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Devil's Kettle Falls, located north of the vast Lake Superior in North America, is famous for being split into two waterfalls, one of which falls into a deep pit and disappears.
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Located about a mile inland above Lake Superior on the Brule River in Judge C.R. Magney State Park near Grand Marais, Minnesota, Devil's Kettle Falls is a popular destination for mystery lovers. |
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The most interesting thing about this waterfall is that it is split in two by a rock into two streams. One stream flows into Lake Superior. The other flows into a bottomless pit. Where the water flows into the pit has been a mystery for many years and has since been called "Devil's Kettle". |
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The phenomenon has long been a source of fascination for tourists, who throw everything from GPS trackers to dyes to ping pong balls into the hole, hoping it will float to a calmer spot on the river. |
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“Many locals believe that this water separates at the falls and some of it flows into Canada. They even speculate that it can somehow flow back into the Mississippi River,” said Peter Mott, director of the park. |
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Until early 2017, after conducting many experiments, scientists determined that the water did not disappear but flowed underground back to the foot of the waterfall next to it and then poured into Lake Superior. |
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Specifically, researchers at the University of Minnesota conducted dye trail monitoring in the fall to show where the water was coming from. When water flows were low, they poured fluorescent, biodegradable dye into the hole and tracked where the dye returned to the river. |
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“The underground pool is an incredibly powerful circulating system that is capable of dissolving material and keeping it underwater until it emerges at some point downstream,” said Calvin Alexander, a researcher on the team. |
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The special dye that the team tested was indestructible and was found in the river below the falls. “Some people were disappointed that the mystery was solved so simply,” said Peter Mott, who happily shared. |