Cenote
A natural sinkhole formed when limestone bedrock collapses, often exposing groundwater. Cenotes are especially common in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Karst: A landscape shaped by the dissolution of soluble rock, with features such as caves, sinkholes, and underground drainage. Cenotes are characteristic sinkholes in karst terrain.
Yucatán Peninsula: A limestone peninsula in southeastern Mexico, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Its porous bedrock and scarce surface rivers make cenotes central to regional water flow.
Sacred Cenote: A large water-filled sinkhole at Chichén Itzá, used for ritual offerings during the Maya period. This named cenote shows how a natural water source also became a ceremonial place.
Dos Ojos: A system of water-filled caves and cenotes near Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Its connected passages exemplify the extensive submerged cave systems of the region.
Limestone: A sedimentary rock composed chiefly of calcium carbonate, commonly formed from marine sediments. Its dissolution and collapse create the openings called cenotes.
Chicxulub crater: A buried impact crater beneath Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, formed by an asteroid impact about 66 million years ago. Its buried ring structure corresponds to a striking arc of cenotes.
Chichén Itzá: A major Maya city in the northern Yucatán, known for monumental architecture and a nearby sacred cenote. The city’s location and ritual history are closely associated with its cenote.
Cenote Ik Kil: A deep, open cenote near Chichén Itzá, surrounded by steep limestone walls and vegetation. Its exposed water-filled shaft illustrates the open form of cenote.
Sinkhole: A depression or hole formed when the ground surface collapses or subsides into an underground void. A cenote is a water-filled sinkhole formed in limestone.
Yucatán Platform: A broad, shallow limestone shelf underlying much of the Yucatán Peninsula and adjacent seas. Its carbonate bedrock provides the geological setting for cenote formation.