In the depths of the ocean, in the bottom part of the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have discovered a lake. Anyone who swims into its poisoned waters is doomed to torment, possibly death.
The underwater lake was studied by oceanographer Erik Cordes, and he and his team report the results of the study in the journal Oceanography.
The water in the “lake at the bottom of the sea” is five times saltier than in the rest of the bay, and is saturated with methane and hydrogen sulfide. The concentration of these gases is so high that most living creatures are not able to live in the "dead lake", and those that swim there by accident die from intoxication. Only bacteria, some worms, molluscs and crustaceans can withstand the toxic environment. They are the main interest of marine biologists who study organisms that have adapted to life in the extreme conditions of a poisonous lake.
Bacteria allow most multicellular organisms to survive in such conditions: it is they who convert toxic methane and hydrogen sulfide into organic molecules that few organisms that have chosen a poisonous ocean lake are able to eat. At the bottom of the lake, the Hercules underwater research drone discovered the polychaete worms Hesiocaeca methanicola, the molluscs Bathymodiolus brooksi and Bathymodiolus childressi, as well as many of their symbionts.
The temperature in this part of the ocean is significantly higher than in other bottom zones, and reaches 19 ° C. Hydrogen sulfide and methane come from deposits located under the layer of sedimentary rocks; they are hotter than most of the water at that depth. Due to the difference in density, the saline volumes of water in which the deposits of underwater salts dissolve do not mix well with the less saline water in the ocean - for this reason, there is a poisonous underwater lake.
Ksenia Malysheva