Great Blue Hole, Belize

Most of you, may not know about Blue Holes? How they formed and what are most beautiful Blue Holes in the world. A Blue Hole is an underwater sinkhole created with erosion of carbonate bedrock. Its appearance seems a dark blue circle of water on the ocean. It developed in a bank or island contain influenced fresh water, marine, or mixed chemistry. The Halocline point of blue holes meets the freshwater and saltwater. At this point, corrosive reaction takes place which eats away the rock and create side passages or horizontal arms from the vertical cave. 

Blue Holes once lying above the sea level thousand of years ago, but as the time passes it open to the surface and formed by composed of a carbonate bedrock “limestone, or coral reef”. The Blue holes are illustrious from cenotes in that the latter are inland voids normally holding fresh groundwater rather than seawater.

The process of dissolution of soluble rocks and intense karst activity created large vertical caves. When the ocean level rose up due to melting of glaciers these blue holes became submerged. Owing to their depth, the greater absorption of sunlight increases their depth, creates a dramatic contrast with the lighter blue of the shallows around them and forms a natural outline that can be easily seen from the surface. Many Blue Holes provide access to submerged cave passages. 

Great Blue Hole, Belize

On the coast of Belize, a small country on the eastern coast of Central America. This country has the famous Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole near the small atoll center of Lighthouse Belize City. A circular shape hole formed with quaternary glaciation when sea level was very low. It is 1,043 ft across and 407 ft deep.

Great Blue Hole is a World Heritage site a part of Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. Great Blue Hole shows formation took place around 15,000 years ago. This hole is among the five best widespread spots for recreational scuba divers.

The divers enticed the opportunity of dive in crystal clear water with mesmerizing fishes, Caribbean reef shark, bull shark, hammerheads, and other juvenile fish. Discovery channel ranked Great Blue Hole is Top Spot in the list of Most Amazing Places on Earth. Different fossils existed in blue holes, such as crocodile and tortoise fossils.