60 pieces · NatureSatellite image by Axelspace Corporation (Hodoyoshi-1), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Great Blue Hole, a circular submarine sinkhole roughly 300 m across at the centre of Lighthouse Reef Atoll off the coast of Belize, seen from orbit against the surrounding turquoise reef flat.
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The Great Blue Hole, Belize
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The Great Blue Hole, Belize
The Great Blue Hole sits near the centre of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll about 70 kilometres from Belize City and the Belizean mainland. From orbit it reads as an almost perfect dark circle set in the pale turquoise shallows of the reef flat, 318 metres across and 124 metres deep — a scale that makes it plainly visible from space, which is exactly how this image was captured, by Japan's Hodoyoshi-1 satellite passing overhead.
The hole is a flooded karst sinkhole, not a volcanic or impact feature. During the last ice ages, when sea levels were far lower than today, this spot was dry land riddled with limestone caves, and rainwater dissolved the rock into a deep vertical shaft lined with stalactites. Analysis of those stalactites shows the cave system formed in stages roughly 153,000, 66,000, 60,000 and 15,000 years ago; some of them sit tilted five degrees off vertical, a sign that the underlying plateau shifted geologically at some point before settling into its present position. As the oceans rose again after the last glaciation, the cave roof collapsed and the shaft flooded, leaving the sheer-walled hole that divers visit today. The site was made famous by Jacques Cousteau, who brought the Calypso here in 1971, declared it one of the world's top five scuba diving sites, and confirmed its karst origin with soundings that found ledges at 21, 49 and 91 metres down. It now forms part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As a jigsaw, the image is almost entirely about tone rather than detail. The hole itself is a smooth near-black disc with no internal texture, so its pieces are placed purely by the curve of its edge against the surrounding water. The reef flat around it carries far more to work with — mottled patches of seagrass, coral heads and sand in shifting shades of turquoise and teal — so it's worth building outward from that textured ring first, using the dark circle and the deep-blue open ocean at the frame's edge as the two fixed anchors to work in from.
How to play
- Tap Play The Great Blue Hole, Belize puzzle to open the puzzle board, then choose your piece count and difficulty.
- Drag pieces from the tray onto the board and snap them into place until the full image is complete. Works with mouse on desktop and touch on mobile.
- Use the Preview button on the play screen to peek at the full reference image whenever you need a hint.
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Frequently asked questions
- Where exactly is the Great Blue Hole?
- It lies near the centre of Lighthouse Reef, a small coral atoll about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Belize City and the Belizean mainland. The hole itself is 318 metres (1,043 ft) across and 124 metres (407 ft) deep, set within the atoll's shallow lagoon.
- How did the Great Blue Hole form?
- It's a flooded karst sinkhole. During past ice ages, when sea levels were much lower, this was dry limestone riddled with caves, and rainwater dissolved the rock into a deep vertical shaft over several stages — stalactite analysis dates them to roughly 153,000, 66,000, 60,000 and 15,000 years ago. When the ice ages ended and the sea rose again, the cave's roof collapsed and the shaft flooded, leaving the sheer-sided hole seen today.
- Why is this photo a satellite image rather than a regular photograph?
- At 318 metres across, the hole is large enough to be clearly resolved from orbit, and its stark colour contrast with the surrounding reef makes it one of the most recognisable natural features visible from space. This particular image was captured by the Japanese Hodoyoshi-1 Earth-observation satellite.
- Who first explored the Great Blue Hole?
- Jacques Cousteau brought his research ship Calypso here in 1971 and named it one of the world's top five scuba diving sites. His team's soundings confirmed the hole's karst origin and found ledges at depths of 21, 49 and 91 metres, along with stalactites tilted five degrees off vertical — evidence that the underlying rock shifted geologically before settling into its current position.