9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:26 pm

Nature never stops to amaze us with its magnificent phenomenon just like these inexplicable holes in the ground. I bet that these holes make an excellent tourist attraction. Check out these unreal photographs and location descriptions of 9 of world’s most famous pits and sinkholes.1. Lisbon, Portugal, Sinkhole

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by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:27 pm

A parked bus was the unfortunate “meal” of a sinkhole that opened up in the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, in 2003.

“Anything that increases the flow of
water into subsurface soil can speed up the formation of sinkholes’”
,Missouri State’s Gouzie said. In many cities, utility infrastructure
such as sewer lines and fiber optic cables are buried in troughs filled
with loose material, which can wash away over time. In some cases, a
stretch of road can essentially become a concrete bridge over mostly
empty space.

“It’s eventually not enough to hold the weight of the next truck over it,” Gouzie said.

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by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:27 pm

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by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:28 pm

Heavy rains from tropical storm Agatha
likely triggered the collapse of a huge sinkhole in Guatemala on
Sunday, seen above a few days afterward.

In the strictly geologic use of the
word, a sinkhole happens when water erodes solid bedrock, carving an
underground cavity that can then collapse. Many parts of the United
States are at risk for that type of event.

The Guatemala sinkhole fits into a
broader use of the term, which refers to any sudden slump of the
ground’s surface. Instead of solid bedrock, much of Guatemala City
rests atop a layer of loose, gravelly volcanic pumice that is hundreds
of feet thick. And at least one geologist says leaking pipes—not
nature—created the recent sinkhole.

Overall, the risk for repeat sinkholes in Guatemala City is high—but highly unpredictable.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:28 pm

he sinkhole in Winter Park, Florida
(map), opened up in 1981 underneath the city’s public swimming pool,
Missouri State’s Gouzie said.

“I’ve never seen a final report as to
whether the pool was leaking,” he said, adding that water can flow into
the underlying soil through tiny cracks in the bottom of a pool. Even
watering plants at the pool’s perimeter could have sent enough runoff
through Florida’s sandy soil to erode the solid limestone underneath.

Gouzie said the U.S. Geological Survey
has mapped the types of bedrock that exist across the country. But
studies of the underground cracks and fissures—and the way water
travels through them—are still needed to predict where sinkholes could
occur.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:28 pm

This 185-foot-deep (56-meter-deep)
sinkhole appeared in 1994 in Mulberry, Florida (map), in a pile of
waste material dumped by mining company IMC-Agrico. The company was
mining rock to extract phosphate, a main ingredient in fertilizers and
a chemical used to produce phosphoric acid, added to enhance the taste
of soda and various food items.

After phosphate was extracted from the
rocks, the gypsum-based waste product was dumped as a slurry. As layer
after layer of the stuff dried, it formed cracks, like those that
appear in dried mud. Water later made its way through the cracks and
carried away subsurface material, setting the stage for a sinkhole.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:28 pm

Sinkholes can happen anywhere water can
erode a vertical channel that connects to a horizontal drain, a
situation that allows a column of solid material to wash away, Missouri
State’s Gouzie explained.

If the sinkhole is near the sea—or in
the sea, as with the famous Blue Hole in Lighthouse Reef off the coast
of Belize—seawater can quickly seep in after a collapse, forming a deep
pool.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:29 pm

Years of mining for zinc and lead has
left Picher, Oklahoma, near the border with Kansas, literally full of
holes—including this sinkhole seen in 2008. Some mines were dug too
close to the surface, and the roofs were unable to support the weight
of earth on top, leading to collapses.

“It has happened in Missouri and in
western Pennsylvania from coal mining,” Missouri State’s Gouzie said.
“We’ve gotten better with buidlng mines so the roofs can support the
weight over top of them.”[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:30 pm

Adventure kayaker Mick Coyne lowers himself down the wall of a sinkhole
toward the headwaters of the Jokulsa, Iceland’s second longest river.
Though the river is fed by melt from a glacier, this 150-foot
(45-meter), inverted funnel-shaped hole was blasted into being by
rising steam from geothermal vents below.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **அருள்** Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:30 pm

Swimmers float in the saphirre waters of the Ik-Kil cenote, near the
Maya site of Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Cenote means
“natural well” in Spanish. Sinkholes occurring at sea level will fill
up as high as the water table, creating the famous clear blue pools,
used by the Maya royalty for both relaxation and ritual sacrifices.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

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Re: 9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

Re: 9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

Re: 9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

Re: 9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

Re: 9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]

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Re: 9 World Famous Pits and Sinkholes[9 உலக புகழ்பெற்ற குழிகள் மற்றும் Sinkholes]