The Well of Barhout , better be intimate as the " Well of Hell " , is a natural sinkhole in Yemen so notorious that mythical legends were crafted around it . Its unattackable moniker is due to the belief it is a prison house for jinni , the genies found in halfway Eastern folklore . Now , for what is think to be the first time , humans have explore this well , and while they did not find any jinni trap in there , they did find cave pearls , various dead animals , and ( sorry , Dr Jones ) snakes .
The feat was carried out by the Oman Cave Exploration Team ( OCET ) , a team of eight expert cavers who derive the 112 metre ( 367 feet ) from the well ’s opening , which stretch 30 meters ( 100 foot ) across , down to its depths .
Yemeni authorisation figure that the sinkhole formed " meg and millions " of years ago , and before this squad , nobody had pass the bottom . Previous geographic expedition have hit down to about half the depth and report bad smells coming from the bottom ( it ’s unclear whether that was the reason they went no further ) . The newest exploration did n’t reveal any special noxious smells , although they did report that the dead birds were middling smelly .
So , why would anyone want to move to the depths of something known as the " Well of Hell " ?
" Passion drove us to do this , and we felt that this is something that will reveal a new wonder and part of Yemeni history , " Mohammed al - Kindi , a geology professor at the German University of Technology in Oman and part of the expedition squad , toldAFP . " We call for samples of piddle , rocks , soil , and some dead beast but have yet to have them analyzed . "
The squad report that the snakes were not particularly belligerent and they did not come out jeopardise by the unexpected human visitors . The footage captured does n’t show any of the slithering critters but it does show some beautiful cave organisation . Water dripping to the bottom of a cave can make all sorts of interesting structures including so - call cave pearls .
The cave pearls spot here were reportedly lime green . Made principally of calcite , they are concentrations of calcium table salt around a cell nucleus like a grain of sand , similar to how an oyster ivory forms . And just like veritable pearls , they are organized in concentric level . That ’s because a sphere earmark for the greatest amount of deposit for the minuscule open . Their polish is due to moving water , maintain them nice and smooth . Once ironic , they lean to just degrade .
A full report on the findings from the materials collected from the bottom of the well is expect before long . In the meantime , here ’s desire no angry djinns , cross at being woken from their slumber , decide retribution is in order for agitate their peace .
[ H / T : AFP ]
