What is Taam Ja Blue Hole?

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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.
Famous examples include Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, the Dahab Blue Hole in Egypt, and the Great Blue Hole in Belize.

About Taam Ja’ Blue Hole:

It is the deepest known underwater sinkhole in the world.
It sits in Chetumal Bay off the southeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
It extends at least 1,380 feet (420 meters) below sea level.
- It is 390 feet (119 m) deeper than the previous record holder — the 990-foot-deep (301 m) Sansha Yongle Blue Hole, also known as the Dragon Hole, in the South China Sea.
Spread over an area of 13,660 square meters, the giant, underwater cavern has been named Taam Ja’ which means “deep water” in Mayan.
The submerged blue hole has a nearly circular shape at its surface with steep sides that form a large conic structure covered by biofilms, sediments, limestone, and gypsum ledges.

Key facts about Yucatan Peninsula:

It is a northeastern projection of Central America, extending into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Gulf of Mexicolies on its western and northern sides. The Caribbean Sea lies on its eastern side.
The northern part of Yucatán is in Mexico. Belize and a part of Guatemala are in the south.

The peninsula is almost wholly composed of beds of coralline and porous limestone rocks.

Q1: What is a Sinkhole?

A sinkhole is a hole in the ground that forms when water dissolves surface rock. Often, this surface rock is limestone, which is easily eroded, or worn away, by the movement of water. Sinkholes also form when the roofs of caves collapse. Sinkholes are often funnel-shaped, with the wide end open at the surface and the narrow end at the bottom of the pool.