One blue hole at China’s Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, with a depth of around 300 meters, has been proved the world’s deepest known blue hole recently.
Experts from the Ocean University of China and other institutions conducted a measurement of the blue one with the help of underwater robot, depth transducer and other equipment to preliminarily determine its depth.
“Its exact depth still needs to be further adjusted for such factors as tide level, temperature, density and salinity of the sea water. But whatever adjustment we may make, the depth should be around 300 meters. Compared with Dean’s Blue Hole, which plunges 202 meters, on Long Island, Bahamas, the world’s deepest known blue hole, this one is nearly 100 meters deeper and therefore is the deepest blue hole in the world,” said Professor Yang Zuosheng with the Ocean University of China.
The blue hole, which can help deduce possible environmental changes, such as hydrological, ecological and topographical environment, of the South China Sea over the past thousands of years, is valuable for scientific research.
The blue hole, located near the Yongle atoll on the Xisha Islands of Sansha City, south China’s Hainan province, is officially named “Sansha Yongle Dragon Hole” after it had been called “dragon hole” by local fisherfolk for thousands of years.
Blue holes are roughly circular depressions, whose diameter ranges from 25 meters to 300 meters. There is a sharp contrast between the holes’ dark blue, deep waters and the lighter blue and shallower waters around them.
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