For decades, scientists have wanted to dive into a big blue hole on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. It's called Sawmill Sink and it contains well-preserved fossils that could reveal how the Earth has changed since the Ice Age.After decades of remote investigation, researchers finally entered the site in 2005. Since then, thousands of skeletons have been recovered and have undergone a series of analyses. However, a devastating hurricane halted the expedition.
Hurricane Dorian disrupted scientists' plan In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian passed through the Bahamas and caused widespread destruction. Dozens of people died in what was one of the strongest phenomena ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. The wind was so strong that the scientists could not continue their work. Furthermore, it destroyed a museum that had been opened just a year earlier and which collected fossils from Pia da Serraria. Since then, some of the island's infrastructure has been rebuilt. However, there are no plans to reopen the museum, nor to implement a project that would aim to transform the hole into a national park. The information is from ScienceAlert. Bird fossils found in Sawmill Sink (Image: Florida Museum) Read more
DNA test reveals secrets of Ice Age baby Ice Age rhino mummy found intact in Russia Study reveals possible cause of mammoth extinction: allergy Fossils reveal region's past Despite the huge setback, science has managed to improve understanding of the region and expand. Research shows that the island was ten times its size thousands of years ago and that it would have shrunk as sea levels rose after the last ice age.
Scientists explain that Grande Abaco Island is made of limestone. When it floods, groundwater flows through the porous rock, causing the caves to collapse and form blue holes, much like Pia da Serraria. The structure is 45 meters deep and has an extensive network of underground passages that stretch for kilometers. This complex system has been preserved depending on local conditions.
Large turtles lived on the island (Image: Florida Museum). In this way it was possible to find bones of turtles and crocodiles. These animals no longer live on the island, so their skeletons provide information about what the region was like. When sea levels were lower thousands of years ago, Sawmill Sink had enormous biodiversity.
Many of these animals were present 15 thousand years ago. By analyzing the fossils, scientists determined that 17 species of birds did not survive the rise in sea levels 10,000 years ago. But others remained there, along with reptiles and mammals, until about a thousand years ago, when humans arrived on the island and exterminated them.