Scientists have solved the mystery of the mysterious “honeycomb” patterns found in salt deserts around the world.
These places are among the most extreme and inhospitable places on Earth, and their strange polygonal structures attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
Salt deserts are found in places such as Badwater Basin in California, Death Valley, and Salar de Uyuni in Chile.
The new study suggests that the shape and size of the “honeycomb” pattern is due to the movement of brine (which contains a high concentration of dissolved salt) in the soil below the surface.
Scientists at Nottingham Trent University and Graz University of Technology in Austria say that the consistent size of the features and the speed at which the models grow can also be attributed to this.
It used to be believed that the salt crust in the desert dries out and forms cracks around which “honeycomb” patterns grow.
Other scientists have suggested that due to the absence of voids, the salt crust continues to grow and distort, forming fuzzy patterns.
However, no theory explains the fixed size of the “honeycomb” shape, which is always between one and two meters.
Associate Professor at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology. “A phenomenon similar to a convection cell formed on land in a thin layer of boiling water. Despite its beauty, the winds that blow across salty deserts are a major source of atmospheric dust, and our results will help us understand such processes in desert environments.” .
The scientists conducted laboratory experiments to see how salt water moves through sandy soil and analyzed the patterns under different conditions.
And in two field studies in California, scientists have observed patterns in nature and collected samples to show that waves in the Earth’s inner glass are visible on the surface.
The salt deserts where these patterns occur are not dry, and the highly saline groundwater often extends and resides directly beneath the salt crust.
Although this water can be quickly accessed by digging by hand, it will be too salty to drink.
When this brine evaporates on a hot summer day, the salt remains and makes the ground water below the surface saltier and therefore heavier than the fresh water hidden below.
If this difference in salinity is high enough, salt water near the surface begins to sink, while fresh water rises from below.
The study suggests that when adjacent convective rolls form on Earth, they coalesce and form hexagonal “honeycomb” patterns along their edges that sink into the salt water.
And especially when the percentage of salt is high, the salt also crystallizes on the surface. Over time, the resulting crusts develop raised bumps and edges that form a “honeycomb” pattern.
The study, which involved the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, the University of Southampton, the University of Leeds, the University of Götting and the University of Oxford, was published in Physical Review X.
Source: Independent
Source: Arabic RT
