Deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico’s waters lies an otherworldly oddity. This quirk of nature is a body of water . . . within a body of water. Called a “brine pool,” the water is highly saline. Sometimes sea creatures venture into the underwater pond. But they rarely come out. Ocean researchers have dubbed this strange watery dead zone the “Jacuzzi of Despair.”
Brine pools are areas of ultra-salty seawater. They sometimes occur on the bottom of the ocean.
Scientists believe seawater seeps through cracks on the ocean floor. There it mixes with sodium chloride—good ol’ salt—from deep inside the Earth and bubbles back up. This creates the brine pool.
Erik Cordes, an associate professor of biology at Temple University, and his team found the Gulf’s Jacuzzi of Despair. They studied the brine pool using an ocean research vessel and an underwater robot. Cordes describes the pool as one of the most remarkable wonders of the deep sea.
The Jacuzzi of Despair lies about 3,300 feet below the surface. It is about 100 feet around and 12 feet deep. The water inside stays a balmy 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Compare that to the surrounding 39-degree ocean, and you understand the hot tub nickname.
All brine pools are three to five times saltier than the water around them. The warm, high-salt solution is heavier and thicker than ordinary water. It doesn’t mix well with ocean water. Brine pools also contain high levels of methane and hydrogen sulfide. The gases create the salty bubbles.
This salt-gas combo is toxic to most sea life. Cordes’ team found dead crabs and fish belly-up in the pool. Scott Wankel is a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He notes, “When they fall in, they die and get pickled and preserved.”
Surrounding the pool is a shoreline of mussels and mud. Some sea creatures—like tubeworms, giant clams, and shrimp—can live in the brine pool. Researchers also found bacteria that are able to survive the high saltiness and low oxygen of the pool.
It’s been over a year since Cordes’ team visited the Jacuzzi of Despair. But research into the unusual habitat goes on. The team thinks its findings could help in the hunt for life—or lack of it—on other planets.
A member of the research team tweeted recently, “Some things take time to surface.” He added “#deepseapuns.” His pun is true—of bubbles, deep-sea divers, and scientific breakthroughs.
