You can Sink in a Blink

Alissa Cordova

Natural Causes• Sink holes usually form from erosion due to frequent exposure to water.• A lack of water can contribute to sinkholes, too.• Most sinkholes occur in areas where the bedrock is formed from soft

minerals and rocks like salt, gypsum, limestone, dolomite and a few others.• Sinkholes typically develop slowly as bedrock is whittled away by water

that become acidic. It becomes acidic from absorbing carbon dioxide and interacting with plants. As the acidic water dissolves the rock, it carves out underground passages for water.• Rainwater obviously plays a role, but unseen water also matters. • In some underground cavities, water may actually be holding up a thin

overhang of earth. If that water level falls, the overhang has no support and collapses

Human Error• Broken pipes• Careless drilling• Mining • Changes in weight• Lots of foot or vehicle traffic • Heavy increase in water flow, formation of a pond or

body of water• Can appear in storm drains• By pumping out ground water

Problems Caused by Sinkholes• Property damage• Burst pipes• Lost property, such as homes or vehicles• Lost lives• Contaminated water supply

Signs• A gaping hole• Property damage around the foundation• Vegetation dying unexpectedly • Formation of new ponds and trees • Sign posts or other structures slumping over

How do we prevent sinkholes?• You don’t.• But Don’t hesitate to investigate!• They can be filled with sand or concrete

facts• Not all sink holes are the kind to swallow your car or

home whole.• Cover-collapse sinkholes are the type to swallow you

whole, this forms because the overburden (ground above the cavern made up of soil and clay) was no longer stable enough to hold itself up. This is typically been forming for a long time out of sight, but it can happen suddenly.• Largest naturally forming sinkhole is in Egypt, it is

“only” 436ft deep but it is also 75 miles wide by 50 miles long.

The Many Faces

bibliography• Silverman, Jacob. “How Sinkholes Work”.

HowStuffWorks. InfoSpace LLC. July 28, 2014. http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/sinkhole.htm • G. R. 'Dick' Roberts/NSIL/Getty Images• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQvv8YFCGsY