Dips in the ground are formed for various reasons, but they are united by the fact that giant pits are very difficult to liquidate, and the damage caused by them costs significant amounts. Today we bring to your attention a selection of photographs of giant sinkholes in the ground, taken in various parts of the world.
1. A giant sinkhole, as a result of which several houses were underground, in Guatemala City, photo was taken on February 23, 2007. At least three people are missing, according to official information.
2. Cars lie in a sinkhole created when part of a highway collapsed into an underground cave in the southern Italian city of Gallipoli, photo taken March 30, 2007. Fortunately, no one was injured in the night accident, local police said.
3. People look at the collapsed section of Shunwai Highway in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, on April 25, 2007. Nobody was hurt as a result of the accident.
4. View of a crater caused by a meteorite in the southern Peruvian city of Carangas, near the border with Bolivia, photo taken September 16, 2007. Local media reported that farmers living near the meteorite impact site complained about headache and the nausea that prompted officials to send medical teams to the area. Photo taken on September 16, 2007.
5. Members of the film crew and TV journalists stand near the hole in the Paseo Nuevo in San Sebastian, photo taken March 12, 2008. The hole in the ground was formed as a result of the storm, during which numerous boats also sank, and the elements caused significant damage in the Bay of Biscay.
6. A sinkhole caused by recent rains in Guatemala, photo taken on May 30, 2010. Tropical Storm Agatha in Central America experienced heavy rains, killing at least 17 people in the region, and threatening landslides in three areas. At least one three-story house was found in the sinkhole, which was formed by the downpours that covered the region as a result of tropical storm Agatha.
7. A giant sinkhole caused by rainstorm Agata in Guatemala on May 31, 2010. More than 94,000 people were evacuated, as a result of the squall and downpour, many houses were buried under a layer of mud and silt, and in addition, a road bridge near the city of Guatemala was completely destroyed and road failures appeared in the capital.
8. A giant sinkhole caused by torrential rains from Tropical Storm Agata in Guatemala City, June 1, 2010. Destroyed roads and road bridges have further complicated rescue operations in the region after a squall and storm that killed at least 175 people.
9. Locals looking at a giant sinkhole next to a building primary school Qingquan in Dachegnqiao Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, photo taken on June 15, 2010. The giant hole, 150 meters (492 feet) wide and 50 meters (164 feet) deep, has been steadily increasing in size since it first appeared in January. More than 20 houses were destroyed due to this failure. The reason for the hole remains unclear, local media reported.
10. General view of sinkholes in the city center on June 16, 2010 after flooding in Les Arcs sur Argens, southeastern France, the next day after unusually heavy rains that hit the region and caused a sharp rise in the water level in the River Le Real. As a result of the flooding caused by heavy rains, 19 people died and 7 people are considered dead. The city is located on the Mediterranean coast of France. Over 350 mm (14 inches) of rain fell here in a few hours.
11. Holes in the ground caused by a US bomb strike in the village of Khosrow Sofla in the Arghandab valley, north of Kandahar, photo taken April 11, 2011. After it was discovered that the village had been used as a Taliban base for making improvised explosives, the civilian population was evacuated and US military aircraft destroyed most of the buildings in the village of Khosrow Sofla on October 6, 2010.
12. . The crater, which the Libyan government claims was the result of airstrikes by coalition forces, in the square at Bab al-Aziziyah in Tripoli, photo taken on May 12, 2011. Libyan officials, who showed reporters the crater, said three people were killed and 25 injured.
13. A truck crashed into a sinkhole after part of a bridge structure collapsed into a river in Changchun City, Jilin Province, photo taken May 29, 2011. Two passengers of the truck were injured.
14. Workers repair a sinkhole after part of a bridge structure collapsed in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on July 15, 2011. The sinkhole reaches 20 meters long and one meter wide, the Qiantang Bridge in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou was blocked, at least one driver was injured. The truck, which was carrying a load of steel plates, fell from the bridge, but its driver managed to jump out, Xinhua reported.
15. A sinkhole appeared on the road after flooding in the city of Hyderabad, the capital of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, photo taken on August 25, 2000. Helicopters evacuated people from flooded areas in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, with a total death toll of 93.
16. Rescuers use a crane to retrieve a bus from a hole in a Lisbon street, photo taken November 25, 2003. The bus was parked on a Lisbon street when the ground began to sink. There were no casualties reported.
17. A failure on the Shouyang segment of the expressway that connects the provincial capitals of Hebei and Shanxi in northern China caused congestion, photo was taken March 28, 2006. A 100-meter crater, 10 meters wide and 10 meters deep, appeared on the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan highway. Nobody was hurt, and the reason for the failure was not found out.
18. Palestinians look at a destroyed tunnel after an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza-Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip, photo taken December 31, 2008.
19. Bird's-eye view of the ruins of an apartment building and a destroyed road in the village of Nachterstedt, photo taken on July 18, 2009. Three residents went missing in the eastern German village of Nachterstedt after their lakeside homes and another building suddenly collapsed into the water. A 350-meter stretch of shore collapsed into a lake, 170 kilometers southwest of Berlin.
20. Police inspect a collapsed stretch of highway in Hefei, Anhui province, photo taken August 8, 2009. Taxis and several motorcycles crashed, local media reported.
21. Jordanian Bedouins with their livestock next to a sinkhole that appeared on the southern shore of the Dead Sea on 12 January 2010, causing numerous problems for residents. The Dead Sea is slowly but surely shallowing, and can disappear completely within 50 years if no action is taken. The water level drops one meter (three feet) per year. According to ecologists, sinkholes appear precisely as a result of a decrease in the water level.
23. A soldier from the first platoon of the US Army walks past a crater left by an improvised explosive device in the village of Khaleqdad Khan in Zabul province, Afghanistan, photo taken May 26, 2012.
24. Workers carry out repair work in an area on a road in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, photo taken on May 27, 2012. The cause of the collapse, about 6 meters (20 feet) deep, 15 meters (49 feet) long and 10 meters (33 feet) wide, is under investigation. According to data provided by local media, no casualties have been reported.
27. A rescue team works near the collapsed section of Highway 549 near Lake Landvetter outside Gothenburg, photo taken December 11, 2006. Thunderstorms have passed through the western part of Sweden.
28. A sinkhole on Highway 15 in San Diego on February 24. It was formed as a result of the failure of drainage pipes, which burst due to heavy rains. The resulting sinkhole is about eight hundred feet long ago, forty feet wide and seventy feet deep.
29. Locals walk past a car that fell into a sinkhole on the road. The sinkhole was caused by heavy rains in the northeastern Spanish city of Castelldefels, photo taken on October 9, 2002. Heavy rains hit the region, causing flooding, damage and transport problems, but no one was hurt.
30. Rescuers try to pull out a car that fell into a flooded hole in Borges de Medeiros Avenue in Rio de Janeiro, photo taken April 30, 2004. The driver, who did not want to identify himself, left open door from the passenger side, and could only watch as the car plunged into a flooded hole. The failure was caused by the rupture of the water pipes. The dip was two and a half meters wide. Rio's famous Corcovado mountain is visible in the background in this photo.
31. Failure formed after the earthquake in India.
32. Rescuers at Los Angeles utility workers stare at a sinkhole caused by torrential rains on Tujunga Avenue in the Sun Valley area of \u200b\u200bLos Angeles, photo taken February 19, 2005.
Dips in the ground are formed for various reasons, but they are united by the fact that giant pits are very difficult to liquidate, and the damage caused by them costs significant amounts. Today we bring to your attention a selection of photographs of giant sinkholes in the ground, taken in various parts of the world.
1. A giant sinkhole, as a result of which several houses were underground, in Guatemala City, photo was taken on February 23, 2007. At least three people are missing, according to official information.
2. Cars lie in a sinkhole created when part of a highway collapsed into an underground cave in the southern Italian city of Gallipoli, photo taken March 30, 2007. Fortunately, no one was injured in the night accident, local police said.
3. People look at the collapsed section of Shunwai Highway in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, on April 25, 2007. Nobody was hurt as a result of the accident.
4. View of a crater caused by a meteorite in the southern Peruvian city of Carangas, near the border with Bolivia, photo taken September 16, 2007. According to local media reports, farmers living near the meteorite impact site complained of headaches and nausea, which prompted officials to send medical teams to the area. Photo taken on September 16, 2007.
5. Members of the film crew and TV journalists stand near the hole in the Paseo Nuevo in San Sebastian, photo taken March 12, 2008. The hole in the ground was formed as a result of the storm, during which numerous boats also sank, and the elements caused significant damage in the Bay of Biscay.
6. A sinkhole caused by recent rains in Guatemala, photo taken on May 30, 2010. Tropical Storm Agatha in Central America experienced heavy rains, killing at least 17 people in the region, and threatening landslides in three areas. At least one three-story house was found in the sinkhole, which was formed by the downpours that covered the region as a result of tropical storm Agatha.
7. A giant sinkhole caused by rainstorm Agata in Guatemala on May 31, 2010. More than 94,000 people were evacuated, as a result of the squall and downpour, many houses were buried under a layer of mud and silt, and in addition, a road bridge near the city of Guatemala was completely destroyed and road failures appeared in the capital.
8. A giant sinkhole caused by torrential rains from Tropical Storm Agata in Guatemala City, June 1, 2010. Destroyed roads and road bridges have further complicated rescue operations in the region after a squall and storm that killed at least 175 people.
9. Local residents look at a giant sinkhole near the Qingquan Primary School in Dachegnqiao Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, photo taken June 15, 2010. The giant hole, 150 meters (492 feet) wide and 50 meters (164 feet) deep, has been steadily increasing in size since it first appeared in January. More than 20 houses were destroyed due to this failure. The reason for the hole remains unclear, local media reported.
10. General view of sinkholes in the city center on June 16, 2010 after flooding in Les Arcs sur Argens, southeastern France, the next day after unusually heavy rains that hit the region and caused a sharp rise in the water level in the River Le Real. As a result of the flooding caused by heavy rains, 19 people died and 7 people are considered dead. The city is located on the Mediterranean coast of France. Over 350 mm (14 inches) of rain fell here in a few hours.
11. Holes in the ground caused by a US bomb strike in the village of Khosrow Sofla in the Arghandab valley, north of Kandahar, photo taken April 11, 2011. After it was discovered that the village had been used as a Taliban base for making improvised explosives, the civilian population was evacuated and US military aircraft destroyed most of the buildings in the village of Khosrow Sofla on October 6, 2010.
12. . The crater, which the Libyan government claims was the result of airstrikes by coalition forces, in the square at Bab al-Aziziyah in Tripoli, photo taken on May 12, 2011. Libyan officials, who showed reporters the crater, said three people were killed and 25 injured.
13. A truck crashed into a sinkhole after part of a bridge structure collapsed into a river in Changchun City, Jilin Province, photo taken May 29, 2011. Two passengers of the truck were injured.
14. Workers repair a sinkhole after part of a bridge structure collapsed in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on July 15, 2011. The sinkhole reaches 20 meters long and one meter wide, the Qiantang Bridge in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou was blocked, at least one driver was injured. The truck, which was carrying a load of steel plates, fell from the bridge, but its driver managed to jump out, Xinhua reported.
15. A sinkhole appeared on the road after flooding in the city of Hyderabad, the capital of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, photo taken on August 25, 2000. Helicopters evacuated people from flooded areas in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, with a total death toll of 93.
16. Rescuers use a crane to retrieve a bus from a hole in a Lisbon street, photo taken November 25, 2003. The bus was parked on a Lisbon street when the ground began to sink. There were no casualties reported.
17. A failure on the Shouyang segment of the expressway that connects the provincial capitals of Hebei and Shanxi in northern China caused congestion, photo was taken March 28, 2006. A 100-meter crater, 10 meters wide and 10 meters deep, appeared on the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan highway. Nobody was hurt, and the reason for the failure was not found out.
18. Palestinians look at a destroyed tunnel after an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza-Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip, photo taken December 31, 2008.
19. Bird's-eye view of the ruins of an apartment building and a destroyed road in the village of Nachterstedt, photo taken on July 18, 2009. Three residents went missing in the eastern German village of Nachterstedt after their lakeside homes and another building suddenly collapsed into the water. A 350-meter stretch of shore collapsed into a lake, 170 kilometers southwest of Berlin.
20. Police inspect a collapsed stretch of highway in Hefei, Anhui province, photo taken August 8, 2009. Taxis and several motorcycles crashed, local media reported.
21. Jordanian Bedouins with their livestock next to a sinkhole that appeared on the southern shore of the Dead Sea on 12 January 2010, causing numerous problems for residents. The Dead Sea is slowly but surely shallowing, and can disappear completely within 50 years if no action is taken. The water level drops one meter (three feet) per year. According to ecologists, sinkholes appear precisely as a result of a decrease in the water level.
23. A soldier from the first platoon of the US Army walks past a crater left by an improvised explosive device in the village of Khaleqdad Khan in Zabul province, Afghanistan, photo taken May 26, 2012.
24. Workers carry out repair work in an area on a road in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, photo taken on May 27, 2012. The cause of the collapse, about 6 meters (20 feet) deep, 15 meters (49 feet) long and 10 meters (33 feet) wide, is under investigation. According to data provided by local media, no casualties have been reported.
27. A rescue team works near the collapsed section of Highway 549 near Lake Landvetter outside Gothenburg, photo taken December 11, 2006. Thunderstorms have passed through the western part of Sweden.
28. A sinkhole on Highway 15 in San Diego on February 24. It was formed as a result of the failure of drainage pipes, which burst due to heavy rains. The resulting sinkhole is about eight hundred feet long ago, forty feet wide and seventy feet deep.
29. Locals walk past a car that fell into a sinkhole on the road. The sinkhole was caused by heavy rains in the northeastern Spanish city of Castelldefels, photo taken on October 9, 2002. Heavy rains hit the region, causing flooding, damage and transport problems, but no one was hurt.
30. Rescuers try to pull out a car that fell into a flooded hole in Borges de Medeiros Avenue in Rio de Janeiro, photo taken April 30, 2004. The driver, who did not want to identify himself, left the passenger-side door open and could only watch as the car plunged into a flooded hole. The failure was caused by the rupture of the water pipes. The dip was two and a half meters wide. Rio's famous Corcovado mountain is visible in the background in this photo.
31. Failure formed after the earthquake in India.
32. Rescuers at Los Angeles utility workers stare at a sinkhole caused by torrential rains on Tujunga Avenue in the Sun Valley area of \u200b\u200bLos Angeles, photo taken February 19, 2005.
33. A car is lifted from a sinkhole formed at the site of a collapsed road surface in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, photo taken September 7, 2008. The road collapsed on Sunday afternoon and cars crashed into a pit that was 5 meters (16.4 feet) deep and 15 meters (49.2 feet) in diameter, local media reported.
34. View of the destroyed section of West Dawang Road in Beijing, photo taken on November 29, 2007. Proval is located near one of the busiest intersections in the Central Business District.
35. A utility worker examines a 25-meter (82 ft) sinkhole following a landslide in Bellevue Hill, one of Sydney's most expensive suburbs, on May 29, 2009. No one was injured during the landslide, as a result of which cars parked on the street were underground.
36. A woman walks along the destroyed TF326 highway after part of it collapsed after a storm, near the village of Palo Blanco in the Canary Islands, the Spanish island of Tenerife, photo taken November 23, 2009. Heavy rain fell in the northern part of the island of Tenerife, blocking some roads, damaging others, and causing flooding of a huge number of homes and businesses.
37. A view of a giant sinkhole that appeared early in the morning in the central German city of Schmalkalden, photo taken November 1, 2010. A huge crater, 30 by 40 meters in size, appeared in the center of a residential area, according to local police.
38. People inspect the partially destroyed road, and the dog breaks into the pit. Photo taken in the impoverished Carretera Vieja neighborhood of Caracas on November 26, 2010. Three children died in a landslide in the San Agustin slum in the Venezuelan capital following heavy rains that continued in the region for several days, according to information provided by local media and rescue officials.
39. A bird's-eye view of the damaged Gran Marical de Ayacucho highway in Miranda state outside Caracas, photo taken December 1, 2010. Thousands of Venezuelans have fled their homes after landslides and floods killed at least 21 people.
40. Locals inspect a road that collapsed when flash floods hit Toowoomba, 105 kilometers (65 miles) west of Brisbane, photo taken January 10, 2011. Residents of Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, were forced to evacuate by flooding.
41. A Thai man next to a sinkhole allegedly caused by a bombing raid in Si Sa Ket province near the ancient eleventh century Preah Vihear temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, photo taken on February 5, 2011.
Incredible facts
Imagine that you are calmly walking down the street, when suddenly the earth begins to shake and a huge hole suddenly forms under you. This is not a horror movie script, but a phenomenon called sinkholethat can reach incredible sizes and absorb everything that ends up on the surface.
The other day in Florida, USA, a 37-year-old man was swallowed by a huge holethat opened right in his bedroom while he slept.
Karst sinkhole about 6 meters wide and more than 15 meters deep led to the collapse of the concrete floor in the house.
Five other people in the house heard a loud sound and a man screaming, but they were not hurt. The injured Jeff Bush, most likely did not survive after falling underground.
Karst sinkhole
The karst sinkhole that suddenly opened in Florida is a more common occurrence than we think. What causes them and how dangerous are they?
Most sinkholes formed when acidic rainwater gradually dissolves limestone and other soil, leaving a huge void that leads to the collapse of what is on the surface, be it an open field, a road or a house.
Collapse can occur suddenly, or it can simply lead to gradual subsidence or the formation of small bodies of water and salt marshes.
Holes from sinkholes are ubiquitous, especially in the United States, China, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
The biggest holes in the ground
Here are some photos of the huge holes that have engulfed streets, sidewalks and buildings around the world.
1. Sarisarinam Plateau, Venezuela
The Sarisariñama Plateau is located in the Jaua-Sarisarinama Park in Venezuela and is one of the most mysterious and beautiful natural wonders of the world. There are several dips on the plateau diameter up to 350 meters and depth 350 meters.
Each hole has developed its own ecosystem with unique species of animals and plants.
2. Failure in Berezniki, Russia
The sinkhole in Berezniki was formed in 1986 as a result of an accident at a mine, and every year the situation only worsened. In 2007, the size of the sinkhole at the first mine was 80 by 20 meters, and depth up to 200 meters... By the end of August 2012, the fourth funnel had grown to a size 103 by 100 meters.
3. Hole in Guatemala
In February 2007, in Guatemala, a sinkhole depth of 100 meters swallowed over a dozen houses. More than 100 people were evacuated and three people died. The hole was the result of corrosion in the sewer system deep below the surface. The failure was accompanied by loud noises, and an unbearable smell emanated from the hole.
Another hole formed in Guatemala in 2010 18 meters wide and 60 meters deep.
4. Bimmah, Oman
The Bimmah funnel is a limestone crater that is now a popular tourist attraction in Oman.
Other sinkholes
5. In May 1981 giant hole formed during the day in Winter Park in Florida, USA. The city turned this area into a city lake.
6.In 1995, a sinkhole depth of 18 meters, measuring 60 by 45 meters, swallowed up two houses in San Francisco.
7. In the city of Dysetta, Texas in the USA, a relatively small 6-meter sinkhole widened to 270 meters away per day.
8. In November 2003, rescuers had to pull out a bus in Lisbon, Portugal after it fell into a hole depth of 9 meters, which was supposedly caused by heavy rains.
9. In March 2007, the road fell into an underground network of caves in the southern Italian city of Gallipoli.
10.In September 2008, the road collapsed, forming a sinkhole 5 meters deep and 10 meters wide in Guangzhou province, China.
11.In May 2012, a hole appeared on the road in Shaanxi Province, China 15 meters long, 10 meters wide and 6 meters deep.
12. Another road in the province collapsed in December 2012, resulting in a hole 6 meters deep and 10 meters wide.
Holes that periodically open in different parts of the globe can certainly be attributed to the number of amazing natural phenomena.
1.Kimberlite pipe "Mir" (Mir diamond pipe), Yakutia.
The Mir kimberlite pipe is a quarry located in the city of Mirny, Yakutia. The quarry has a depth of 525 m and a diameter of 1.2 km, and is one of the largest quarries in the world. The mining of diamondiferous kimberlite ore ceased in June 2001. At present, an underground mine of the same name is under construction on board the open pit to develop the remaining underpit reserves, the extraction of which is unprofitable in the open pit.
The world's largest diamond quarry is amazing.
2.Kimberlite pipe "Big hole" , South Africa.
The Big Hole is a huge idle diamond mine in the city of Kimberley, South Africa. It is believed to be the largest career developed by humans without the use of technology. It is currently the main attraction of the city of Kimberley.
Between 1866 and 1914, about 50,000 miners dug the mine with picks and shovels, producing 2,722 tons of diamonds (14.5 million carats). During the development of the quarry, 22.5 million tons of soil were extracted. It was here that such famous diamonds as "De Beers" (428.5 carats), bluish-white "Porter Rhodes" (150 carats), orange-yellow " Tiffany "(128.5 carats). Currently, this diamond deposit is exhausted. The area of \u200b\u200bthe "Big Hole" is 17 hectares. Its diameter is 1.6 km. The hole was dug to a depth of 240 meters, but then it was filled with waste rock to a depth of 215 meters, currently the bottom of the hole is filled with water, its depth is 40 meters.
There was a volcano mouth on the site of the mine before (about 70 - 130 million years ago). Almost a hundred years ago - in 1914, the development in the "Big Hole" was stopped, but the gaping mouth of the pipe remains to this day and now serves only as a bait for tourists, acting as a museum. And ... starts to create problems. In particular, there was a serious danger of collapse not only of its edges, but also of the roads laid in its immediate vicinity. The road services of South Africa have long banned the passage of heavy trucks in these places, and now they strongly recommend that all other drivers avoid driving on Bultfontein Road. in the Big Hole area. The authorities are going to completely block the dangerous section of the road. And the world's largest diamond company, De Beers, which owned this mine since 1888, found nothing better than to get rid of it by putting it up for sale.
3. Quarry Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah.
Largest operating quarry in the world - Copper mining began in 1863 and is still ongoing. About a kilometer deep and three and a half kilometers wide.
It is the world's largest man-made formation (dug up by man). It is an open pit mine.
Measures as of 2008: 0.75 mile (1.2 km) deep, 2.5 miles (4 km) wide and covers an area of \u200b\u200b1,900 acres (7.7 sq km).
The ore was first discovered in 1850, and from 1863 the development of a quarry began and continues to this day.
Currently, the quarry employs 1,400 people, who daily extract 450,000 tons (408 thousand tons) of rock. The ore is loaded into 64 large dump trucks capable of transporting 231 tons of ore each, these trucks cost about $ 3 million each.
4. Quarry "Diavik", Canada. Diamonds are mined.
The Canadian Diavik quarry is perhaps one of the youngest (in terms of development) diamond kimberlite pipes. It was first explored only in 1992, the infrastructure was created by 2001, and diamond mining began in January 2003. Presumably the mine will last from 16 to 22 years.
The place of its exit to the surface of the earth is unique in itself. Firstly, it is not one, but three pipes at once, formed on the island of Las de Gras, about 220 km south of the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Canada. Since the hole is huge and the island is in the middle The Pacific small, only 20 km²
and for a short time, the Diavik diamond mine became one of the most important parts of the Canadian economy. Up to 8 million carats (1600 kg) of diamonds are mined from this deposit per year. An airfield has been built on one of the neighboring islands, capable of receiving even huge Boeings. In June 2007, a consortium of seven mining companies announced their intention to sponsor environmental studies and begin construction on the northern coast of Canada to receive cargo ships up to 25,000 tons displacement, as well as a 211 km access road that will connect the port to the consortium's factories. ... This means that the hole in the ocean will grow and deepen.
5. Great Blue Hole, Belize.
The world-famous Great Blue Hole is the main attraction of the picturesque, ecologically clean Belize (formerly British Honduras), a state in Central America, on the Yucatan Peninsula. No, this time it's not a kimberlite pipe. It is not diamonds that are “mined” from it, but tourists - diving enthusiasts from all over the world, thanks to which it feeds the country no worse than a diamond pipe. Probably, it would be better to call it not “Blue Hole”, but “Blue Dream”, since this can only be seen in dreams or in a dream. It is a true masterpiece, a miracle of nature - a perfectly round, twilight spot in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, surrounded by a lace bib at Lighthouse Reef.
View from space!
Width 400 meters, depth 145 - 160 meters.
As if floating over the abyss ...
6. Gutter opening in the reservoir of the Monticello dam.
A large man-made hole is located in Northern California, USA. But this is not just a pit. The drain hole in the reservoir of the Monticello dam is the largest spillway in the world! It was built about 55 years ago. This funnel exit is simply irreplaceable here. It allows you to quickly dump excess water from the tank when its level exceeds the permissible norm. A kind of safety valve.
Visually, the funnel looks like a giant concrete pipe. It is capable of passing through itself as much as 1370 cubic meters per second. m of water! The depth of such a hole is about 21 m. From top to bottom it has the shape of a cone, the diameter of which at the top reaches almost 22 m, and downward narrows to 9 m and comes out from the other side of the dam, removing excess water when the reservoir is overflowed. The distance from the pipe to the exit point, which is slightly south, is approximately 700 feet (about 200 m).
7. Karst sinkhole in Guatemala.
Karst sinkhole is a sinkhole of natural soil. A funnel occurs when the groundwater erode the soil and rocks, and the earth falls into the resulting voids. The diameter and depth of sinkholes vary from one meter to several hundred meters. Several funnels form karst basins.
It is not recommended to carry out construction in areas where karst processes occur, i.e. the processes of erosion of rocks, since buildings in such places can at any time.
Funnels can be found not only on land, but also in the ocean. They are called blue holes and were formed many millions of years ago when sea levels were lower.
Karst sinkholes in Russia
Dips and funnels are not a rare form of relief. They are found all over the world, including in our country, especially often in Central Russia. It is known that there are a lot of karst dips and hollows on the banks of the Oka River in the Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions. There are large dips in the city of Dzerzhinsk, in the villages of Chud, Pivovarovo, Monakovo, and near the town of Vorsma there is a Vorsma karst basin.
No wonder that. April 10, 2013 in the working village of Buturlino. Initially, the diameter of the funnel was 40 meters, but later increased to 85 meters. The depth of the sinkhole was 14 meters. More than 30 people were evacuated.
In Dzerzhinsk, one of the sinkholes has become a chemical dump known as the Black Hole. The funnel appeared about 30 years ago, and for a long time it was not entirely legal to dispose of chemical waste by the Plexiglas plant and other factories. “Black hole” for Dzerzhinsk is a real ecological disaster.
In the Nizhny Novgorod region there is also a karst lake, the Big Sacred. According to legend, earlier on the site of the lake there was a village and a monastery, which then went underground, and the place of the failure was flooded.
Dangerous sinkholes in last years occurred in the city of Berezniki, Perm region. However, unlike the aforementioned funnels, they are not natural, but man-made, since Berezniki are located in the mine workings of the Verkhnekamskoye potash salt deposit.
So, in 1986 in Berezniki, the first sinkhole in the forest was formed, in 2007 there was a sinkhole on the territory of the mine next to the "Technical salt" factory, in 2010 - at the railway station Berezniki, in 2011 - at the mine construction department. Due to the movement of the ground, the number of emergency buildings increased sharply, people began to be relocated to other areas of the city. Perhaps the subsidence of soil in Berezniki will continue.
Famous sinkholes in the world
Karst funnels always make a great impression on people and therefore are quite popular with tourists.
Thus, tourists often come to look at the large sinkhole in Texas, USA, which is known as Devil's hole... In addition to tourists, this place has long been chosen by bats.
There are also karst sinkholes in the near abroad, there are many of them in the Crimean mountains. Some sinkholes and sinkholes open the way to karst caves. So, a deep funnel in Mount Chatyr-Dag leads to a cave Emine-Bair-Khosarwhich is also known as Marble cave... Karst origin is also popular with Russian tourists Lake Ritsa in Abkhazia.
An enormous sinkhole is found in the ocean in the center of Lighthouse Reef, an atoll off the coast of Belize. She is also known as Big blue hole... The diameter of this round funnel filled with water is 305 meters, its depth is 102 meters. The Great Blue Hole is a popular diving site.
Another famous underwater funnel is Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt. Its depth is 100 meters. This sinkhole is also known as the "Divers' Cemetery" as many diving enthusiasts, especially inexperienced ones, have died here.
There are also many sinkholes, craters and other similar amazing places in China and Mexico.
Funnels continue to appear in different parts light to this day. Recently in the United States, a man fell into the ground while sleeping with his bed. In the resulting crater, neither his brother nor the police could find him.
A terrible karst funnel with a diameter of about 20 meters and a depth of 30 meters was formed in 2010 in the city Guatemala, the capital of the state of the same name. Round " black hole»A three-story building of a garment factory has collapsed. Landfall could have triggered Tropical Storm Agatha.