Did Hydrologists Solve Devil’s Kettle Mystery?

TO IMPROVE ITS ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE. COULD IT BE THAT ONE OF MINNESOTA’S OLDEST NATURAL MYSTERY IS ABOUT TO BE SOLVED? THE DEVIL’S KETTLE FALLS HAVE STUMPED TOURISTS AND SCIENTISTS FOR DECADES BECAUSE ONE SIDE OF THE SPLIT WATERFALL SIMPLY VANISHES INTO ROCK WITH NO APPARENT OUTLET. BUT HIGH DOLL GISTS —

HYDROLOGISTS BELIEVE THEY HAVE AN ANSWER AND OUT NOW TO PROVE IT. Reporter: IF YOU’VE EVER VISITED THE NORTH SHORE YOU HAVE NO DOUBT BEEN IN AWE OF THE JAGGED ROCK AND TUMBLING WATERFALLS AND PERPLEXED BY ONE IN PARTICULAR. A BIG BLACK HOLE. STILL NO REAL CONFIRMATION AS TO WHERE THE WATER GOES ONCE

IT GOES IN. Reporter: THIS IS DEVIL’S KETTLE NEAR GRAND MARAIS, WHERE WATER IN THE LEFT FORK OF THE RIVER APPEARS TO JUST VANISH INTO ROCK. WE WILL SEE IF ANYBODY CALLS ME FROM CHINA. Reporter: IN 2012 MIKE BINKLEY EVEN TOSSED IN A PING- PONG BALL WITH HIS PHONE NUMBER.

STILL WAITING FOR THAT CALL. OTHERS HAVE TOSSED IN LOGS, EVEN DYE BUT NOTHING SURFACES. IT GETS ROUND UP PRETTY QUICKLY AND IT’S A VERY POWERFUL CHURNING. Reporter: U OF M PROFESSOR KELVIN ALEXANDER CALLS IT A GIANT BLENDER, SHREDDING WHATEVER ENTERS BUT WHERE DOES IT EXIT? THE FIRST THING THAT YOU DO

IS YOU MEASURE THE WATER AND IT TURNS OUT NOBODY HAS EVER DONE THAT. Reporter: HE AND THE DNR’S JEFF GREEN DID AND FOUND THE WATER VOLUME THE SAME VOLUME BELOW AS ABOVE. SO TO VISUALIZE WHERE THE WATER IS COMING OUT, THEY WILL POUR IN A BRIGHT GREEN DYE AND WILL

BET IT COMES OUT HERE. COOL, IT’S NEAT. WE NOW KNOW SOMETHING WE DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE. THAT’S WHAT TURNS A SCIENTIST ON. Reporter: IN A PART OF THE STATE THAT’S MYSTICAL TO THE CORE. BILL HUDSON, WCCO 4 NEWS. HYDROLOGISTS AND THE DNR DID DISCUSS HOW THE SCIENCE MAY ACTUALLY SPOIL THE LONG HELD

MYSTERY OF THE FALLS AND WHERE IT GOES HOWEVER, THEY SAY IT’S IMPORTANT TO SPELL IT OUT AND THEN LET FOLKS TRY TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES. CHRIS WAS SCREAMING THAT OUT, GET THE DYE OUT. GET THE DYE. HE’S A SCIENTIST. I AM. BUT THEY HAVE DONE STUFF BEFORE AND IT HASN’T WORKED SO THEY

THINK THEY CAN DO IT NOW. I LIKE BINKLEY THROWING THE PING-PONG BALL. THAT’S THE FIRST THING I ASKED BILL HUDSON TODAY, EVERYTHING THAT WAS THROWN IN, GONE.

#Hydrologists #Solve #Devils #Kettle #Mystery