Undersea River

Undersea River

By Amanda Reha Zahran

XII IPA 
Diponegoro Senior High School

            Undersea river was found by Yves Costeau, oceanography from France, in Cenote Angelita, Mexico. This river was found in depth of 115 feet or 35 m with width for about half a mile. This discovery was published at 2010, making it the first undersea river in the world. This river derives from salt water from Bosphorus strain which flows from Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. In the Holy Quran Suroh Al-Furqan verses 53 is mentioned that actually salt water and fresh water was separated because of Allah SWT Will.

            Based on the research, this river is caused by Halocline phenomenon. Halocline is a natural phenomenon, where there are a vertical zones under the sea. If the zone gets deeper, the salt content will change rapidly. Then, this change will cause a different density between salt water and fresh water. Some scientists argue that the layer is not Halocline, but a Hydrogen Sulfide that caused by the trees or organisms decomposing at the bottom and volcanic activity.

            Salt water has greater density then fresh water. This makes salt water has greater specific gravity. Therefore, it’s a natural thing that fresh water is on the top of salt water. When the two types of water meet, then the Halocline layer will form and separate the two types of water.

            The example of this undersea river is located in Cenote Angelita, Mexico, which was discovered by Yves Costeau, oceanography from France. At a depth of 35 m we will find fresh water, and at a depth of 60 m we will find salt water. In this depth, there will be a dividing wall that separates between fresh water and salt water.

           Sometimes this river is used as a tourist attraction, such as diving. For diving, we need an equipment, such as mask, snorkel, fins and boots, floating vest, wet suit, weight belt, gloves, and diving bag. We can add the other tools, like scuba equipment, depth gauge, compass, dive hours, and anti fog fluid. After we use diving equipment, we can immediately diving, and enjoy the undersea beauty.