Zacatón: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
→Diving: fixed link |
Lambdacore (talk | contribs) +de |
||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
[[eo:Zacatón]] |
[[eo:Zacatón]] |
||
[[de:Zacatón]] |
|||
[[es:El Zacatón]] |
[[es:El Zacatón]] |
||
Revision as of 10:06, 23 May 2007
Zacatón is one of a group of five interconnected sinkholes, or cenotes, located in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is the deepest sinkhole in the world with a depth of more than 1080 feet.[1]
The name Zacatón comes from the free-floating islands of grass which move with the wind. [2]
Diving
El Zacatón's depth has made it an important dive site:
- Dr. Ann Kristovich set the women's world depth record of 554 feet during a 1993 dive into the sinkhole [3].
- On April 6, 1994, explorer diver Jim Bowden and cave diving pioneer Sheck Exley plunged into El Zacatón with the intent of reaching bottom. Bowden dove to a men's world record depth of 925 feet [4], but Exley (who invented/standardized use of the "Octo" or octopus safety regulator) died, probably from high pressure nervous syndrome (HPNS) at around 879~906 feet. [5] [6]
- NASA is using the sinkhole as a testbed for robotic hardware being developed to explore the Jovian moon of Europa. [7] [8] Researchers from the Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) team from the University of Texas at Austin and robotics engineers at Carnegie Mellon University, together with StoneAerospace, developed the advanced robotic technologies used to survey the Zacatón. [9] [10] [11]
See also
References
- ^ The Floating Islands of Zacatón
- ^ The Unusual Cenotes
- ^ Proyecto de Buceo Espeleologico México y América Central Bio: Ann Kristovich
- ^ Zacaton. A History by Dr. by Ann Kristovich
- ^ A/C N10 Incident Reports
- ^ Eulogy for an Explorer
- ^ Robotic Mission to Zacaton
- ^ Mexican Sinkhole May Lead NASA to Jupiter
- ^ The Advance DEPTHX Team Missions
- ^ PDF: DepthX Goes To Mexico
- ^ Robotic submarine reaches new depths