1. Veronica McCauley, Alex Jensen, Nick Gibas, Tessa Buehner
Great Blue Hole
Veronica McCauley, Alex Jensen, Nick Gibas, Tessa Buehner

2. LOCATION
° N, ° W
Lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef,
62 miles from the mainland of Belize City.

3. PLACE
Physical characteristics: Part of the Lighthouse Reef system. In the middle of The Lighthouse Reef system is the Great Blue Hole. This hole is almost perfectly circular. Stalactites and limestone cover the walls more and more as you go deeper.
Human Characteristics: It is known to be one of the most “astounding” dive spots in the entire world. This is a big place for tourists.
Weather: warm weather all year long
June-August: Rainy
February-May: Dry

4. REGION
The underwater cave contains stalactites and stalagmites predicting that the area was once above sea level.
Some of the animals that inhabit this area are the Reef Sharks, Nurse sharks, and Blacktip Sharks.

5. MOVEMENT
Belize attracts countless amount of tourists that want to see The Great Blue Hole
Belize barrier reef surrounds The Great Blue Hole
The one and only way to get to the Blue Hole is by boat
It takes about two hours to get to the Blue Hole from land
The first 45 minutes are over open choppy waters
The next 20 minutes are going through the Turneffe Atoll
The last 40 minutes are back out into open sea

6. HUMAN ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Belize offers a wide variety of human interactions including snorkeling, white water rafting, hiking, and mountain biking. However, the most famous interaction is diving into The Great Blue Hole.
After diving into The Great Blue Hole, NASA scientist described it as:
“…the deepest, deep blue hole imaginable; A chasm [deep fissure in the earth] that fell away deep into the deep, dark blue. It had been forged out of solid rock as caverns, hundreds of thousands of years ago during the last ice age. For eons, water filtered through the rock and into these great stone cathedrals, breeding multicolored stalactites and stalagmites. Then, one by one they collapsed in on each other, creating a chasm four hundred feet deep. As Earth’s swollen polar ice- caps receded, the warm Caribbean ocean swept in to fill the chasm with boiling white hands, the last rays of sunlight struck the chasm’s floor. Then, as the limestone broke down, it began to rain tiny fragments of rock, which slowly began to fill the great Blue Hole.”

7. How was the Blue Hole created?
Subsidence=ground failure
Formed thousands of years ago
Formed as a limestone cave system during the last Ice Age
Sea levels were low
Ocean began to rise
Caves flooded
Roof then collapsed

8. VIDEO/FACTS/DIAGRAM