Skip to main content
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs pp 164–165Cite as

Blue Hole

  • Reference work entry

  • 384 Accesses

Part of the Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series book series (EESS)

Blue holes are underwater karst caves, which when found in shallow water, have striking features because of the strong color contrast between the dark blue cave opening and the light blue surrounding seafloor. A classic modern example is the blue hole in the lagoon of the Lighthouse Reef Atoll in Belize (Figure 1). This blue hole is cylindrical in shape, has a diameter of 300 m and is 120 m deep. It was formed by subaerial dissolution of Pleistocene reef limestone during glacial sea-level lowstands and later roof collapse (Dill, 1977). Giant stalactites found in 40 m depth are impressive evidence of the subaerial cave formation. Because the lower water column of this blue hole is anoxic, fine-grained bottom sediments turned out to be undisturbed and annually layered. They were used as high-resolution Holocene climate archive (Gischler et al., 2008). Other prominent examples include the blue holes of the Pompey reefs in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia (Backshall et al., 1979), the...

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_190
  • Chapter length: 2 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   549.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-90-481-2639-2
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Blue Hole. Figure 1

Bibliography

  • Backshall, D. G., Barnett, J., Davies, P. J., Duncan, D. C., Harvey, N., Hopley, D., Isdale, P. J., Jennings, J. N., and Moss, R., 1979. Drowned dolines - the blue holes of the Pompey reefs, Great Barrier Reef. BMR Journal of Australian Geology & Geophysics, 4, 99–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dill, R. F., 1977. The Blue Holes - geologically significant sink holes and caves off British Honduras and Andros. In Proceedings 3rd International Coral Reef Symposium, Vol. 2, pp. 238–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, A. G., 1962. The Lofer Cyclothems of the Alpine Triassic. Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, 169, 107–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gascoyne, M., Benjamin, G. J., Schwarcz, H. P., and Ford, D. C., 1979. Sea-level lowering during the Illinoian glaciation: evidence from a Bahama “blue hole”. Science, 205, 806–808.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Gischler, E., Shinn, E. A., Oschmann, W., Fiebig, J., and Buster, N. A., 2008. A 1,500 year Holocene Caribbean climate archive from the Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef, Belize. Journal of Coastal Research, 24, 1495–1505.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sachet, M. H., 1962. Geography and land ecology of Clipperton Island. Atoll Research Bulletin, 86, 1–115.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Schwabe, S., and Herbert, R. A., 2004. Black holes of the Bahamas: what they are and why they are black. Quaternary International, 121, 3–11.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, P. D., and Palmer, T. J., 1994. Submarine caves in a Jurassic reef (La Rochelle, France) and the evolution of cave biotas. Naturwissenschaften, 81, 357–360.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wyrwoll, K.-H., Zhu, Z. R., Collins, L. B., and Hatcher, B. G., 2006. Origin of Blue Hole structures in coral reefs of the Houtman Abrolhos of Western Australia. Journal of Coastal Research, 22, 202–208.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität, Altenhoeferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Eberhard Gischler

Authors
  1. Eberhard Gischler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    David Hopley

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this entry

Cite this entry

Gischler, E. (2011). Blue Hole. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_190

Download citation