Natural Documentary
A cenote (English: /sɪˈnoʊti/ or /sɛˈnoʊteɪ/; Latin American Spanish: [seˈnote]) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting when a collapse of limestone bedrock exposes groundwater. The term originated on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where the ancient Maya commonly used cenotes for water supplies, and occasionally for sacrificial offerings. The name derives from a word used by the lowland Yucatec Maya—tsʼonoʼot—to refer to any location with accessible groundwater.[2][3]
Cenote at Hubiku, Yucatan[1]
Look up cenote in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
In Mexico the Yucatán Peninsula alone has an estimated 10,000 cenotes,[4] water-filled sinkholes naturally formed by the collapse of limestone, and located across the peninsula. Some of these cenotes are at risk from the construction of the new tourist Maya Train.[4]
Cenotes are common geological forms in low-altitude regions, particularly on islands (such as Cefalonia, Greece), coastlines, and platforms with young post-Paleozoic limestone with little soil development. The term cenote, originally applying only to the features in Yucatán, has since been applied by researchers to similar karst features in other places such as in Cuba, Australia, Europe, and the United States.
Definition and description
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The Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, Mexico
Cenotes are surface connections to subterranean water bodies.[5] While the best-known cenotes are large open-water pools measuring tens of meters in diameter, such as those at Chichen Itza in Mexico, the greatest number of cenotes are smaller sheltered sites and do not necessarily have any surface exposed water. Some cenotes are only found through small 1 m (3 ft) diameter holes created by tree roots, with human access through enlarged holes, such as the cenotes Choo-Ha, Tankach-Ha, and Multum-Ha near Tulum. There are at least 6,000 cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.[6][better source needed] Cenote water is often very clear, as the water comes from rain water filtering slowly through the ground, and therefore contains very little suspended particulate matter. The groundwater flow rate within a cenote may be very slow. In many cases, cenotes are areas where sections of the cave roof have collapsed revealing an underlying cave system, and the water flow rates may be much faster: up to 10 kilometers (6 mi) per day.