A Sinkhole by the Sea????...

[Bob Miller]

Be careful when camping by the sea. In Australia, several vehicle's, tents and Caravans took an unexpected dip in the ocean when part of the campground became a "Sinkhole by the sea.

And it's a lot harder for a sinkhole to sink "Up" isn't it?

Sinkhole swallows up Australian shoreline

[Timber Wolf]

We don't have to go "down under" to experience that. We can do it right here in Florida. And inland too. In fact, a guy at work was telling me about a great deal on a house the other day, it just had a little sinkhole issue in the backyard.......

[Captleemo]

I just saw that on the news myself. I lived in central Florida for a number of years and in the Orlando area sinkholes were fairly common. I read about one guy that went out the front door one morning to get his newspaper and his whole front yard was gone and by that evening so was his house.

[CampyTime]

Oh my. What causes these? Is it just an underlying weakness in the soil levels or structure? A friend of mine bought a house and had to have a sinkhole in the backyard "repaired." Yikes.


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[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by CampyTime

Oh my. What causes these? Is it just an underlying weakness in the soil levels or structure?

This is the simplified or 5 cent explanation. Sinkholes generally occur when the bedrock is karst, or limestone. When acid rain filters down through the soul and into the limestone, the acid dissolves and weakens the limestone. When groundwater is pumped excessively and the porous limestone dries out, it crumbles much more easily than wet, saturated limestone. Ultimately, a collapse may occur. Collapse sinkholes like the one in Bowling Green, Kentucky, at the Corvette museum get all the press, but raveling sinkholes are far more prevalent, constituting maybe 90% -95% of all sinkholes. A raveling sinkhole occurs when overlaying soils infiltrate downward over a period of time, generally years, resulting in a noticeable depression on the surface.


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