Scientists from Colegio de la Frontera Sur, in Mexico, have discovered the second-largest "blue hole" in the ocean. Blue holes are a bit like sinkholes on land. They are made in limestone rocks, which easily dissolve in freshwater. When water enters cracks in the limestone, the gaps get bigger until they eventually form an open passage. Over thousands of years, the water slowly wears away the rock, leaving vast chasms and caves. At the end of the last ice age (around 11,500 years ago), ice covering the land melted, making sea levels rise. Seawater then filled the caves, leaving deep blue holes in the middle of the ocean.
この記事は The Week Junior Science+Nature UK の Issue 62 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Week Junior Science+Nature UK の Issue 62 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
What happens to the ocean if we take out all the fish?
Find out about the vital role fish play in sea life.
Cleopatra's lost tomb
You told us that historical mysteries capture your imaginations, so here's an ancient Egyptian riddle.
Kate Speller
For our readers' issue, we met a zookeeper who works with big cats.
Voyager 1 turns back on
At more than 15 billion miles from Earth, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is the most distant human-made object in space.
Orangutan uses plants to heal wound
For the first time ever, a wild animal has been observed healing a wound using a plant as medicine.
Mammoth marine reptile found on UK beach
Scientists believe the ichthyosaur could be the largest ever found.
THE LAB
Three things to make and do
The brains between the sticks
Is it true that goalkeepers see the world differently?
ALIEN HUNTERS
JD Savage blasts off on an out-of-this world quest to find life beyond Earth's borders.
NATURE IN FOCUS
Join in with Science+Nature's trail at Cheltenham Science Festival.
