Subaqueous speleothems (Hells Bells) formed by the interplay of pelagic redoxcline biogeochemistry and specific hydraulic conditions in the El Zapote sinkhole, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Ritter, Simon Michael; Isenbeck-Schröter, Margot; Scholz, Christian; Keppler, Frank; Gescher, Johannes; Klose, Lukas; Schorndorf, Nils; Avilés Olguín, Jerónimo; González-González, Arturo; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2285-2019

Articles | Volume 16, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2285-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2285-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 11

Research article

|

04 Jun 2019

Research article |

| 04 Jun 2019

Subaqueous speleothems (Hells Bells) formed by the interplay of pelagic redoxcline biogeochemistry and specific hydraulic conditions in the El Zapote sinkhole, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Simon Michael Ritter, Margot Isenbeck-Schröter, Christian Scholz, Frank Keppler, Johannes Gescher, Lukas Klose, Nils Schorndorf, Jerónimo Avilés Olguín, Arturo González-González, and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2285-2019-supplement

Video supplement

Hells Bells - Under water speleothems from the Yucatán Peninsula S. Ritter https://doi.org/10.5446/39353

Download

Article (6331 KB)
Full-text XML

Short summary

Unique and spectacular under water speleothems termed as Hells Bells were recently reported from sinkholes (cenotes) of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. However, the mystery of their formation remained unresolved. Here, we present detailed geochemical analyses and delineate that the growth of Hells Bells results from a combination of biogeochemical processes and variable hydraulic conditions within the cenote.