Sistema Ox Bel Ha A Vast Hidden System Thats The Longest Underwater Cave In The World
Sistema Ox Bel Ha A Vast Hidden System Thats The Longest Underwater Cave In The World
Name:Ox Bel S System
Location:Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Coordinates:20.18507611995248, -87.49650948586978
Why it’s incredible:This massive submerged cave system is among the longest in the world and holds a number of spectacular features and remains.
Sistema Ox Bel Ha, meaning “three paths of water” in the local Mayan language, is a gigantic submerged labyrinth that runs for at least 326 miles (524 kilometers) underground, according to theInvestigation Center of the Aquifer System of Quintana Roo(CINDAQ). This makes it the longest submerged system and the second-longest cave system in the world, after the 426-mile-long (686 km)Mammoth Caves in Kentucky.
The Yucatán Peninsula is home to several massive cave systems because it has a thin layer of top soil covering limestone, which is soluble, enabling rain water to quickly pass through into caverns below the surface, according to a2020 study. This is also the reason why the region has few rivers or streams.
The caverns form through a process called karstification, in which rain water dissolves calcium carbonate from the limestone. In the case of Ox Bel Ha, thisprocess is superchargedas the fresh water meets salt water that’s entered the system from the ocean.
The fresh and salt water form distinct layers and meet at a point in the cave water called the halocline. This line varies in Ox Bel Ha, varying from 33 feet (10 meters) near the coast, where there is salt water, to 66 feet (20 m) deep further inland.CINDAQestimated that 27% of the system is salt water and 73% fresh water. This fresh water feeds the vast Maya aquifer, which is the only source of drinking water in the region.
The karstification process can cause cavern roofs to collapse, creating an exposed pool or sinkhole, known as a cenote. Ox Bel Ha has at least160 cenotesand they are important water sources for animals and ecosystems, according to CINDAQ. The organization has recently recorded a number of species around the cenotes, such as cougars (Puma concolor), jaguars (Panthera onca) and various deer and other animals.
The system also supports a range of creatures below the surface. In 2018, scientists discovered that the subterranean systemsupports its ecosystem with methane.
Methane forms below the jungle floor and thenmigrates downinto the caves, where microbes and bacteria consume it. These in turn become food for cave-dwelling crustaceans as well as several species of fish, including aneyeless albino cave fish.
Ox Bel Ha runs near the historical Maya town of Tulum. The ancient Maya believed that cenotes were gateways toXibalba, the Maya underworldand these pools, along with those of the nearbySac Actun Systemhave yielded a number of important archaeological finds.
Most notably, researchers found the remains of a 25- to 30-year-old woman, named Eve of Naharon, whose remains may date to 13,700 years ago — potentially making these the oldest human remains found in the Americas. However, a2021 review notedthat this date has not been replicated or verified. Evidence suggests the woman was deliberately placed on the cave floor, which wasn’t flooded at that point, although this also isn’t clear, a2020 studynoted.
Ox Bel Ha’s system is under threat from construction and developments, including theMaya Trainand Tulum International Airport, and it already runs under a number of urban areas, CINDAQ said. This makes studying and mapping the vast underwater system critically important, CINDAQ added.
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Author:[email protected] (James Price)
Published on:2025-11-25 17:00:00
Source: www.livescience.com
Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-11-25 13:36:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com
