Researchers exploring the Red Sea have identified naturally occurring “death traps” in the area thought to be where the biblical parting of the Red Sea occurred.
These brine pools, located 4,000 feet beneath the Gulf of Aqaba’s surface, possess water with a salt content up to ten times higher than typical seawater. The lack of oxygen in these pools leads to the death or incapacitation of marine life that enters them, according to a study.
The research indicated that larger predators congregate near the pools’ edges, preying on the weakened creatures that succumb to the pools’ effects.
A research team, spearheaded by Sam Purkis, a professor and chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami, employed remotely operated submersibles and deep-sea probes to investigate the deep-sea trenches situated between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
The team suggests that the environment created by these conditions mirrors the extreme environment of early Earth, particularly in this location, leading them to speculate that life may have originated here.
“Our current understanding is that life originated on Earth in the deep sea, almost certainly in anoxic—without oxygen—conditions,” said Purkis.
The study even proposed that these “death pools” might offer insights valuable for the search for life beyond Earth.
According to the study, this unique ecosystem represents one of the most extreme environments on the planet, potentially resembling conditions on distant “water worlds” beyond our solar system.
Due to minimal biological activity in the brine pools, the sediment layers remain undisturbed, preserving a record of past climate changes and geological events.
“Ordinarily, these animals bioturbate or churn up the seabed, disturbing the sediments that accumulate there,” according to Purkis. “Not so with the brine pools. Here, any sedimentary layers that settle to the bed of the brine pool remain exquisitely intact.”
Purkis and his team anticipate that the pristine conditions will enable them to better analyze ancient ocean conditions, aiding in reconstructing climate patterns and tracing the evolution of Earth’s ecosystems over millions of years.
Oceanographers have discovered similar formations in the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and elsewhere, but none at this depth.