According to reports, the deadly brine pool was reportedly uncovered 1.7 kilometres beneath the surface using a remotely operated underwater vehicle and the scientists came across the deadly pool during the last five minutes of a ten-hour dive. Notably, the scientific journal Nature explains that, “deep-sea brine pools are formed by the stable accumulation of hypersaline solutions in seabed depressions. Three water bodies, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea have such conditions and host brine pools."
"Even in these water bodies, brine pools are relatively rare, with only a few tens of discoveries across all three venues. The pools are also tiny compared to their host basins, ranging in size from only hundreds of square meters to a few square kilometers," it said.
The journal additionally said, “during the 2020 research cruise of R/V OceanXplorer, an expedition aimed at exploring and further detailing the deep seabed offshore Saudi Arabia, we discovered a complex of brine pools at 1,770 m depth. Unlike all previous discoveries, these pools situate in the Gulf of Aqaba and are the first discovery outside the Red Sea proper."
Additionally, the journal suggests that these deep-sea brine pools maintain high interest among the scientists because they apparently represent one of the most extreme habitable environments on the planet and the scientists believe that it offers interesting insight into first life on earth. Notably, lead researcher Sam Purkis told Live Science, that these deadly pools represent “among the most extreme environments on Earth." He further added, “any animal that strays into the brine is immediately stunned or killed." Purkis explained that sea creatures like the “fish, shrimp and eels appear to use the brine to hunt."
(With inputs from New York Post, Nature, Live Science)
