The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has confirmed the existence of approximately 40 mysterious circular structures at the bottom of Lake Michigan in the United States.
In 2022, NOAA experts conducted a survey of the Great Lakes using sonar technology and discovered these circular structures on the lakebed of Michigan. These structures vary in size from 91 to 183 meters, according to IFL Science on October 1.
NOAA survey vessel and images of some depressions at the bottom of Lake Michigan. (Photo: NOAA).
During the survey conducted in August, a NOAA team traveled to an area about 22.5 kilometers from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to study and count around 40 circular objects.
“A geological question arises: How were these structures formed? Why are they present there, especially embedded within the bedrock at the bottom of the lake?” asked Kevin Cullen, Director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
Cullen hypothesizes that these could be sinkholes related to underwater canyons formed by glaciers centuries ago.
However, Brendon Baillod, a shipwreck hunter from Wisconsin, suggests that they may not be sinkholes, but rather basins.
Further research is needed in the future before it can be determined what these circular formations truly are.
