scienceblogs.com/deepseanews/2007/03/brine_pools.php
Undersea Brine Lake
Yucatan Peninsula
Mexico
22.280963, -90.979981

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico

Mexico

North America

Places 596
Stories 61

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico

Mexico

North America

Places 596
Stories 61

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