Belize Great Blue Hole Seen From ISS As Scientists Explore Mystery Submarine Sinkhole
Belize Great Blue Hole Seen From ISS As Scientists Explore Mystery Submarine Sinkhole
BY HANNAH OSBORNE ON 8/25/20 AT 11:51 AM EDT
The Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize has been photographed from space, with an astronaut onboard the International Space Station taking an image of it and the Lighthouse Reef atoll it sits in.
The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 62 crew as the ISS flew over the Caribbean Sea in March. It was released by NASA as its Earth Observatory Image of the Day.
Also known as the Great Blue Hole, the submarine sinkhole is around 1,000 feet wide and 400 feet deep, making it the largest in the world. It is located around 50 miles from the coast of Belize and was made famous in the 1970s after Jacques Cousteau visited and said it was one of the top diving sites in the world.
The hole is thought to have formed hundreds of thousands of years ago, when sea levels were far lower than they are today, as a limestone cave. When the last ice age came to an end, sea levels rose and the cave was submerged.
More:
https://www.newsweek.com/belize-blue-hole-space-nasa-iss-1527509?piano_t=1
Also posted in Science:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122871300
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Ten Things You Didn’t Know About the Blue Hole of Belize
The Blue Hole of Belize
The great blue hole remains one of the top attractions in Belize. It is not only a world class destination for diving but also a rich habitat for a variety of marine life like nurse sharks, reef sharks, black tip sharks and even giant groupers.
Here are ten things you probably didn't know about the great blue hole of Belize.
- 1. The great blue hole is a tremendous underwater sinkhole that is located off the coast of Belize and lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef.
- 2. The actual name of “The Great Blue Hole” was created by British diver and author Ned Middleton after having lived in Belize for 6 months. He was so impressed with this natural feature that he reasoned in his book “Ten Years Underwater” that if Australia could have ‘The Great Barrier Reef’ then Belize could equally have ‘The Great Blue Hole’ – thus setting this feature apart from similar, albeit lesser in size, structures.
- 3. The hole is circular in shape and has over 300 meters across and 125 meters deep. It is the world’s largest natural formation of its kind and is part of the Belize Barrier Reef System.
- 4. Giant stalactites, dripstone sheets, and columns can be found inside the blue hole. Scientists believe that these structures were formed in a dry cavern above sea level during glacial periods.
More:
https://www.cahalpech.com/ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-blue-hole-of-belize/
More Blue Hole images, with their articles:
https://tinyurl.com/y2epfady