Table of Contents
What causes the water in cenotes to usually be clear?
Cenote water is often very clear, as the water comes from rain water filtering slowly through the ground, and therefore contains very little suspended particulate matter. The groundwater flow rate within a cenote may be very slow.
What is the problem with the water source in the Yucatan?
The Water Problem Throughout the Yucatan peninsula, there are no natural lakes or rivers. The water system is made up of underground rivers and lagoons. The aquifers do not carry much water considering the amount of precipitation that the region receives, however, because of the porous rock.
Why does the Yucatan have a lot of sinkholes?
The Yucatán Peninsula is a porous limestone shelf with no visible rivers; all the fresh water rivers are underground. Being porous, caverns and caves formed where the fresh water collects – hence the cenotes or water sinkholes.
What caused Mexican cenotes?
Rain water absorbs a gas (carbon dioxide) from the air and forms a weak acid. As this trickles down through tiny cracks in the limestone, the weak acid dissolves a mineral in the limestone called calcite. Over time the limestone is dissolved and a cenote is formed.
How did the Mayan solve the problem of lack of fresh water?
How did the ancient Maya adapt to this? The Puuc lacks a water source—there are no lakes, rivers, or springs in the region. The ancient Maya built a sophisticated rainwater collection system. This system supplied inhabitants with enough water for several months.
What is at the bottom of a sinkhole?
Occasionally a sinkhole may exhibit a visible opening into a cave below. Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone or other carbonate rock, salt beds, or in other soluble rocks, such as gypsum, that can be dissolved naturally by circulating ground water.
Can you get sick from swimming in a cenote?
Tourists who swim or dive the cenotes and get sick often blame the resort they stayed at, but there was a study a couple years ago showing that there is bacteria in many cenotes that cause illness that has the same symptoms of food-borne illness.
Where are the caves in the Yucatan Peninsula?
The Yucatán Peninsula is a porous limestone shelf with no visible rivers; all the fresh water rivers are underground. Being porous, caverns and caves formed where the fresh water collects – hence the cenotes or water sinkholes.
Why are there sinkholes in the Yucatan Peninsula?
Numbering in the thousands, these flooded sinkholes are unique to this region of Mexico, and were principal water sources for many Maya settlements. From Yucatan Today: The Yucatán Peninsula is a porous limestone shelf with no visible rivers; all the fresh water rivers are underground.
How is the water in the cenotes in the Yucatan?
Being porous, caverns and caves formed where the fresh water collects – hence the cenotes or water sinkholes. The water that gathers in these subterranean cenotes is a crystal clear turquoise color with a very pleasant temperature of 78° F (25.5º C). \
What kind of water does the Yucatan Peninsula have?
The Yucatán Peninsula has almost no rivers and only a few lakes, and those are often marshy. The widely distributed cenotes are the only perennial source of potable water and have long been the principal sources of water in much of the region.