At the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have discovered a deadly lake. deadly lake in africa

There are hundreds of notorious lakes in the world. Often, people's fear of these anomalous lakes is obvious from their very names: Dead Lake, Smerdyache Lake, Death Lake. What can be the reason that people prefer to bypass some water bodies? Missing bodies of drowned people In the lake, located near Pereslavl-Zalessky (Russia), local residents do not swim - it is forbidden, but fishermen catch fish.

Quite often, they come across either fish species that are not known even to scientists at all, or real mutants: one-eyed, three-eyed, with paws instead of fins, and even hairy! Representatives from the regional sanitary and epidemiological station repeatedly took the water of the lake for analysis: water is like water, closer in composition to mineral water. There are seven springs in the lake. The water level never drops, despite the fact that a river comes out of it and flows into Lake Pleshcheyevo, located next door, which feeds the city with water. Every summer, tourists drown in the lake, ignoring the numerous prohibition boards installed on the shore. However, so far no one has been able to answer - where do the drowned disappear? The fishermen once saw how one of the bathing tourists swam into the middle of the lake, and then, screaming, disappeared under the water. A moment later, an oil slick appeared at this place, spreading all over the lake.

In the evening, at the place of death of a person, a bright circle appeared, phosphorescent - a spot with a diameter of about five meters. Two brave fishermen sailed in a boat to this place, and those watching from the shore suddenly saw how the whole boat was immediately lit up with some kind of greenish light. This lasted for several seconds, and then a fountain four meters high hit from the water. The fishermen immediately hurried to get out of the damn place, so that, God forbid, they themselves would not drown. Several cases were recorded when those who bathed in the lake fell ill with an unknown skin disease. Their bodies were covered with horny scales, their face completely changed, their hair fell out. In addition, long processes similar to horns grew on the forehead, which subsequently fell off by themselves. All this went on for six months, then the disease slowly receded. Divers who were exploring the bottom of the lake found several strange cracks in the ground, where the water goes at great speed. There is a well in the middle of the lake. But where it leads, no one has determined. Too deep.

Lake Smerdyache in the Shatursky district of the Moscow region

Another deadly lake - Smerdyache - is located in the Shatursky district of the Moscow region.

It is peaty, the water has a reddish-brown color, and in some places it even seems black. It has no fish, and local residents Smerdyache is notorious. It is worth approaching him, as soon as the state of health worsens, there is a feeling of discomfort and anxiety. People regularly drown in Smerdyachy, and it is not surprising that many try to avoid it. From a bird's eye view, the lake looks like a perfect circle with an earthen bank.

The cosmic origin of the lake was discussed back in the late 80s of the last century, but this version has only now been proved. Specialists from the cosmo-chemistry laboratory, having examined the mysterious lake, came to the conclusion that it really is a crater formed after a giant meteorite fell in the distant past.

Shadows of the pagan gods and the Thunder of the Lord 80 kilometers from St. Petersburg, in the vicinity of the city Pinery, local residents can show you another dead lake - Kaplischenskoye. The name of the lake probably comes from the old Russian word "temple", which meant the place where the ancient Rus made sacrifices to their gods. The forest surrounding the lake is full of small animals, birds and insects, but they prefer not to approach the water. There are no fish in the lake, and this mysterious fact scientists can't explain.

Local residents say that near the lake, a person is seized with an inexplicable fear, and sometimes this happens to entire groups of people at the same time. Occasionally, square pits with a cross section of one square meter are found on the shore. And on clear nights, a slight glow can be observed above the lake. Experts explain this phenomenon by gases released from the bottom, although the glow is located a meter above the water.

Has a bad reputation and Yachenskoye reservoir, located in the Kaluga region. One of its sites, the locals called the Thunder of the Lord and superstitiously bypass.

In early spring, this cursed place is perfectly visible, as if outlined by an invisible circle. The fact is that for several years in a row accidents have been regularly occurring here, and half of them have been fatal. The reason is a sudden electric shock of great strength. One of the last victims of the Thunder of the Lord was a Kaluga resident who, together with his family at the beginning of last summer, came to rest at the Yachensky reservoir. As soon as the family settled down on the shore, there was some kind of crackling, accompanied by a flash, and the clothes on the man immediately smoked and flared up. Coaches from a nearby sports base helped save the victim from imminent death.

With severe burns that affected 50 percent of the body, the man was taken to the hospital. What is the mystical Thunder of the Lord? Locals say that fireballs are to blame, which, like mosquitoes, circle over the same place in the reservoir. Ufologists add that the Thunder of the Lord is associated with UFOs that regularly land in the nearby Kaluga Forest. And experts say that the anomalous fatality in the area of ​​​​the Yachensky reservoir occurs primarily due to man-made causes.

The fact is that a high-voltage line runs along the shore of the reservoir, the wires of which in places sag so that they almost touch the water. And from time to time a favorable discharge environment is created, and a discharge from power lines strikes a gaping vacationer. The deadly spirit of the lakes is the result of an ecological crisis. Many reservoirs are connected with barbaric or ill-conceived human activities, even approaching them closer than a kilometer is categorically not recommended.

For example, the deadly lake, located in the town of Cherdyn, in Perm region, has no name at all. Locals bypass it "the tenth road", And all because it is actually a trench filled with water, formed as a result of ... three nuclear explosions! In winter, it is almost impossible to get to it - only along the winter road. The places around are deaf.

The tests were carried out on a record minimum depth- only 270 meters, and the power of the explosions was twice the nuclear charge dropped on Hiroshima. The project was carried out under the code name "Taiga" and meant the beginning of the "epoch-making" transfer of the northern rivers to the south. Fortunately for nature and people, this was all over, leaving only crumpled metal structures sticking out of the ground, heaps of cement and graphite turned into stone around the radioactive lake.

"famous" in Lately Also Karelian lake Syurzi. First, fish began to float up belly up in huge quantities here. Then two fishermen died under mysterious circumstances, and another 15 were taken to the district hospital with severe poisoning. A few months later - another tragedy. The fishermen had just settled down on a small island in the middle of the lake, when suddenly two of them lost consciousness. “It was something inexplicable,” one of the victims, a resident of the Leshukonsky district, Aleksey Shitikov, later said. - It seemed to me that some terrible force was crawling from the sky, my arms and legs immediately became heavier, the earth was gone from under my feet. My friend Venya fell completely. I jumped into the water and swam to the shore, began to call my father to help. But my father was also sick. Venya died at night.

The Shitikovs were sent to the regional hospital, and the corpse of Veniamin Rodionov was taken to the regional bureau of forensic examination. The relatives and friends of the deceased were told that an unknown poison had been found during the forensic chemical examination. - No natural anomalies were found on Syurzi, - they said after a medical and environmental study of the composition of lake water in the department natural resources administration Arkhangelsk region. - The only thing that was found was a significant excess of fluorine in the water. However, fluorine is not some neutral element from the periodic table, and its danger should not be underestimated in any case. When in contact with the skin, scientists say it causes severe burns, and inhaling it leads to severe inflammation of the airways and lungs, which can result in pulmonary edema and death.

Penetrating into water and soil, fluorine can remain in them for many years and lead to the most unpleasant consequences for animals, plants and, of course, people. But how did the fluorine end up in the lake? On this score, the experts involved in the investigation of accidents have so far only an assumption. Syurzi is replete with springs and underwater rivers. So the poison could get into the lake from Arkhangelsk or from the Komi Republic, where there are quite a lot of chemical industries. However, this is only an assumption.

The drowned ones stand at the bottom

There are mysterious lakes that bring death to all living things, and on the territory of the former Soviet Union. One of them is in Latvia. His name is appropriate - Damn! Local residents of Devil's Lake do not favor, telling visitors that if a person is on the shore for a long time, he is seized by inexplicable horror. Tourists do not always believe the warnings and settle down to rest near the water, but after half an hour or an hour they jump up and try to get as far away from the lake as possible. The most impressionable then end up in a psychiatric hospital.

One of the local legends says that there is no bottom at Devil's Lake, so drowned people are never found. Latvian scientists believe that the anomalies of the reservoir are due to relief features and put forward several versions of the origin of the lake. According to one of them, it is a meteorite crater about 70 meters deep, at the bottom of which radioactive radon gas accumulates, destroying all life in the lake. Recent studies of the lake show that a powerful flow of energy is constantly coming from the depths. That's why being on the beach more than an hour dangerous - a person can simply "go crazy", and he goes crazy. The strongest flow of energy hits in the middle of the lake. Perhaps that is why not a single person has yet been able to successfully swim across the damn pond.

Near the village of Gerasimovka, in Kazakhstan, there is a small - one hundred meters long and sixty meters wide - Dead Lake. It is surprising and sad that almost every year people drown in the Dead. Local residents try to avoid it and advise visiting tourists to do the same.

August 21, 1986 on the shore small lake Nyos in northwestern Cameroon suffered a tragedy that claimed 1,746 human lives and killed more than 3,500 animals in a few minutes.

Suddenly, the waters of the lake released hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic carbon dioxide into the air. This deadly cloud at a speed of 100 km / h spread over the area with a radius of 25 kilometers. Many people from the three villages suffocated in their sleep. It was one of the scariest natural Disasters and resembled the consequences of the fall of a neutron bomb.

Scientists still do not know what caused this ecological catastrophe, ever recorded in our history. Scientists can only speculate. They came to the conclusion that, since the lake is located above the volcanic crater, the volcanic gases released from the ground under the lake are dissolved and concentrated in the most deep waters. At tropical temperatures, they form a kind of vessel of hot water in the cold. Scientists believe that Lake Nyos released a huge amount of CO2 around 21:00. Since carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it quickly descended into the valley. This cloud covered everything like a blanket of 50 meters of thick toxic gas. As a rule, hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 are in the lake. But this time, something caused them to be released into the air. It is not clear what allowed the deep and polluted water to rise. Perhaps it was an earthquake, a landslide, or a volcanic eruption.

To prevent future similar environmental disasters, in 2001 engineers installed pipes in both lakes that suck in carbon dioxide from the bottom and release it in stages into the air. Now scientists fear that if something causes the earth to move around, no one can say exactly what will happen if the contents of Lake Nyos spill into the area. A dam was built to protect the locals. Its creators are convinced that everything can happen in the near future. Processes such as erosion or overflow will lead to inevitable problems. One can only hope that the events of 30 years ago will not be repeated.

photo from internet

When we hear the word "lake", a picture arises in our imagination - beautiful place for recreation, where you can swim and fish. However, this is not always the case. Some lakes inspire fear and horror. And there are reasons for this.

Lake Empty (Russia)

Its location is the area of ​​Kuznetsk Alatau located in Western Siberia. Lake Pustoye is a fresh and environmentally friendly reservoir of continental origin, because it is completely free of chemicals. Many scientists have repeatedly conducted studies of water from the lake, which have never confirmed the presence of any toxic components in it.

The lake has clean water, which is suitable for drinking, and resembles champagne, as it is dominated by perfectly safe bubbles of natural gases. However, the researchers could not determine the reason why there is no fish in the lake.

There have never been ecological disasters and emergency technical accidents polluting the reservoir in the vicinity of Lake Pustoye. According to the chemical composition, its water does not differ from the nearest reservoirs of the reserve, which are distinguished by an abundance of fish resources. Moreover, the reservoir feeds several fresh waters in the vicinity. the purest reservoirs, the fact that they have fish in them will give a special mystery to what is happening in these dreams.

There were several attempts to launch unpretentious fish species of pike, perch and crucian carp into the reservoir. Each of them ended in failure, the fish died, the aquatic plants rotted. And today there are no grass and birds on the banks of the reservoir, there are no fish or fry in the water, the lake guards its mysteries.

Why are there no fish in the lake?

Samples from the Kuznetsk reservoir were studied by chemists from the USA, Great Britain and Germany. However, none of them could put forward a sensible version explaining the absence of fish in the reservoir. Scientists are not yet able to answer the questions of the inhabitants, what is happening with the Kuznetsk reservoir.

However, scientists repeat attempts to explain the unusual phenomenon of the Empty Lake with enviable frequency. Stay on the coast unusual lake there are many who wish, tourists come here and stay for the night. Some of them dream of touching the mystery of nature and unraveling it.

Lake of Death (Italy)

Our world is amazing and beautiful, its nature can be admired and enjoyed endlessly. But besides this, there are places on our Earth that sometimes lead us into bewilderment. Among such places is the Lake of Death on the island of Sicily. This lake can be attributed to the number of phenomena and unique natural phenomena. The name itself suggests that this lake is deadly for all living things. Any living organism that gets into this lake will inevitably die.

This lake is the most dangerous on our planet. The lake is absolutely lifeless and there are no living organisms in it. The shores of the lake are deserted and lifeless, nothing grows here. Everything is connected with the fact that any living creature that enters the aquatic environment immediately dies. If a person decides to swim in this lake, then in just a few minutes he will dissolve in the lake.

When information about this place appeared in the scientific world, a scientific expedition was immediately sent there to study this phenomenon. The lake revealed its secrets with great difficulty. The conducted water analyzes showed that the water environment of the lake contains a large amount of concentrated sulfuric acid. Scientists were not immediately able to figure out where sulfuric acid comes from in the lake. Scientists have put forward several hypotheses about this.

The first hypothesis was that there are rocks at the bottom of the lake, which, when eroded by water, are enriched with acid. But further study of the lake showed that there are two springs at the bottom of the lake, which emit concentrated sulfuric acid into the aquatic environment of the lake. This explains why any organic matter dissolves in the lake.

Dead Lake (Kazakhstan)

In Kazakhstan, there is an anomalous lake that attracts the attention of many people. It is located in the Taldykurgan region, the village of Gerasimovka. Its dimensions are not large, only 100x60 meters. They call this reservoir Dead. The fact is that nothing is found in the lake, neither algae nor fish. The water is unusually cold.

Low temperature water remains even when the strongest sun is outside. People are constantly drowning there. Scuba divers, for some unknown reason, begin to choke after three minutes of diving. Locals do not advise anyone to go there, and they themselves bypass it anomalous place.

Blue Lake (Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia)

Blue karst abyss in Kabardino-Balkaria. Not a single river or stream flows into this lake, although it loses up to 70 million liters of water every day, but its volume and depth do not change at all. The blue color of the lake is due to the high content of hydrogen sulfide in the water. There are no fish here at all.

The creepiness of this lake is given by the fact that no one has been able to figure out its depth. The fact is that the bottom consists of an extensive system of caves. Researchers have not yet been able to figure out what constitutes the lowest point of this karst lake. It is believed that under blue lake the largest underwater cave system in the world.

Boiling Lake (Dominican Republic)

The name speaks for itself. Located in Dominica, the beautiful Caribbean, this lake is actually the second largest natural hot spring on the ground. The water temperature in the boiling lake reaches 90 degrees Celsius and there are hardly any people who want to check the temperature of the source on their own skin. Just look at the photos and it becomes clear that the water is almost boiling here. The temperature cannot be controlled because it is the result of a crack in the bottom of the lake through which red-hot lava erupts.

Lake Powell (USA)

Despite its common name (Horse Shoe), near the town of Mammoth Lakes, Lake Powell is a fearsome killer. The city of Mammoth Lakes was built on top active volcano, and this is not best location. However, for many years the lake was considered safe. But about 20 years ago, the trees around the Horseshoe began to dry up and die abruptly.

After ruling out all possible diseases, the scientists decided that the trees were suffocating from excessive levels of carbon dioxide, slowly seeping through the earth from underground chambers of cooling magma. In 2006, three hikers took refuge in a cave near a lake and suffocated from carbon dioxide.

Lake Karachay (Russia)

Situated in beautiful Ural mountains Russia, this dark blue lake is one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. During a secret government project, for many years, starting in 1951, the lake was used as a dumping ground for radioactive waste.

This place is so toxic that a 5-minute visit can make a person nauseous, and a longer visit of over an hour is guaranteed to be fatal. During a drought in 1961, the wind carried toxic dust that killed 500,000 people - a tragedy comparable to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Definitely one of the most polluted places on Earth.

Lake Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

This lake is located on the border between Democratic Republic Congo and Rwanda, with large layers of carbon dioxide at the base of the volcanic rock, as well as 55 billion cubic meters of methane at the bottom. This explosive combination makes Lake Kivu the deadliest of the three exploding lakes in the world. Any earthquake or volcanic activity could pose a lethal threat to the 2 million people living in the region. They can die from both methane explosions and carbon dioxide asphyxiation.

Lake Michigan (Canada)

Of the five Great Lakes on the border between Canada and the United States, Lake Michigan is the deadliest. Warm, inviting lake - popular place recreation of numerous tourists, despite its most dangerous undercurrents, claiming at least a few lives every year.

The shape of Lake Michigan makes it particularly prone to dangerous currents that come on spontaneously and abruptly. The lake becomes more dangerous in autumn, in October and November, when there are sudden and significant changes in water and air temperature. Wave heights can reach several meters.

Mono Lake (USA)

One of the most developed ecosystems in the world, Mono Lake is located in the California county of the same name. This ancient salt lake no fish, but trillions of bacteria and small algae thrive in it unique waters. Up until 1941 it's amazing beautiful lake was healthy and strong. But Los Angeles intervened, which was just beginning its giant growth spurt. The city drained the tributaries of the lake, which began to dry up.

This scandalous destruction of natural resources continued for almost 50 years and when it was stopped in 1990, Mono Lake had already lost half its volume and its salinity had doubled. Mono has become a toxic alkaline lake overflowing with carbonates, chlorides and sulfates. Los Angeles has decided to correct its mistake, but the restoration project will take decades.

Lake Manun (Cameroon)

Located in the Oku Volcanic Field in Cameroon, Lake Monoun appears to be a completely normal body of water. But its appearance is deceiving, as it is one of the three explosive lakes on earth. In 1984, Monun exploded without warning, releasing a cloud of carbon dioxide and killing 37 people. Twelve of the dead were riding in a truck and stopped to look at the aftermath of the explosion. Just at that moment, lethal gas did its job.

Lake Nyos (Cameroon)

In 1986, Lake Nyos, located just 100 kilometers from Lake Monoun, exploded after a magma eruption and released carbon dioxide, converting the water into carbonic acid. As a result of a powerful landslide, the lake abruptly emitted a giant cloud of carbon dioxide, killing thousands of people and animals in local cities and villages. The tragedy was the first known major asphyxiation caused by natural phenomenon. The lake continues to pose a threat because its natural wall is fragile and even the slightest earthquake can destroy it.

Natron (Tanzania)

Lake Natron in Tanzania not only kills its inhabitants, but also mummifies their bodies. On the shores of the lake there are mummified flamingos, small birds, bats. The most terrible thing is that the victims freeze in their natural poses with their heads up. It was like they froze for a moment and stayed that way forever. The water in the lake is bright red because of the microorganisms living in it, closer to the shore it is already orange, and in some places it is of a normal color.

Evaporation of the lake scares away large predators, and the absence of natural enemies attracts a huge number of birds and small animals. They live on the banks of the Natron, multiply, and after death they are mummified. A large number of hydrogen contained in water and increased alkalinity contribute to the release of soda, salt and lime. They do not allow the remains of the inhabitants of the lake to decompose.

On Earth, there are many so-called "dead" reservoirs. Due to the "killer" chemical composition of their waters, any form of life, as a rule, is completely absent there. The most dangerous such object is the acid lake of Death in Sicily.

For many tourists, the picturesque is associated only with warmth, sea breeze, mouth-watering cuisine and amazing landscapes. We hasten to disappoint you, the reputation of the island was significantly spoiled by one unpleasant fact. In this region, there is a place much more dangerous than the Valley of Death or Amazonian jungle. Few people know that it is here that the most dangerous body of water in the world is located - Lake of Death.

Finding this terrible object is quite difficult. Death Lake (the photo of this place is really creepy) is located in the province of Catania, near Greek colony Leonty. In summer, the lake almost completely dries up, so if you want to see it in all its glory, come in winter.

The Lake of Death in Sicily is a completely deserted place where not a single living organism is found, and on its shores there is not even the most meager vegetation. A close stay near this reservoir threatens all living beings with great danger. If you dip a person into this lead-gray abyss, then in a matter of minutes, not even bones will remain from him.

Lake of Death in Sicily is generously enriched which is just huge. The first studies of this aggressive lake were carried out only in 1999. As a result, scientists managed to find out that there are two sources of sulfuric acid at the bottom of the reservoir. This fact completely eliminates the slightest possibility of the presence of life in the local waters. During the life of this lake, the acid managed to destroy everything that ever existed in this place.

Like all the most dangerous objects on the planet, the lake of Death in Sicily is shrouded in various legends. Despite the small area of ​​the lake - 480 feet in circumference - they say that hundreds of people disappeared without a trace in its waters. There is a version that this terrible reservoir was very popular with the Sicilian mafia. Here they dumped the corpses or carried out the execution of the still alive. Well, it is quite likely, because the caustic water of the lake did not leave a trace of objectionable persons.

It should be noted that this lake is the only water body on Earth that has such a specific characteristic. However, acid lake there are several close relatives. For example, Lake Nyos (Cameroon), which is located in the crater of a volcano, is famous for such deadly properties. You will not be able to swim in Algiers, the secret of this dangerous place still not unraveled. But still, the Lake of Death in Sicily (the photo of the reservoir already makes the knees tremble) remains the most dangerous on Earth.

It is noteworthy that most of the local residents of the solar Italian island never even heard of the existence of this "acid monster".

If you are going on vacation to a picturesque and warm Sicily, we do not advise you to visit the lake of Death, even if you really want extreme sports.

An oceanologist named Eric Cordes, having carefully studied the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, discovered a deadly one, the water in which was five times saltier than in the rest of the Gulf, the site says.

Only a few types of living organisms live in the ocean

The results of the study were published in the journal Oceanography. According to them, it became known that the water, which is, so to speak, “at the bottom” of the bay, is saturated with methane and hydrogen sulfide. Their concentration is so great that there is no way for living organisms to survive. Only a few species of bacteria, crustaceans and worms live in salt waters.

But representatives of wildlife, who swam there by accident, die with a hundred percent probability. The temperature of the water in this underwater lake» is 19 degrees Celsius, and it is much higher than in other areas at the bottom of the bay.

Hydrogen sulfide and methane enter the water from deposits located under the lake, and due to them the water becomes much saltier. But it does not mix with the main thickness of the Gulf of Mexico due to different densities. Due to this, the lake exists separately.

Of the living organisms that live in such conditions, oceanologists managed to find the polychaete worms Hesiocaeca methanicola, the mollusks Bathymodiolus brooksi and Bathymodiolus childressi, as well as many of their symbionts, which thrive in this lake due to the fact that they convert toxic methane and hydrogen sulfide into organic molecules that few organisms that have chosen a poisonous ocean lake are able to eat.

All these organisms were discovered thanks to an underwater drone.

Amazing, isn't it? But experts in the field of oceanology managed to discover a creature that has. It turned out to be a jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula (nutricula), which has a unique ability to constantly maintain its life cycle. And they discovered it quite by accident. When the researcher had to leave urgently, he left a jellyfish tank filled with water on long time. Upon his return, he found that the water in it had dried up, and the jellyfish had died. But what was his surprise when, having filled the aquarium with water again, he discovered that nutricula jellyfish were swimming in it.