When the earth disappears from under your feet, or What is a karst sinkhole? The most impressive sinkholes on Earth (16 photos)

December 16, 2013. IN Lately There is more and more news about sinkholes popping up around the world. different sizes and various etiologies, including floods, earthquakes and anthropogenic factors. In a number of countries, there are already entire danger zones where the formation of karst sinkholes occurs at incredible speed. Some collapses are minor and do not cause much inconvenience to people, while some are gigantic in size and depth, swallowing entire buildings, cars or even people.

For example, a collapse caused by flooding in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, nearly killed a 14-year-old schoolgirl. She rode her bicycle into a 3x3 meter hole hidden under water and did not drown only because a passing person pulled her out.

IN Chinese province In Sichuan, where sinkholes are a common sight due to unsafe construction methods, recent events have caused about 12 buildings to collapse at once. The crater in Guanguyang, which is 700 m wide, continues to grow. Residents of the affected houses miraculously managed to escape with relatively minor injuries.

Some examples of sinkholes in other countries:

1/ Sao Paulo, Brazil, January 15, 2007. A giant crater has swallowed up the Pinheiros metro station under construction. The depth of the crater reached 40 m.

2/ Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 31, 2010. An entire intersection and a three-story empty factory building collapsed to a depth of 30 m. The cause of the sinkhole is said to be Storm Agatha and the geological features of the city, built on volcanic deposits.

3/ Guatemala City, Guatemala, July 19, 2011. After prolonged rainfall, a crater appeared right in the floor of a residential building in the northern suburbs. It went 12.2 m deep, the width of the collapse was 80 cm.

4/ Dead Sea, Israel, September 30, 2010. Several sinkholes in a row have formed in the long-dried central region of the saltiest sea on the planet.

5/ Montreal, Canada, August 6, 2013. During a collapse at the intersection of city streets, the driver of an excavator was not seriously injured.

6/ Saint-Jude, Canada, May 11, 2011. This natural disaster, which combined a landslide and a collapse, caused the death of a family of 4 residents of the province of Quebec. A residential building northeast of Montreal unexpectedly fell into the ground.

7/ Beijing, China, April 26, 2011. A section of the road collapsed under the truck, and the passenger and driver were injured while trying to jump out of the falling vehicle. Possible reason the occurrence of a karst funnel - construction works on the metro line.

8/ Village in Guangxi Province, China, June 2012. Due to the collapse, more than 800 villagers who were in danger had to be evacuated. Probably, the funnel swallowed one of the village houses, and 6 more were in danger of collapse. Most likely, work on the construction of a well for a local school is related to what happened.

9/ Senchen, China, May 21, 2013. A 10-meter collapse that occurred in an industrial zone in a city in Guangdong province killed 5 people.

10/ Windermere, USA, May 5, 2012. A residential building almost fell into a crater 10 m deep and 30 m wide. The entire family was subsequently evacuated.

11/ Duluth, USA, June 20, 2011. A car with Minnesota license plates was easily swallowed up by a sinkhole that arose after heavy rainfall, from which even animals from the local zoo began to run away. People living near the collapse were immediately evacuated.

12/ State of Florida, USA, June 2012. A karst sinkhole 760 m deep and 15 m wide easily swallowed an entire residential building along with its owner. The woman and her neighbors were evacuated as soon as possible.

13/ Milwaukee, USA, July 23, 2010. After a series of powerful storms, a section of the Cadillac Overpass in Wisconsin fell into the ground; one driver was “lucky” to be in the thick of things.

14/ San Diego, USA, October 3, 2007. A huge karst sinkhole measuring 61x73 m sent part of the sidewalk underground on the road running along Mount Soledad in the US state of California. As a result, 6 houses were damaged, residents of 20 neighboring buildings were evacuated.

15/ Paauilo, Hawaii, October 18, 2006. Unusually, the emergence of this karst sinkhole was accompanied by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.

16/ Mulberry, USA, July 13, 1994. A crater 30 m wide and 56 m deep appeared in the underground waste disposal area of ​​the IMC-Agrico plant in Florida almost immediately after almost 9.5 million kg of liquid phosphoric acid was dumped there. Fortunately, the entire volume of chemicals was pumped out before they entered the groundwater.

Sinkholes are a phenomenon that can occur at any time. In this case, the soil falls down without any prerequisites. You could go to bed, wake up in the morning, look out the window and see a huge hole in the ground.

We present to your attention the 12 most famous sinkholes in the world.

1. Bimma's well

Bimm's Well is often called the most beautiful sinkhole in the world. Locals turned it into a real attraction, which enjoys unprecedented popularity among tourists.

The sinkhole is located in northern Oman and residents have turned it into a park and filled the well with water for swimming. The water in the well is an incredibly beautiful turquoise color. There are even small fish swimming in the pond. The pool itself is located 550 meters from the sea. Its width is 40 meters and its depth is 20 m.

2. Sima Humboldt

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Sima Humboldt is a huge sinkhole located in Venezuela. It appeared in the middle of the forest, far from the roads.

The depth of this funnel is 314 meters. Her distinctive feature– vertical walls. Vegetation began to appear at the base of the crater.

3. Makunji sinkhole

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Makunji was formed in June 1986 in Pennsylvania. There was evidence of outdated water infrastructure in this area, which may have caused the sinkhole to form. Within a few hours of Makunji's emergence, residents heard a loud noise. Immediately after the sinkhole appeared, residents complained about the lack of water.

The consequences of the sinkhole are as follows: the city had to spend a lot of money to eliminate the consequences of a natural accident, as well as restore public utilities. The approximate size of the funnel is 23 meters wide and 10.5 meters deep.

4. Sinkhole in Winnipeg

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A sinkhole in Winnipeg has destroyed a large section of the Manitoba Highway. A possible reason for the failure is heavy rainfall. About 200 meters of the highway fell down.

Previously, before the failure occurred, experts recorded increased soil erosion in this area. When the sinkhole began, the highway was falling at a rate of 13 cm per hour. Experts carefully observed the failure, which lasted for several days.

5. Daizetta Sinkhole

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In the city of Daizetta, Texas, a sinkhole began to grow. Its length was initially about 30 cm. Then it grew to 275 meters wide and 80 meters deep.

Daizetta is an old oil town that sits on a geological salt formation that is 6 km in diameter. Experts concluded that the cause of the crater is the result of the accumulation of salt waste resulting from oil production.

6. Red Lake

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A sinkhole called Red Lake formed in Croatia. Experts believe that the crater was formed as a result of the collapse of the upper part of the cave. The sinkhole gets its name from the reddish-brown rocks that surround it.

Now the funnel is filled with water, which is inhabited by fish. This gives scientists something to think about. The funnel is apparently connected to other bodies of water using groundwater. Reaches 530 meters in depth and 30 million cubic meters in volume. Nowadays, the funnel is one of the most protected areas in the country.

7. Sky Pit

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Xiaozhai Tiankeng, or heavenly pit, has vertical walls. Its depth is 625 m. Width is 527 m. It is considered the largest sinkhole in the world. Scientists have concluded that the crater gradually formed over 128 thousand years.

Researchers discovered the failure in 1994. More than 2,800 steps were created to turn the sinkhole into a tourist attraction. The funnel is especially popular during heavy rains when picturesque waterfalls form.

8. Dean's Blue Hole

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Dean's Blue Hole is located in the Bahamas. This is the deepest underwater sinkhole in the world. It reaches 202 meters in depth. At a depth of 66 meters, the blue hole expands greatly towards the bottom.

This is a popular diving spot. In 2010, William Trubridge broke the world record for diving without fins here, reaching a depth of 101 meters.

9. Harwood Hole

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Is in national park Abel Tasman in New Zealand. The sinkhole is part of the Takaka Hill cave system. Located between Tasmanian and Golden Bays. It goes to a depth of 183 meters. For many years, descending into this cave has been the most popular activity for tourists in the region.

The sinkhole was named after Henry Harwood, who discovered the sinkhole in the 1920s.

10. Sarisarinyama

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The Sarisarinhau sinkhole is often called the most beautiful and mysterious failure in Venezuela. The funnel has formed its own unique ecosystem, which cannot be found throughout the world. Despite the interest of many scientists from around the world, the origin of the funnel has never been clarified.

There are only 4 sinkholes in Sarisarinyam.

11. Great Blue Hole

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The Great Blue Hole, located off the coast of Belize, is part of the Belize Islands barrier reef. This place is included in the list of UNESCO heritage sites. The shape of the funnel is oblong, its depth is 124 meters.

12. Phosphogypsum sinkhole in Florida

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The emergence of this funnel almost became one of the major environmental disasters. At the site of IMC-Agrico's phosphogypsum waste dump weighing 80 million tons, a giant crater of 15 floors has formed. It was 1994 in Florida.

About 15,000 cubic meters of toxic liquid went into the ground, which threatened to poison groundwater and, accordingly, 90% drinking water in Florida. Millions of dollars were spent eliminating the threat.

A happy family sleeps peacefully in their bed at night. Suddenly the floor in the apartment begins to shake. Earthquake? Parents grab their half-asleep children and jump out. But there is no earthquake, and before their eyes the house is going underground. An episode worthy of a disaster movie. This is a common occurrence in life. It's all because of the karst failure!

What is a sinkhole

A karst failure is possible when the soil consists of soft sedimentary rocks, such as limestone, gypsum, dolomite or chalk. And groundwater washes them away from the inside, forming voids underground. The top layer of soil, unable to hold the load for a long time, collapses. Funnels or gaps appear different forms: perfectly round, oval, slotted. The shape of the failure and its size depend on the composition of the soil and the depth of soft rocks. Sometimes such sinkholes reach depths of more than 300 m.

A karst sinkhole is a natural phenomenon which happened on earth millions of years ago and continues to happen now

Plus, people make their contribution, whose activities cause irreparable damage to nature. There are known cases when residential buildings, sections of highways, roadside cafes, and entire factories fell underground.

Where can such a phenomenon occur?

Karst areas are often poor in surface water. They all go underground, invisibly undermining the inner layer. This can even happen in rocky formations, then under the influence of groundwater entire karst caves and grottoes are formed. Funnels appear not only on land, but also under water. This happened before ice age when world sea levels were lower. But these blue abysses still exist, attracting scientists and divers. When sinkholes come close to water bodies(rivers, seas), they are filled with water. The result is wonderful lakes with clean water, sometimes reaching a depth of 100 m.

Once upon a time, the Mayan Indians prayed to their cenotes, which means “well,” with fresh, clear, not icy, but cool water. They considered them a sacred entrance to the kingdom of the dead.

The result of human activity

Not only nature, but also man himself often becomes the culprit of underground failure. Rock salt mines and rock excavations deplete the soil. Man-made voids collapse sooner or later. As happened here in Russia, in Berezniki.

The town is located near a mine that produces industrial salt. The sinkholes there follow one after another: in the forest, near railway station, next to the mine control. It is possible that soon the entire town will be underground. In China, for example, the cause of the failure was old sewer pipes through which water had been leaking for years. As a result, the factory buildings went underground and people died. The owners of a roadhouse in Mississippi, USA, built a parking lot over an old drainage ditch. As a result, 12 cars fell into a 10-meter hole. And heavy rains, which are not uncommon in tropical areas, and recently in our country, middle lane, complete the work begun by man.

Dangerous beauties

Natural karst sinkhole – often most beautiful place. There are many legends around such voids, which is why they attract so many curious people. The most famous sinkholes are also dangerous.

For example, it is no coincidence that all underwater blue holes are called “Cemeteries or graves for divers.” Diving to great depths carries the risk of disorientation. This leads to excessive oxygen consumption and, as a result, the death of the diver. Karst caves often have branches, corridors and galleries, which also lead the curious aside.

“The Gates of Hell” in Turkmenistan is a karst hole filled with poisonous gas. 40 years ago, Soviet geologists set it on fire, hoping that it would soon burn out. But it still burns, like the fire-breathing mouth of a dragon. Karst lakes, for all their beauty, can also be fraught with danger. The depth of some reaches more than 100 m. The transparency of the water creates the illusion of a close bottom. In a word, all these objects need to be explored very carefully, not forgetting about your own safety.

The most famous failures

Lakes

– favorite place rest of the party Soviet bosses. More than 120 m deep. Transparent and clear lake surrounded by rocky mountains.

Red Lake in Croatia - the depth of the sinkhole is 220 m, the water rises to 90 m during the rainy season. Famous for its cliffs rich in iron, hence the color and name.

Lake Kingsley in Florida is perfectly round, like a coin, and is called the “silver dollar.”

Vouliagmeni, Greece – 20 km from Athens. It goes downhill, in the caves of which 14 tunnels have been formed, which have not yet been explored.

Big Holy Lake, Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia - according to legend, at the bottom of it lies a monastery and a village, which suddenly sank under water.

Caves

Cave of Swallows, Mexico - a hole with a diameter of 62 m, a depth of about 400 m. Once upon a time, the ancient Aztecs threw girls here as sacrifices to the gods.

Harwood Cave, New Zealand– a vertical entrance with a depth of 186 m, and the entire depth is 356 m. It passes through underground passages into the “Starlight” cave.

Sotano de Barro in Chile is a karst sinkhole with a diameter of 600 m and a depth of 450 m. In the surrounding area there are flocks of strange birds and various forests.

Cathedral Valley, Utah, USA - a shallow cave, only 60 m, but the surrounding landscapes resemble a Martian landscape. It is prohibited to go down into it, as the soil is not stable.

Underwater failures

Big Blue Hole, Belize - width about 300 m, depth about 100. Jacques Cousteau was the first to go down there.

Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt - 100 m deep. The infamous "Divers' Graveyard".

Dean's Blue Hole Bahamas- the deepest of the underwater funnels. 25-35 m in diameter, 202 m deep.

Natural objects

“Gates of Hell”, Turkmenistan – burning natural gas from a 30 m wide hole it rises to a height of up to 15 m.

“Heavenly Pit”, China - the deepest hole is 660 m and 530 wide. During the rainy season, waterfalls flow down the hole. Very beautiful!

"Devil's Hole", Texas, USA - tourists are attracted by flocks bats living in this place. The hole is fenced with barbed wire. Organized groups are allowed inside.

How to prevent failure

It is impossible to prevent failure. But avoiding devastating troubles is quite possible. Geologists and surveyors study such karst areas, taking into account soil movements. Builders are warned about possible collapse hazards. It is a pity that their warnings are not always heeded. Entrepreneurs' greed takes over.

This happened in Florida, in Winter Park, when several of its buildings collapsed as a result of failure. But back in the early 70s of the last century, scientists warned the city authorities about the danger of development in this area. It's good that no one was hurt. The areas most susceptible to failure are those with a lot of vulnerable rocks and karst terrain. These areas may contain cave systems carved into bedrock. Today's radar methods make it possible to monitor ground movements even from space, predicting failures in the initial stages.

Latest statistics

Failures occur constantly, despite all the efforts of scientists. In 2010, a 70-meter sinkhole in Guatemala swallowed up several neighborhoods, killing 15 people. But in 2013, a tunnel collapsed during construction in Sochi, collapsing a nearby, fortunately uninhabited building. In 2013, three houses disappeared in a 30x40 m crater in Buturlino. No harm done. In Florida in 2016, a house went underground in the middle of the night. The house owner's body could not be found. In Oregon, in 2016, Highway 101 had to be completely closed, on which a sinkhole 10 m deep formed. And just recently in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the Shatkovsky district, another sinkhole 50 m deep formed.

You can avoid sinkholes and multimillion-dollar losses if you listen to the opinions of scientists and surveyors. All karst areas in the world are registered. But you should discover the natural beauty of such places with pleasure and caution, so as not to harm the surrounding world. Otherwise, nature will immediately punish the culprit.

Sinkholes are truly scary. In addition to the dangers that await us on the surface of the earth or above it, the earth itself can suddenly disappear from under our feet, swallowing us along with our house or vehicle.

What are sinkholes and how are they formed? These are literally holes formed by the subsidence of the land through a combination of three factors: water, erosion and time. Current The groundwater seep through granular soil, stones, sand into top layer soil and even through grains of the underlying bedrock.

If the bedrock is composed of something like gypsum, limestone or dolomite, water may simply erode it away, dissolving the weak deposits. When these rocks are exposed to continuous or repeated exposure to water, large holes or even extensive cave systems can form. High acidity of the water, for example due to the absorption of carbon dioxide, can significantly speed up the process.

Water-eroded bedrock breaks apart, exposing deeper layers of sediment to erosion. In addition, it happens that water first destroys the internal bedrock and then, making a hole, rises to the overlying (uppermost) layer of earth. Once the overburden has eroded from the bedrock area, the continuation of the process depends on the type of soil.

If the overburden is loose sand, bottom particles will be washed away or sink through depressions or cracks in the bedrock. The loose layers above will follow, causing the entire overburden layer to plummet down to fill the void.

This can happen quickly or slowly depending on the rate of erosion of the bedrock. As a result, the sinkhole can make its way all the way to them. Such failures are called subsidence. Much more dramatic are cases where the capping layer is made of clay. Since clay sticks together much easier than sandy soil, it does not all flow into the hole in the bedrock.

Instead, the flow of water constantly erodes the lower part of the clay layer, creating a large karst void that gets closer and closer to the surface. When the remaining layer can no longer resist gravity, it falls into the abyss below. If there is a residential building or a showroom full of valuable cars in this place, then the owners will have to say goodbye to their property, and maybe even their lives. Such dangerous craters are called sinkholes.

On video from American state Louisiana shows how coastal trees fall due to a hole that formed under water. Scientists know quite well which areas are most susceptible to sinkholes. Based geological research, this is typical for karst landforms and “vulnerable” rocks (salt and gypsum).

One sign of a sinkhole-prone area is extensive cave systems carved into the bedrock. Recently, NASA announced that using radar data from satellites, they can monitor the movement of soil and detect sinkholes in the preliminary stages.