By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The brine pools in the Gulf of Aqaba are up to ten times saltier than seawater and lack oxygen, causing marine creatures that enter to be anesthetized or die.
Scientists discovered deadly saltwater pools nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the Red Sea, offering new insights into the origins of life on Earth and the potential for finding life on other planets. The brine pools, located in the Gulf of Aqaba, are up to ten times saltier than normal seawater and lack oxygen, causing any marine creature that enters them to either be anesthetized or die immediately.
The discovery was made by a research team led by Professor Sam Purkis, chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami. Using remotely operated submersibles and deep-sea probes, the team explored deep-sea trenches lying between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. "Studying this community hence allows a glimpse into the sort of conditions where life first appeared on our planet, and might guide the search for life on other 'water worlds' in our solar system and beyond," said Purkis, according to GB News.
Despite their inhospitable nature, these underwater environments may provide a window into Earth's distant past, as they preserve geological records and host extraordinary life forms. Because very few organisms survive in the brine pools, sediment layers remain undisturbed, preserving an archive of past climate changes and geological events. Core samples extracted from the brine pools have revealed an unbroken record of regional history spanning more than 1,000 years, documenting past rainfall patterns, earthquakes, and tsunamis in unprecedented detail.
Scientists believe that life on Earth may have first appeared in deep-sea conditions similar to those of these brine pools, which researchers have called "death traps". Researchers suggest that similar saline-rich environments could exist beneath the icy surfaces of Jupiter's moon Europa, Saturn's moon Enceladus, and even on exoplanets in distant star systems. These brine pools could guide the search for extraterrestrial life, as they resemble conditions found on distant "water worlds" beyond our solar system.
The study claimed that larger predators lurk near the edges of the brine pools, waiting to snatch helpless prey that accidentally enter them, as these creatures are stunned or killed immediately. "Ordinarily, these animals bioturbate or churn up the seabed, disturbing the sediments that accumulate there. Not so with the brine pools. Here, any sedimentary layers that settle to the bed of the brine pool remain exquisitely intact," explained Purkis.
Only about 40 such brine pools have been documented across the Red Sea, Mediterranean, and Gulf of Mexico.
The NEOM Brine Pools represent an addition to scientific understanding, offering a unique preservation environment for regional climatic and tectonic events. The findings show that major floods from rainfall occur approximately every 25 years in the region of the brine pools, while tsunami events take place roughly once every century. "Our current understanding is that life originated on Earth in the deep sea, almost certainly in anoxic—without oxygen—conditions," said Purkis.
These saltwater reservoirs form some of the most hostile environments on Earth, filled with a community of extremophile microbes that have adapted to the harsh conditions. Extremophiles are single-celled organisms that live in extreme environments with high temperature, pressure, salinity, acidity, or radiation.
Scientists discovered that these bacteria are the reason why sulfate levels in the Gulf of Aqaba have decreased. This means that the bacteria play a major role in changing the chemical composition of the water. Although most organisms cannot live in the pools, many stay near the pools because the bacteria create food sources for them.
The Gulf of Aqaba has an average depth of 900 meters and a maximum depth of 1,850 meters. The region is a long strip of the Red Sea that separates Egypt's Sinai Peninsula from Saudi Arabia. The unique geological features of the Gulf of Aqaba include extreme depth, volcanic activity, and unusual temperature variations at depths, making it a mysterious area.
