The United States Geological Survey on Sinkholes

Sinkholes affect these places: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. One way sinkholes can work by water erosion and another way are by broken down soil. The time wears down the

Just like Shenandoah the Iapetus ocean started to open separating land masses Laurentia and Gondwana as Florida’s basement rock comes from the Gondwana region. Within the Neoproterozoic there is granitoids and igneous rocks that are found in central and northeastern part of Florida as evidence of Florida being part of Gondwana(M.C. Smith, written communication, 2017). In Figure 2, Findings of minerals such as schists and quartz

As it thrashes its body from side to side, it creates a small hole filled with water. Plant matter and mud piled up around the edges of the hole create dry ground on which other plants eventually grow. After many years, grass, trees, and other plants surround these "gator holes" like fences. Gator holes are important to other species as well. As the water becomes scarce during the dry season, many animals search for food and remaining pockets of water. The gator holes attract crayfish, frogs, turtles, fish, and other aquatic species, all seeking refuge in the deeper waters of the gator holes. Muskrats, otters, deer, and raccoons, as well as a wide variety of beautiful birds, such as ibises, egrets, and herons, visit these sanctuaries to feed on the small animals that can be found there. Because alligators and the watery hollows they make play such an important role in the Everglades ecosystem, they are considered to be a keystone species since many other species depend upon them for their survival. This has earned them the nickname "keepers of the glades."

Similar to a cave, a sinkhole begins by acidic water dissolving carbonate bedrock creating an underground void. If the void grows close enough to the surface, the structural integrity of the surface material will eventually give way and a sinkhole is formed. These depressions can range in size from a few square yards to over hundreds of acres. The depth of sinkholes can vary from shallow to hundreds of feet. Although there are nearly 16,000 verified sinkholes in the state, the MGS caution there are a great number which have not been reported or documented. Some sinkholes in Missouri are known to be a depth greater than 100 feet though no exact records concerning depths are maintained. Located in western Boone County, the largest known sinkhole in Missouri covers approximately 700 acres. If a sinkhole does occur, it is recommended that a registered geologist or professional engineer be consulted to assist in the stabilization of the sinkhole. Filling a sinkhole, referred to as remediation, generally consists of removing all soil materials down to the bedrock surface and filling it with size-graded material. Larger rocks should be used first with each successive layer consisting of gradually smaller grained material. Geotextile fabric covered by top soil will allow water

Soluble carbonate rocks under the surface and the collapse of old mines are common causes for sinkholes. Much of Alabama’s land is underlain by limestone, which is vulnerable to dissolution and leads to the formation of caves or sinkholes. The largest sinkhole recorded in the state developed near Calera in 1972 and was 325 feet long, 300 feet wide, and 120 feet deep. Northeast Alabama also suffers from earthquakes due to the state’s proximity to the Southern Appalachian Seismic Zone that runs along the Appalachian Mountains. The largest earthquake recorded occurred October 1916 at a 5.1 magnitude and spanned multiple states. The second largest earthquake in Alabama occurred October 24, 1997 at a 4.9 magnitude. In addition to sinkholes and earthquakes, the state suffers landslides due to rock strength. Most of the state is categorized as argillaceous rocks such as shales, clayey soil, and poorly compacted fills. A few areas are classified as weakly cemented rocks and soils such as sandy soils and poorly cemented sandstone. Though there are clusters of strongly cemented rocks, much of the state is included in the weaker categories. This means that they are more susceptible to landslides when earthquakes occur. (Geological Survey of

Imagine coming to a new city for the first time and you are visiting a college that you are interested in. When you arrive in this city, everything is beautiful and up to your liking and standards, then you exit the highway to go on the city streets where your college is located and then BOOM! Your car has just hit a steep pothole in the middle of the street. Well this is what happened to me when I came to Houston to visit Houston Baptist University. I had never encountered so many potholes in my life until I began going to school at HBU! I have hit big, small, and everything in between types of potholes, and it has taken a toll on my car which is being repaired now due to these one to two foot deep devils. There are many factors that cause potholes to appear in the streets of Houston, and there are some major effects that they cause. Potholes are a major problem in Houston and need to be fixed as soon as possible.

In recent years, the City of Orem’s storm drains have occasionally become filled during periods of heavy rainfall. The filling of the storm drains has backed up water to such an extent that homes, particularly those in low-lying areas, become flooded, causing substantial damage to basements and the foundation of the homes. In a prior interview with Orem City’s Storm Water Field Supervisor, Rick Sabey, he responded that these irregular downpours overfill our city’s sumps1. Mr. Sabey feels that no city creates and designs their storm drain system based on something that rarely happens. “Most cities model [storm drains] after 10-year storms3.” In 2013, the City of Orem began designing precautions to better improve the

Some sinkholes don’t cause any damage but a lot of them can swallow up people, buildings, and houses. In Florida,

Over-collapse type sinkholes are extremely dangerous as they occur abruptly without any deformation signs resulting in millions of dollars in damages every year. This type of sinkhole has become the most prominent type afflicting Florida as our demand for groundwater continues to rise. Zephyrhills, a Nestle water-bottle company, owns wells in Pasco County, FL. On average, the water bottle company produces approximately 1,300 water bottles per minute. (Penn) If every water bottle is an average size of 16.9 fl. oz. and the operation plant continues to run for a full 24 hours, Zephyrhills would drain around 32 million fl. oz. of water per day. This results in pumping 11 billion fluid ounces of water every single year. Coincidentally enough, Pasco County has the largest sinkhole occurrence rate in Florida. If Zephyrhills does not retain responsibility and minimize pumping, they will continue to draw more water than the recharge rate will allow, further depleting underlying aquifer systems resulting in more catastrophe. Since groundwater drawing will not cease to continue anytime soon, we must recognize that the recharge rate of the Floridian Aquifer system is one of balance. If more water is drawn then the current recharge rates allow, the system will recede and continue to create open cavities within the

The largest sink hole is about 1.030 feet deep. That sink hole is called Sima Humboldt, its located in Venezuela. The sink hole has vertical walls and a forest at the bottom. Florida is a place where most sink holes happen. There are different ways you can think of sink holes, black holes, blue holes, cenotes, Sotanos, Tiankengs, and Tomo. In Mexico they call sink holes Sotanos. Blue holes (aka water holes) they are water filled pits that went into carbonate rocks they create a nice blue color. In New Zealand the word Tomo means Potholes in the karst regions with I did not know that. ‘The Dragon Hole’ is in Asia, this sinkhole is the deepest hole known in the water on the planet. Sink holes can happen almost anywhere you are, a street, in

The Floridan Aquifer extends through several southeastern U.S. states and is one of the most productive kart landscape in the country. The Floridan aquifer system consists primarily of limestone rocks of high permeability, and is separated into two principal hydro-stratigraphic zones consisting of the Upper Floridan Aquifer (UFA) and the Lower Floridan Aquifer (LFA). The upper Floridan aquifer is the principal source of water supply in most of north and central Florida: “The Upper Floridan aquifer generally consists of the Ocala Limestone and the dolomite and dolomitic limestones of the upper one-third of the Avon Park Formation” (OReilly, et al. 2002). The LFA consists of “alternating beds of limestone and dolomite, and is characterized

In fact, Florida has more sinkholes than any other state. In 2013, one Tampa

With the tremendous loss of life and destruction of property that resulted from Hurricane Katrina, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began redesigning and implementing new hurricane prevention system guidelines. Through extensive studies, it was evident that the structures for the levees were constructed on weak and compressible soil. “Although the geology of the area was relatively well known and borings taken were reasonably adequate for characterizing the variety of conditions in the area, the spacing could have missed local anomalies in soil type and strength” (USACE I-119). As a result, geotechnical engineers suggested a

Consequently “It’s officially getting out of control. Local farmers go and go,but it just seems like they can’t go fast enough,” he says, sitting behind the steering wheel as he hustles up and down Highway 99 to check on drilling rigs that run 24 hours a day, probing for aquifer”(source3).This quote explains how much work these hard working drillers are putting in and how many holes are being dug up.Too many holes may definitely cause a catastrophic sinkhole that may or may not take houses and possible lives away.

Some supporting evidence the author uses that I find convincing is statistics about the magma, which was used to describe about potentially dangerous the magma could be. The author says the magma came “…from the Earth's mantle more than 12 miles (20 kilometers) underground…”, that the plume was 3 miles deep, and that the temperature was”…more than 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 degrees Celsius).” These statistics about the volcano are convincing because these statistics can be proved and are not opinion. These statistics also help in proving his main idea.