Devils Hole

Devils Hole is a geothermal pool within a limestone cavern in the Amargosa Desert in the Amargosa Valley of Nevada, east over the Amargosa Range and Funeral Mountains from Death Valley. It is at an elevation of {{cvt|730|m|ft}} above sea level{{cite journal|jstor=41712019|title=Daily and Yearly Movement of the Devil's Hole Pupfish Cyprinodon Diabolis Wales in Devil's Hole, Nevada|journal=The Great Basin Naturalist|volume=43|issue=4|pages=592–596|last1=Baugh|first1=Thomas M.|last2=Deacon|first2=James E.|year=1983}} and the water is a constant temperature of {{cvt|33|C|F}}. The surface area of Devils Hole is about 22 m long by 3.5 m wide (72 ft long by 11.5 ft wide). Approximately {{cvt|0.3|m|ft|1}} deep on one end of Devils Hole is a small rock shelf of {{cvt|3.5|by|5|m|ft}}. The dissolved oxygen of the water is 2.5–3.0 ppm up to around {{cvt|22|m|ft}} in depth, though the shallow shelf can have dissolved oxygen levels as high as 6.0–7.0 ppm in June and July.

Image:Devils Hole 3.jpg

Devils Hole branches into caverns at least {{cvt|130|m|ft}} deep,{{cite journal|doi=10.1643/0045-8511(2001)001[0224:PSODHP]2.0.CO;2|issn=0045-8511|year=2001|volume=1|pages=224–228|title=Population Size of Devils Hole Pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) Correlates with Water Level|journal=Copeia|last1=Andersen|first1=Matthew E.|last2=Deacon|first2=James E.|s2cid=85845126 }} whose bottom has never been mapped. According to geologists, the caves were formed over 500,000 years ago.{{cite web|last1=Landwehr|first1=J.M.|last2=Winograd|first2=I.J.|year=2012|title=Devils Hole, Nevada—A Primer|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|id=Fact Sheet 2012–3021|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3021|accessdate = 2013-01-17 }} The pool has frequently experienced seiche activity due to far away earthquakes in Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Chile, which have been likened to extremely small scale tsunamis.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/devils-hole.htm|title=Devils Hole|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=28 January 2014}}

Below the surface pool, Devils Hole descends approximately {{convert|160|ft|m|-1}} through what is termed the "main chamber" before reaching a narrow opening referred to as the 'funnel'. Through this opening lies a much larger chamber of the cavern system known as Acree's Chasm. Acree's Chasm is approximately {{convert|300|ft|m}} in length, {{convert|40|ft|m}} in width, and has a bottom approximately {{convert|260|ft|m|-1}} below the surface.{{cite report|last=Hoffman|first=RJ|title=Chronology of Diving Activities and Underground Surveys in Devils Hole and Devils Hole Cave, Nye County, Nevada, 1950-86|publisher=USGS|id=Open File Report 88-93|year=1988|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1988/0093/report.pdf}}{{cite conference|first1=AC|last1=Riggs|first2=JE|last2=Deacon|title=Connectivity in Desert Aquatic Ecosystems: The Devils Hole Story|conference=Spring-fed Wetlands: Important Scientific and Cultural Resources of the Intermountain Region|year=2002|citeseerx=10.1.1.546.1508 }}

Immediately after passing the funnel into Acree's Chamber, a narrow side tube can be found to a diver's left. This side tube proceeds approximately {{convert|90|ft|m}} upward to a chamber with an air pocket, named Brown's Room. The tube leading to Brown's Room has at least 2 offshoots, the higher of which leads to a dead-end filled with a small air pocket, and the lower of which joins with additional tubes descending from Brown's Room.

If the diver instead descends through Acree's Chamber, the first notable landmark is a rocky shelf termed the "lower ledge", around {{convert|100|ft|m}} below the entrance to the chamber. The bottom of Acree's Chamber lies around {{convert|260|ft|m}} below the surface, but is not flat. Instead, a portion of the chamber floor descends below this lower shelf; a gradual funnel leads to a hole in the bottom of the chamber featuring a strong current. The hole, later termed the ojo de agua, is {{convert|315|ft|m}} below the surface and just large enough for a diver with equipment to fit through.

In 1965, Paul Giancontieri, a teenager who had jumped the fence with friends to go SCUBA diving in the hole, did not come back up. Another, David Rose, went down to find him, but did not come back up either.{{cite web |title=Divining Devils Hole: Part I |url=https://mojaveproject.org/dispatches-item/divining-devils-hole-part-1/ |website=THE MOJAVE PROJECT|author=Kim Stringfellow |date= October 2015}} Later efforts by five divers to find their bodies were unsuccessful.{{cite news |title=Divers Halt Search For Missing Youths |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105256943/divers-halt-search-for-missing-youths/|via=newspapers.com |work=Redwood City Tribune |date=23 June 1965 |page=18}}

On June 20, 1965, during the second dive of a rescue and then body recovery mission, Jim Houtz with his dive partner dropped a weighted depth line to a depth of {{convert|932|ft|m}} from the start of this opening, without hitting the bottom of the chamber below. Due to the strong current, the small size of the entrance, and the unknown depth of the cavern below, which Houtz termed the "Infinity Room", Jim and his partner chose not to explore this Infinity Room. This mission did, however, confirm that the Infinity Room of Devil's Hole, and the cavern system itself, has a depth of at least {{convert|1247|ft|m}} from the surface.{{cite web|title=Mojave Project: Divining Devils Hole|url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/mojave-project-divining-devils-hole|publisher=KCET|first=Kim|last=Stringfellow|date=October 4, 2015}}

File:Devils Hole map 2005.jpg

A subsequent USGS exploration into Devil's Hole in 1991 by Alan Riggs, Paul DeLoach, and Sheck Exley entered what they found out to be a narrow tube rather than an 'Infinity Room' at {{convert|315|ft|m}}, descending to a depth of {{convert|436|ft|m}}. The team reported being able to see down to a depth of some {{convert|500|ft|m}}, without visualizing the bottom of the cavern.

On March 20, 2012, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico, some {{convert|2000|mi|km}} away and centered roughly {{convert|12|mi|km}} below the surface, caused an undulating {{convert|4|ft|m}} rise and fall of the cavern waters, as appreciated by researchers working at Devil's Hole at the time. This provided further evidence that the Devil's Hole cave system was connected not only to the Death Valley Regional Groundwater Flow System, but possibly to even further-reaching underground water systems.{{Citation needed|reason=seiches don't require further-reaching underground water systems and may occur even in swimming pools|date=October 2022}} The 1991 USGS dive team described the Devil's Hole as a "skylight" into the water table.

A team of paleoclimatologists from the University of Innsbruck have been collecting and dating calcite mineral deposits here since 2010.{{Cite web|title=DEVILS HOLE|url=https://www.uibk.ac.at/newsroom/dossiers/devilshole/|access-date=2022-01-31|website=University of Innsbruck}} In March 2017, underwater cinematographer Jonathan Bird received permission to assist scientists in a four-day expedition to take water and calcite core samples.{{Cite web|date=2017-03-03|title=Researchers diving deep into Devil's Hole to study climate history|url=https://pvtimes.com/news/researchers-diving-deep-into-devils-hole-to-study-climate-history/|access-date=2022-01-31|website=Pahrump Valley Times|language=en-US}} The IMAX footage was included in the 2020 film Ancient Caves and extra footage was used to create the video documentary Exploring Devils Hole.{{YouTube|2QGTKKws3gM|Exploring Devils Hole}}

There had been similar studies in Devil's Hole, but these are no longer permitted due to the endangered status of the Devils Hole pupfish. Cleaning and disinfection of diving equipment, climbing gear, cameras, etc. using hot water and Steramine followed by at least 30 days of air-drying is required by the National Park Service to prevent contamination of the underwater ecosystem.{{Citation|work=Dive Talk|title=DIVERS REACT TO DEVIL'S HOLE DEATHS (a story by MrBallen)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0T7StMqQUQ&t=28m0s|language=en|access-date=2022-02-01}}

On September 19, 2022, a seiche reaching {{Convert|4|ft|m|abbr=off}} occurred at Devils Hole after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit western Mexico, about {{Convert|1500|mi|km|abbr=off}} away. Seiches were also observed in the cave after powerful earthquakes in 2012, 2018, 2019, {{Cite web |date=September 21, 2022 |title=Mexico earthquake caused waves at California's Death Valley |url=https://bnonews.com/index.php/2022/09/mexico-earthquake-caused-waves-at-californias-death-valley/ |access-date=September 22, 2022 |website=BNO News}} and 2024.{{Citation|work=USA Today|title=Video shows impact of CA quake felt more than 500 miles away by endangered Devils Hole pupfish|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/09/video-california-quake-500-miles-away-devils-hole-pupfish/76859085007/}}

File:Devils Hole Cave map.jpg

Located {{Convert|650|ft|m}} north of Devils Hole is a separate cave system called Devils Hole Cave (#2). It was first explored underwater to a depth of {{Convert|70|ft|m}} by divers from the Southwestern Speleological Society in February 1961. It had been described as being shaped like a boot with fallen rock restriction at the {{Convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} level leading to a narrow pool of {{Convert|93|F|C|adj=on}} water. Since no sunlight reaches the water, algae cannot grow and no fish species are found.

On the surface, the cave openings are connected to Devils Hole by an access road and covered with a locked metal grate. Below ground, a passable deepwater connection to Devils Hole has been theorized but remains undiscovered.{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ6UMfcz1zk|title=Ancient Caves - The "making of" a film for IMAX and giant-screen theaters|date=2021-08-15|last=Bird|first=Jonathan|language=English|publisher=Oceanic Research Group Films|author-link=Jonathan Bird|type=video}}

{{Main|Devils Hole pupfish}}

Image:Cyprinodon diabolis, males.jpg]]

Devils Hole is the only natural habitat of the Devils Hole pupfish, which survives despite the hot, oxygen-poor water.{{Cite news |last=Greenfieldboyce |first=Nell |date=July 7, 2023 |title=Against all odds, the rare Devils Hole pupfish keeps on swimming |work=NPR News |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/07/07/1182118098/against-all-odds-the-rare-devils-hole-pupfish-keeps-on-swimming}} Devils Hole "may be the smallest habitat in the world containing the entire population of a vertebrate species". The pupfish are considered critically endangered by the IUCN.{{cite iucn |author = NatureServe |title = Cyprinodon diabolis |volume= 2014 |page = e.T6149A15362335 |year = 2014 |doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T6149A15362335.en }} The pupfish has been described as the world's rarest fish,{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21569687-hole |title=In a hole |newspaper=The Economist|date=19 Jan 2013 |accessdate=2016-05-10}} with a population of 263 as of 2022.{{cite web |url=https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-09/devils-hole-pupfish-population-19-year-high |title=Devils Hole pupfish population at 19-year high |website=U.S Fish and Wildlife Service |date=30 September 2022 |publisher=United States Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=4 October 2022}} Genetic information indicates that the pupfish species is as old as the Hole itself, which opened to the surface about 60,000 years ago.{{cite web |title = We know where the world's loneliest species came from |url = http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160622-the-worlds-loneliest-species |website = bbc.com |access-date = 24 June 2016 |date = 23 June 2016 |last = Walker |first = Matt}}{{cite journal |last1=Sağlam |first1=İsmail K. |last2=Baumsteiger |first2=Jason |last3=Smith |first3=Matt J. |last4=Linares-Casenave |first4=Javier |last5=Nichols |first5=Andrew L. |last6=O'Rourke |first6=Sean M. |last7=Miller |first7=Michael R. |display-authors=4 |title = Phylogenetics supports an ancient common origin of two scientific icons: Devils Hole and Devils Hole pupfish |journal = Molecular Ecology |doi = 10.1111/mec.13732 |year = 2016|pmid=27314880 |volume=25 |issue = 16 |pages=3962–73 |s2cid=21832372}}

The pupfish have been protected since being declared an endangered species in 1967.{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/dhp/dhp.html |title=Devils Hole Pupfish |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |date=December 2, 2013 |accessdate=2016-05-14}} Conflicts of the ownership and use of the groundwater around Devils Hole caused litigation in the 1980s.{{cite book |last1=Minckley |first1=WL |last2=Deacon |first2=JE |year=1991 |title=Battle against extinction: native fish management in the American West |publisher=University of Arizona Press |location=Tucson |isbn=978-0816512218}} The litigation triggered further protections of the pupfish. Since the late 1990s, the pupfish population has substantially decreased. The reasons for the decrease are unknown, but is possibly due to a microscopic non-indigenous diving beetle that is consuming pupfish eggs.{{cite web |last1=Bittel |first1=Jason |title=Brutal beetles kept world's rarest fish from breeding—until now |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/endangered-devils-hole-pupfish-breeding-breakthrough/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302071616/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/endangered-devils-hole-pupfish-breeding-breakthrough/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 2, 2019 |website=National Geographic |date=March 2019 |publisher=National Geographic |accessdate=5 March 2019}}

• Cyprinodon - Genus

{{clear right}}

{{Reflist|33em}}

{{Commons and category}}

• {{cite gnis |id=857963 |name= Devils Hole |accessdate=2009-08-10}}
• [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3671602 The Southwestern Naturalist: "Pupfish Populations"]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6h82PIi_-0 Death Valley Natural History Association - Video of Seismic Waves in the Pool]
• {{YouTube|2QGTKKws3gM|Ancient Caves - Exploring Devils Hole}}
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q123536889|title=Ancient Caves|description=(IMAX 2020)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|36.425312|N|116.291458|W|format=dms|region:US-NV_type:landmark_source:gnis|display=title}}

Category:Caves of Nevada

Category:Springs of Nevada

Category:Amargosa Desert

Category:Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Category:Death Valley National Park

Category:Bodies of water of Nye County, Nevada

Category:Limestone caves

Category:Wild caves