AMAZING SINKHOLES
Added on: 9th May 2015
DEAD SEA HOLES
Several large sink holes have been appearing near Ein Gedi, Israel.
The phenomenon stems from a dire water shortage, compounded in
recent years by tourism and chemical industries as well as a growing
population. There are over 3,000 open sinkholes along the coast
and likely just as many that haven’t burst open yet.
DAISETTA, TEXAS
What started out as a small 20-foot sinkhole in a residential neighbourhood
in Daisetta, Texas spread to over 900ft. with a depth of 260ft. within a
day and consumed everything in its path. This former oil town sits on
the Hull Salt Dome which is a four-mile-in-diameter geologic formation
of compacted salt. Consequently, geologists speculate that years of
storing saltwater waste, a by-product of oil production,
caused the massive pit.
RED LAKE, CROATIA
This is a sinkhole containing a karst lake near the city of Imotski, Croatia.
It is known for its numerous caves and remarkably high cliffs,
reaching over 241 metres above normal water level and continuing
below the water level. The total explored depth of this sinkhole is
approximately 530 metres with a volume of roughly 25–30 million cubic
metres, thus it is the third largest sinkhole in the world. Water drains
out of the basin through underground waterways that descend
below the level of the lake floor.
XIAOZHAI, TIANKENG
Also known as the Heavenly Pit, this double-nested sinkhole has
662m deep vertical walls. Located in the Chongqing District, this
sinkhole is arguably the ‘world’s largest sinkhole’ at 626m long,
537m wide and between 511 to 662m deep. It is a double-nested
structure with an upper bowl of 320m deep, while its lower bowl is
342m deep, and both of them are on average 257 to 268m across.
It’s said that the sinkhole formed over the last 128,000 years.
DEAN’S BLUE HOLE
Located in Long Island, Bahamas Dean’s Blue Hole is the deepest known
sinkhole under the sea at the depth of 203 metres. This is a popular
location for the world’s championship of free diving and it’s the
location where William Trubridge broke a free diving record reaching
a depth of 92 metres (302ft.).
HARWOOD HOLE
Located in Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand, Harwood Hole
is one of several important cave systems in Takaka Hill, between the
Tasman Bay and the Golden Bay. From the surface is a 50m round
sinkhole entrance that descends into 183m. For adventurers, the long
rope descent is considered to be one of the most spectacular caving
experiences at Hardwood’s, which has an overall depth of 357m.
SIMA HUMBOLDT
The largest sinkhole in sandstone, Sima Humboldt is located on the
summit of the plateau in Bolivar State, Venezuela. At 314m deep with
vertical walls it is a very unusual sink hole for several reasons:
Its location is on top of the only forested tepui; it’s enormous in size
and depth; and it has a patch of forest on its base due to the
weathering process that formed the sinkhole.
GREAT BLUE HOLE
Part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, which was
declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; the Great Blue Hole is a
spectacular sinkhole at 124m deep with stilted stalactites as its most
unusual feature. The largest submarine sinkhole off the coast of
Belize, it lies in the centre of Lighthouse Reef. It is circular in shape,
over 300m across and 124m deep and was formed during several
episodes of Quaternary glaciations when sea levels were much lower.
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