Post by L Roebuck on Jul 12, 2007 7:08:23 GMT -5
Diving for ancient, hidden treasures
Cave diving in the Bahamas has yielded some ancient finds -- from a 3,000-year-old Cuban crocodile to the shell of a long-extinct tortoise.
UNEXPLORED CAVES
The human bone was the youngest of the finds, at about 1,000 years old, according to Kakuk. He thinks there may be human and animal remains in many more marine caves throughout the Abacos and the rest of the Bahamas, most of which have never been explored.
''Nearly every inland hole we've dived in we've found this stuff,'' he said.
Kakuk is working with Franz, paleontologist and crocodile specialist Gary Morgan of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Nancy Albury, who runs a branch of the Bahamas National Museum in Abaco, to conserve and identify the fossils.
''They are the best preserved fossil vertebrates ever found in the Caribbean anywhere,'' Morgan said. ``Eventually, it's going to be a Bahamas-wide project.''
Kakuk says the fossils have been kept intact over the centuries by the peculiar water chemistry in the caves. The surface waters of the inland blue holes are fresh, giving way to saltwater down deep that flows from the ocean through underground passages. Hydrogen sulfide, from dissolved plants and other organic material, removes oxygen from the water and preserves the bones.
''I liken it to the La Brea tar pits of the Bahamas,'' Kakuk said, referring to a paleontological site in California.
Diving in the underwater caves, Kakuk uses a Megalodon rebreather because it generates fewer bubbles than open-circuit scuba gear. Bubbles disturb the centuries-old layers of sediment that protect the fossils. If too much sediment is dislodged, it can cost a diver his or her life, obscuring visibility and blocking the exit to the surface.
Full Article
Cave diving in the Bahamas has yielded some ancient finds -- from a 3,000-year-old Cuban crocodile to the shell of a long-extinct tortoise.
UNEXPLORED CAVES
The human bone was the youngest of the finds, at about 1,000 years old, according to Kakuk. He thinks there may be human and animal remains in many more marine caves throughout the Abacos and the rest of the Bahamas, most of which have never been explored.
''Nearly every inland hole we've dived in we've found this stuff,'' he said.
Kakuk is working with Franz, paleontologist and crocodile specialist Gary Morgan of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Nancy Albury, who runs a branch of the Bahamas National Museum in Abaco, to conserve and identify the fossils.
''They are the best preserved fossil vertebrates ever found in the Caribbean anywhere,'' Morgan said. ``Eventually, it's going to be a Bahamas-wide project.''
Kakuk says the fossils have been kept intact over the centuries by the peculiar water chemistry in the caves. The surface waters of the inland blue holes are fresh, giving way to saltwater down deep that flows from the ocean through underground passages. Hydrogen sulfide, from dissolved plants and other organic material, removes oxygen from the water and preserves the bones.
''I liken it to the La Brea tar pits of the Bahamas,'' Kakuk said, referring to a paleontological site in California.
Diving in the underwater caves, Kakuk uses a Megalodon rebreather because it generates fewer bubbles than open-circuit scuba gear. Bubbles disturb the centuries-old layers of sediment that protect the fossils. If too much sediment is dislodged, it can cost a diver his or her life, obscuring visibility and blocking the exit to the surface.
Full Article