On Saturday, July 23rd, beneath the archipelago of the Azores off the coast of Portugal, sea explorers working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found a new mystery along a volcanic ridge on the ocean floor: a dozen sets of holes in the sand at a depth of 1.6 miles. Nearly a week later, on Thursday, July 28th, the scientists found even more holes 300 miles from the first ones, which were about a mile deep.
The last time scientists spotted similar holes was about two decades ago. They were located approximately 27 miles away from current sightings. Then, scientists had considered them to be “lebensspuren,” German for “life traces.”
During three expeditions that experts in NOAA are calling Voyage to the Ridge 2022, scientists hope to find answers to the mysteries within the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The explorations began in May and are scheduled to end in September.
As the mystery continues, scientists are now posing a question to themselves as well as questions to the public via Twitter and Facebook: what is creating these holes, spaced about four inches apart with lines extending from 5 to 6 feet on the ocean floor?
The Twitter post, made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, read, “The origin of the holes has scientists stumped. The holes look human made, but the little piles of sediment around them suggest they were excavated by…something.”
The public flooded the comment section with hypotheses: are the holes man-made? Could they be a sign from extraterrestrials? Are they tracks left by a submarine? Could they be the breathing holes of a “deep-sea creature that buries itself under the sand?”
Michael Vecchione, a NOAA deep-sea biologist who participated in past projects as well as the current one, added that the last guess “wasn’t too far-fetched.” Dr. Vecchione and his co-author, Odd Aksel Bergstad,wrote a paper that advocated two main hypotheses for the holes: animals swimming above the floor and then poking holes downward or similar to what the public brainstormed, burrowing into sediments and poking upward.
“The holes seen on Thursday appeared to have been pushed out from underneath,” Dr. Vecchione commented.
Dr. Vecchione continued that he was pleased to see the holes again, as he was “a little disappointed” that scientists had yet to find an explanation to them.
“It reinforces the idea that there is a mystery that some day we will figure out,” he said. “But we haven’t figured it out yet.”
Link to Article: There Are Holes on the Ocean Floor. Scientists Don’t Know Why. – The New York Times.pdf
The last time scientists spotted similar holes was about two decades ago. They were located approximately 27 miles away from current sightings. Then, scientists had considered them to be “lebensspuren,” German for “life traces.”
During three expeditions that experts in NOAA are calling Voyage to the Ridge 2022, scientists hope to find answers to the mysteries within the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The explorations began in May and are scheduled to end in September.
As the mystery continues, scientists are now posing a question to themselves as well as questions to the public via Twitter and Facebook: what is creating these holes, spaced about four inches apart with lines extending from 5 to 6 feet on the ocean floor?
The Twitter post, made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, read, “The origin of the holes has scientists stumped. The holes look human made, but the little piles of sediment around them suggest they were excavated by…something.”
The public flooded the comment section with hypotheses: are the holes man-made? Could they be a sign from extraterrestrials? Are they tracks left by a submarine? Could they be the breathing holes of a “deep-sea creature that buries itself under the sand?”
Michael Vecchione, a NOAA deep-sea biologist who participated in past projects as well as the current one, added that the last guess “wasn’t too far-fetched.” Dr. Vecchione and his co-author, Odd Aksel Bergstad,wrote a paper that advocated two main hypotheses for the holes: animals swimming above the floor and then poking holes downward or similar to what the public brainstormed, burrowing into sediments and poking upward.
“The holes seen on Thursday appeared to have been pushed out from underneath,” Dr. Vecchione commented.
Dr. Vecchione continued that he was pleased to see the holes again, as he was “a little disappointed” that scientists had yet to find an explanation to them.
“It reinforces the idea that there is a mystery that some day we will figure out,” he said. “But we haven’t figured it out yet.”
Link to Article: There Are Holes on the Ocean Floor. Scientists Don’t Know Why. – The New York Times.pdf
