Zacatón
Zacatón is one of a group of five interconnected sinkholes, or cenotes, located in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is the deepest water-filled sinkhole in the world with a total depth of 335 meters.[1] A NASA funded project [2]using robotics has measured the underwater portion to be 319 meters deep (an air-filled 16 meter drop from the surface to the water accounts for the total depth). [3]
The name Zacatón comes from the free-floating islands of grass which move with the wind. [4]
Scrapings from the rock walls beneath the surface yielded 6 new phyla of bacteria.
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 (~169 meters) during a 1993 dive into the sinkhole. [5]
- 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, [6] 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. [7] [8]
- The NASA Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) project used the sinkhole as a testbed for robotic hardware being developed to explore the Jovian moon of Europa. [9] [10] DEPTHX was designed and integrated by NASA Principal Investigator Stone Aerospace. Additional Co-Is on the Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) team included Carnegie Mellon University, Southwest Research Institute, Colorado School of Mines, The University of Arizona, and the University of Texas at Austin. [11] [12] [13]
References
- ^ The Floating Islands of Zacatón
- ^ [1]
- ^ Demystifying El Zacatón (Astrobiology, June 2007)
- ^ 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