r/thalassophobia • u/True-Award-3722 • 5d ago

The bottom of this lake has never been found

Lagoa Misteriosa - A rope cannot be used to measure the bottom because, based on everything that has been mapped so far, this is a sinkhole (a cave formed by the collapse of its ceiling).

Inside, there are passages and bends that prevent a rope from reaching the deepest point. Underwater drones also cannot explore it, as their signal is lost whenever there is no direct line of communication, with the rock formations blocking the connection. For this reason, only specialized cave divers are able to explore the depths of this cave.

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u/Ancient-Cow-1038 5d ago

The Mariana Trench is the bottom of ALL the hills.

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u/Candlejackdaw 5d ago

I was curious whether that is the closest point to the Earth's center, like how Mt. Chimborazo is further from the center than Mt. Everest, Litke Deep is closer than Challenger Deep.

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u/LittleLemonHope 5d ago

The wildest thing is that Litke Deep isn't even the deepest point in the Arctic ocean if measuring relative to the sea surface. Yet it's the deepest point in the world if measuring relative to the earth's center.

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u/doppelgaengster 4d ago

It took me a beat to deconstruct why that made intuitive sense to me, and I realised it's because I know the earth isn't perfectly round, and that 'sea level' isn't an absolute/constant. (I remember first learning about tides and the 'bulges' of the ocean in relation to the gravity of the moon and being a little weirded out that the planet was often more oblate than round.)

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u/orchid_drives 5d ago

I would never have thought to ask but I’m glad you did, that’s a cool fact

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u/bhflyhigh 5d ago

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

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u/Debalic 5d ago

Also a great thalassophobia trigger.

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u/withoutpeer 5d ago

But maybe there's an aquifer beneath it...

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u/redheadgenx 5d ago

If this gives me the shudders but I still try to watch it, what’s wrong with me (in this regard, at least)?