(ORDO NEWS) — Salt deserts are a unique and slightly strange place on Earth.
Most striking is that hexagons and other polygonal shapes form on their surface. Now scientists have figured out how these mysterious patterns appear.
Previously, scientists considered two possible explanations for the formation of this honeycomb pattern.
One of the versions was that the pattern appeared from the cracks that form as a result of the drying of the surface. The crack spreads, splits into several parts, and eventually they form a pattern.
According to another hypothesis, the bark is constantly growing, and due to lack of space, it bends, forming a pattern.
The research team was not satisfied with these hypotheses, as they did not understand why the pattern is so geometric and why the tiles are so large – always from 1 to 2 meters.
Scientists have suggested that the whole thing is the convection of salt water.
“This is a great example of fundamental research driven by curiosity.
Nature presents us with an obvious and fascinating puzzle that stimulates our curiosity and thereby encourages us to solve it – even without any direct possibility of further application,” says the first author of the study, Jana Lasser from TU Graz.
Their approach combined laboratory experiments recreating similar conditions, field trips to California’s Death Valley, and computer simulations. They wanted to understand how salt water moves through the soil.
In fact, these deserts may have salt water just a few centimeters below the earth’s crust.
As the surface heats up and the water evaporates, the water directly below it becomes saltier and sinks to less saline groundwater. More salty water is heavier.
If there was one convection roller, then a round shape would form. But many convection rolls form next to each other, and when they squeeze and push against each other, they end up forming a honeycomb pattern.
“In the salt flats, the first thing you see is an endless patchwork of hexagons and other ordered shapes.
Approximately 50 million tourists have visited these patterns in Death Valley alone, and the fantastic landscape begs to be explained,” added Dr. Lucas Göring of Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology.
“We have shown that a simple, plausible explanation exists, but is hidden underground.
The patterns on the surface reflect the slow reversal of salt water in the soil.
This phenomenon is similar to convection cells that form in a thin layer of boiling water.”
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