As part of an interdisciplinary project coordinated by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, scientists discovered one meter long salt tubes at the bottom of the Dead Sea.
These are tube-like structures formed by the crystallization of minerals. The most famous examples are the black tubes found along mid-ocean ridges and the tuff towers of Mono Lake.
Black tubes are known to release hot mineral-rich liquids, forming sulfur and iron minerals as soon as the liquids come into contact with cold seawater. But the pipes in the Dead Sea are formed by very saline underground water flows, he reports Noi.mdwith reference to .
Groundwater from the aquifers surrounding the Dead Sea basin flows through thick layers of old salt deposits, dissolving the mineral halite and flowing into the lake as rising salt flows. This is said to be quite unusual, as salt water has a higher density than fresh water. However, the salinity level in the Dead Sea is so high that the salt water is still less dense than the surrounding water.
Direct observations have shown that the tubes grow extremely quickly – they can grow several centimeters in a single day – when the lake water forces the salt water to crystallize spontaneously after rising from the lake floor.
Chimneys are not only a geological curiosity, but can also play an important role in predicting sinkholes.
Sinkholes are large craters formed by the dissolution of massive layers of salt or other water-soluble minerals below the ground and the subsequent – often sudden – collapse of the ground.
