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Ventilation chimneys have been discovered at the bottom of the Dead Sea. These previously unknown “white smokers” spew salt water and provide an early warning of potholes forming on nearby land.
The Dead Sea is sinking fast. Over the past 50 years, intense evaporation has caused it to sink by about 1 meter per year, with its surface now approximately 438 meters below sea level. This drop opened up new cracks in the rock layers, and researchers wanted to understand how this might contribute to the alarming drop in freshwater aquifer levels seen in Israel, Jordan and West coast.
The divers were assigned to take samples from underwater springs along the western shores of the Dead Sea. To their surprise, they found chimney structures measuring 2-3 meters in width and up to 7 meters in height, spewing jets of white liquid. Laboratory analysis confirmed that the fluid originated from the surrounding freshwater aquifers, which seeped into the salty sediments beneath the Dead Sea, dissolving the salt and releasing the brine. The brine quickly crystallizes, forming chimneys that can grow several centimeters in a day.
The study, which was published in Science of the Whole Environmentshows that clusters of fresh plumes can provide an early warning of where large sinkholes are likely to occur, a growing and dangerous problem in the region.
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