What is endo-upwelling?

Endo-upwelling is the scientific name for a process whereby capillarity and a difference in density allows water that is heavily laden with metallic salt and trace elements to enrich the quality of Polynesian lagoons. It is this process that provides the perfect conditions for pearl cultivation. 

Recent studies undertaken by 2 researchers of the Tahitian branch of the ORSTOM institute brought to light this phenomenon. This scientific discovery explains how trace elements, metallic salts and mineral salts benefit the underwater flora and fauna, to ascend by capillarity’s, through the coral layers that make up the base of the lagoons, as a result of the cold waters penetrating the basaltic base due to the high pressure of the great depths (-1000 or more). 

These cold waters flow to the surface; these waters have different densities and heat on contact with the basalt, and are enriched by trace elements while advancing along the walls of the volcano, to reappear in the external waters of the lagoon on the edges of the atoll.

By capillarity and differences of density, waters charged in salts metal and trace elements enrich waters of the Polynesian lagoons, creating optimal conditions for the culture of pearls.