There are thousands of "crystal pool" hidden in the dense jungle, and the deepest part can reach160m.
There are thousands of underground "crystal pool" hidden in the dense bush of Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, forming a mysterious underground water world. It has always been said that in the mysterious underground water world, bones and gold are piled up like mountains. American researchers and explorers explored some pits with oxygen cylinders, waterproof lights and underwater equipment.
This "crystal pool" is actually a ash pit formed by the long-term erosion of limestone by rain. Because rainwater is filtered by limestone like a sponge, the water looks very clear and transparent, and looks like it is made of crystal. Divers swim in it and feel like they are floating in space. These "crystal pool" are more than one meter deep, and the depths are bottomless. The explorer has explored a hole, which is as deep as 160 meters, and has not yet reached the bottom.
This used to be the sacred pool of the Mayans, who put gold, silver and jewels into it for sacrifice.
In the life of ancient Maya, these pits occupied an important position. They not only provided the Mayans with enough water, but also provided them with a place to bathe. In some extremely remote villages in Yucatan Peninsula, people still live in such underground caves until now.
In Mayan belief, these caves are also the residence of Rain God, just like the Dragon Palace in China. Therefore, in addition to practical purposes, the Mayans also relied on them to pray for rain. Maya believed that the rain in the sky was the result of the arrival of the rain god, and only by offering a "gift" to the rain god would the rain god come as promised. They put gold, silver and jewels in the crypt, and even chose beautiful virgins to throw into the water to please the rain god.
There are more than 40 kinds of creatures discovered by scientists for the first time, many of which have potential medical value.
Biologists have discovered a large number of new species here, and they have survived under difficult conditions. Scientists discovered more than 40 species for the first time. There are also many blind shrimps and blind fish, which live on limited oxygen and food in groundwater. Tom Eliver, a marine biologist at Texas General University, said, "This is definitely a different world. What we found there, including some life forms, has never been found anywhere else. "
Eliver said: "What excites us most is the discovery of some microorganisms and sponges living at the junction of fresh water and seawater, which are likely to have potential medical value and can treat many terminal diseases, including cancer. But this kind of research is still in the early stage, and we still need to do a lot of scientific experiments. "
Scientists also found many ancient cultural relics and bones of prehistoric animals in these pits, including sloths, rabbits and even mammoth bones that lived in the ice age. Sam Maher, an underwater explorer, said, "When you come out of the water and tell people that there are elephants down there, you must be considered crazy, but it's true."
Due to the population explosion and the development of tourism, the ecosystem of crystal pool is being destroyed.
In the past 30 years, the population of this area where the Maya once lived has soared by more than 10 times, reaching 1 10,000 people. Coupled with a large number of tourists from the United States, Europe and other parts of the world, this underwater world has been seriously threatened. Environmentalists have warned that a large amount of garbage generated by the fast-growing tourism and service industries in the local area has begun to pollute the environment of ash pits.
Now the sewage generated by the local people is discharged into the deep underground, and the pit water system in Yucatan Peninsula 1 m deep has been polluted by 250 tons of garbage every day; Every day, hundreds of tourists sneak into the pit open to them and destroy the ecosystem inside. Mach sarcastically said, "When you realize that these creatures may be used to save your life, you may never find them again."
Mach added: "We need a rigorous plan now, which can not only develop the local economy, but also protect the precious underwater world."
How did the ash pit form?
The Yucatan Peninsula in northern Mexico is like a flat limestone platform, which was formed in the Pleistocene, that is, 2 million years ago. Ash pit is the most common topographic feature in limestone area of Yucatan Peninsula. In the northwest of the peninsula, archaeologists discovered these ash pits long ago.
About 65 million years ago, a city-sized meteorite hit the earth, forming a huge crater with a diameter of 200 kilometers. The dust produced by the impact covered the whole sky, changed the weather and even caused a large number of deaths of many creatures, including dinosaurs.
This meteorite also left a series of potholes in Yucatan Peninsula, which slowly stored fresh water and formed today's ash pit. Because these puddles are buried with all kinds of pottery pots and treasures used by ancient Mayans, they have become mysterious caves for archaeologists to explore Mayan civilization.