Sinkholes: The hole truth

[Jazzy]

(CBS News) We can't claim to have the "whole truth and nothing but" . . . but there is a growing body of research into those headline-making sinkholes that can turn an abode into an abyss in the twinkling of an eye. Our Cover Story is reported now by Mark Strassmann:

If you're a fan of science fiction B-movies from the 1950s, sinkholes make perfect sense. They seem almost as improbable as alien body snatchers. The Earth suddenly opens up, with no warning and no escape, and swallows whatever's on the surface -- cars, homes, entire neighborhoods.

But sinkholes, of course, are all too real worldwide, in places like China, Brazil and Guatemala. Florida has so many of them, it has been called "Swiss cheese covered by soil."

In 1981, a sinkhole in Winter Park, Fla., grew longer than a football field. One resident described a sound like "giant beavers chewing." And just last month, a sinkhole in Chicago ate up three cars.

Of course, the sinkhole horror story most of us know best is that one back in February in Seffner, Florida, near Tampa, where a sinkhole 20 feet wide and 60 feet deep opened in the middle of the night.


His body was never found -- the fourth known sinkhole fatality in Florida.

"About anywhere you live in Florida, there is potential for a sinkhole to occur," said state geologist John Arthur, an expert on sinkholes.

Florida's surface has close to 70,000 likely sinkholes; at least 3,400 of them reported since the 1950s.

A sinkhole is a naturally-occurring feature that forms when a cavity in the subsurface collapses. That cavity forms from the natural dissolving of rock.

Full article with video and pictures

Interesting article. Not sure now that I want to attend the medical conference in Tampa, Florida after reading this!

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Be careful out there! Dont want to die in earths hole.

 

[DrLeftover]

But some things aren't sinkholes....

With video:
http://www.wlox.com/story/22156296/rain-causes-road-collapse-in-greene-county

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

But some things aren't sinkholes....

With video:
http://www.wlox.com/story/22156296/rain-causes-road-collapse-in-greene-county

Thats some pretty strong water!

 

[DrLeftover]

Water ALWAYS wins, that's why we have a grand canyon.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Have you been there doc? We went on a road trip of Colorado, Arizona and Nevada when I was a kid and my uncles didn't want to take us because they've already been there.