They are unusual chimneys one meter high. They are formed by the crystallization of minerals from groundwater with extreme salt content. The natural chimneys of the Dead Sea are an incredible find.
These chimneys are an important early warning indicator of sinkholes. These sinking craters form in the area surrounding the Dead Sea. They pose a significant danger to the population. This is said in the study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment by a team led by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ).
Fumaroles
The Dead Sea is a very dynamic system. Its level has dropped approximately one meter a year for more than 50 years. It is isolated from major tributaries and loses large amounts of water to evaporation as a result of drought and heat. Thus, the surface has dropped to about 438 meters below sea level.
This has consequences for groundwater. As it descends, it makes access to underground water resources increasingly difficult for neighboring countries.
Aquifers find new paths in rock strata both on land and beneath the Dead Sea. A team of divers found chimney-shaped vents at the bottom of the lake that discharge a glistening liquid. “They are like the black fumaroles of the deep sea, but the system is different,” the team says in a statement. Highly saline groundwater flows through the chimneys at the bottom of the lake.
«It rises like a jet. It looks like smoke, but it is a saline liquid,” they explain. Contact with the lake water causes the dissolved salts to crystallize spontaneously. Some chimneys reached seven meters in height, with a diameter of more than two or three meters.
Sinking and sinkholes
These white chimneys are especially important because they can serve as an early indicator of sinkholes. These are sinking craters up to 100 meters wide and up to 20 meters deep. Thousands have formed along the Dead Sea in recent decades.
The natural chimneys of the Dead Sea are formed by the dissolution of enormous layers of salt. This forms gigantic cavities into which the ground can collapse at any moment. «So far, no one can predict where the next sinkholes will form. They are dangerous to life and pose a risk to agriculture and infrastructure,” they say.
