Pic: Sink hole from hell

[dennilfloss]

How does something like this happend?

http://www.earlham.edu/~scheuer/sinkholes.htm

http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/karst.htm

http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty...#37;20and piping/Karst sinkhole/Karst P1.html

Generally, an insoluble (eg sandstone, shale) layer will act as a cap above the limestone that is being disolved (and may have been for thousands of years). If that cap layer fails or is breached, the material above will fall into the depression that was formed by dissolution of the limestone below the cap layer. Same can happen with a salt formation instead of limestone.

 

[mooncancook]

Is the Planet Earth team going in there to film the cave?

 

[Aharami]

link to high res pic
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/06/guatemala-sinkhole-2010.jpg

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Here's a recent story on it. It's not a shop.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9f2OfKr8ygFy00FuMUoDG689YBQD9G2SPD83

"GUATEMALA CITY — A cavernous and almost perfectly round sinkhole swallowed an entire intersection in Guatemala City during a tropical storm, spooking people in the neighborhood but exciting geologists.

The hole is 66 feet (20 meters) across and plunges nearly 100 feet (30 meters) deep.

Geologists said Tuesday that the circular shape suggested a cave formation underneath, but what exactly caused the sinkhole was still a mystery.

"I can tell you what it's not: It's not a geological fault, and it's not the product of an earthquake," said David Monterroso, a geophysics engineer at the National Disaster Management Agency. "That's all we know. We're going to have to descend."

 

[DrPizza]

Residents said that a poor sewage drainage system underground was to blame for the sinkhole. A similar hole opened up nearby last year, they said.

Poor sewage drainage system? Seems more like an excellent sewage drainage system. Flush and it just disappears.

 

[gigahertz20]

No way in hell that hole is only 100ft deep, more like several hundred yards deep. If you look at the buildings and surroundings....no way only 100ft deep, how could they even say that, it's like looking at the Empire State Building and saying it's only a few stories high.

 

[Rubycon]

Poor sewage drainage system? Seems more like an excellent sewage drainage system. Flush and it just disappears.

A bad pipe will wash away sediment over time causing a cavity to form. A cave in is possible once the cavity is large enough that the above ground can no longer be supported.

This can happen right after a severe rain storm from storm drain systems that have lots of leakage, etc. People have been caught by surprise just driving along when all in a sudden the road just opens up right in front of them!

 

[Kalmah]

I'd hit it.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Apologies if someone beat me to it, but: God's glory hole.

 

[hellfreeze]

"This, is, Sparta!!!"

 

[Sea Moose]

Epic Beard Man would kick its ass!

 

[Double Trouble]

What's amazing is how perfectly round the hole seems. I understand how the sinkhole could form, but it seems so round as to be chopped (though we know it's real).

 

[Adrenaline]

Those sinkholes are huge. A"small" sinkhole appeared on the interstate loop around Memphis about 2 months ago. It was only 20 feet deep or so but took up two lanes of the interstate. nice thing it wasn't so deep, it took a week or less to fix it.