Sinkholes are holes or depressions in the land surface that most commonly occur throughout central Florida. The sinkholes can be shallow or deep, small or large, but are all caused by the dissolving of the underlying limestone. The may happen because of lack of rainfall, lowered water levels or excessive rainfall in a short period of time.They are normally circular but can change due to the geography and soils of the area. The three general types of sinkholes are collapse, solution, and subsidence.
They are classified as geologic hazards due to that they can cause extensive damage to structures, roads, and other buildings. They may also threaten local water supplies by draining unfiltered water from wetlands lakes and streams into a aquifer.
Collapse Sinkholes are the damaging type of the sinkholes. They are noticeable. Collapse sinkholes happen when the surface of the ground gives way to the underground cavity. Collapse Sinkholes Usually happen when the overburden is heavy and when the water level fluctuations weakened the sides and ceiling of the cavity. Thankfully collapse sink house are the most infrequently occurring sink hole
Solution Sinkholes form gradually overtime. The small cavities caused by dead plants and water. As the downward erosion slowly takes place it forms surface depressions. They will start to show small cracks then get larger over time.
A subsidence sink hole is when loose sand gradually replaces diminishing limestone bedrock. As the cavity becomes weaker and unstable the ground begins to sink. This type of sinkhole occurs slowly and forms as a bowl shaped depression in the surface. Now because of water blocking materials where permeable bedrock used to exist groundwater starts to build up. It ends up creating a spongy surface texture. Over time entire lakes can be formed from subsidence sinkholes.
I chose this topic because I had recently heard of the huge sinkhole in Guatemala. It sounded like a cool topic to research. The way they are created and the dangers that are present seem very interesting to me. It was a cool topic to research and I think that sinkholes are very interesting.
MB
