idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
In recent years, researchers have identified a small group of stalactites that appear to have calcified underwater instead of in a dry cave. The Hells Bells in the El Zapote cave near Puerto Morelos on the Yucatán Peninsula are just such formations. A German-Mexican research team led by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Stinnesbeck from the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University recently investigated how these bell-shaped, metre-long formations developed, assisted by bacteria and algae.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 24 November 2017
Heidelberg Researchers Study Unique Underwater Stalactites
Current investigations show how the Hells Bells on the Yucatán Peninsula formed
In recent years, researchers have identified a small group of stalactites that appear to have calcified underwater instead of in a dry cave. The Hells Bells in the El Zapote cave near Puerto Morelos on the Yucatán Peninsula are just such formations. A German-Mexican research team led by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Stinnesbeck from the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University recently investigated how these bell-shaped, metre-long formations developed, assisted by bacteria and algae. The results of their research have been published in the journal “Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology”.
Hanging speleothems, also called stalactites, result through physicochemical processes in which water high in calcium carbonate dries up. Normally they rejuvenate and form a tip at the lower end from which the drops of water fall to the cave floor. The formations in the El Zapote cave, which are up to two metres long, expand conically downward and are hollow with round, elliptical or horseshoe-shaped cross-sections. Not only are they unique in shape and size, but also their mode of growth, according to Prof. Stinnesbeck. They grow in a lightless environment near the base of a 30 m freshwater unit immediately above a zone of oxygen-depleted and sulfide-rich toxic saltwater. “The local diving community dubbed them Hells Bells, which we think is especially appropriate,” states Wolfgang Stinnesbeck. Uranium-thorium dating of the calcium carbonate verifies that these formations must have actually grown underwater, proving that the Hells Bells must have formed in ancient times. Even then the deep regions of the cave had already been submerged for thousands of years.
According to the Heidelberg geoscientist, this underwater world on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico represents an enigmatic ecosystem providing the conditions for the formation of the biggest underwater speleothems worldwide. Previously discovered speleothems of this type are much smaller and less conspicuous than the Hells Bells, adds Prof. Stinnesbeck. The researchers suspect that the growth of these hollow structures is tied to the specific physical and biochemical conditions near the halocline, the layer that separates the freshwater from the underlying saltwater. “Microbes involved in the nitrogen cycle, which are still active today, could have played a major role in calcite precipitation because of their ability to increase the pH,” explains Dr Stinnesbeck.
Original publication:
Stinnesbeck, W., Frey, E., Zell, P., Avíles, J., Hering, F., Frank, N., Arps, J., Geenen, A., Gescher, J., Isenbeck-Schröter, M., Ritter, S., Stinnesbeck, S., Aceves Núñez, E., Fito Dahne, V., González González, A.H., Deininger, M.: Hells Bells – unique speleothems from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, generated under highly specific subaquatic conditions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.10.012
Contact:
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
Institute of Earth Sciences
Phone: +49 06221 54-6057
wolfgang.stinnesbeck@geow.uni-heidelberg.de
Communications and Marketing
Press Office
Phone +49 6221 54-2311
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
The Hells Bells in the El Zapote cave near Puerto Morelos on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Source: E.A.N./IPA/INAH/MUDE/UNAM/HEIDELBERG
None
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences, Oceanology / climate
transregional, national
Research results, Scientific Publications
English
The Hells Bells in the El Zapote cave near Puerto Morelos on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Source: E.A.N./IPA/INAH/MUDE/UNAM/HEIDELBERG
None
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
