We see news reports of sinkholes opening in various places all over the world. What I never hear about is what’s done afterward. I assume smaller ones, like this one in [Taiwan](https://supercarblondie.com/sinkhole-swallows-tesla-model-y-taiwan/) could be repaired without too much hassle. What about the larger sinkholes in [Turkey](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11262701/16-giant-sinkholes-open-one-Turkish-region-months.html)?
Is there a way to make land like that usable again? Or do people just sort of put up a sign and hope no one falls in?
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The ELI5 is:
If Water is moving fast enough underground it can erode dirt underground. Water can also dissolve some types of rocks.
As Water erodes/dissolves dirt/rocks is creates a caverin underground. When that cavern gets large enough and can no longer support the material above it, it collapses. This collapse creates the sinkhole as dirt/rock that was previously held above the cavern falls into it.
Some are do to man-made changes while others occur naturally. Rocks such as limestone and many evaporates such as gypsum will dissolve in water over time. Groundwater slowly seeps through these dissolving the rock and eventually creating sinkholes.
I worked on the Bayou Corne sinkhole where you will see videos of trees getting sucked into the ground. This one was caused by human activity. A large salt dome was being mined by pumping down water to dissolve the salt and then extracting it. The accidently eroded through the side of the salt dome creating a pathway for dirt/water above to collapse into the dome.
Some that you see in cities form if say a water main breaks and sunnendly a lot of fast moving water is release that quickly erodes the dirt around the water main until the ground above collapses.
The ELI5 is:
If Water is moving fast enough underground it can erode dirt underground. Water can also dissolve some types of rocks.
As Water erodes/dissolves dirt/rocks is creates a caverin underground. When that cavern gets large enough and can no longer support the material above it, it collapses. This collapse creates the sinkhole as dirt/rock that was previously held above the cavern falls into it.
Some are do to man-made changes while others occur naturally. Rocks such as limestone and many evaporates such as gypsum will dissolve in water over time. Groundwater slowly seeps through these dissolving the rock and eventually creating sinkholes.
I worked on the Bayou Corne sinkhole where you will see videos of trees getting sucked into the ground. This one was caused by human activity. A large salt dome was being mined by pumping down water to dissolve the salt and then extracting it. The accidently eroded through the side of the salt dome creating a pathway for dirt/water above to collapse into the dome.
Some that you see in cities form if say a water main breaks and sunnendly a lot of fast moving water is release that quickly erodes the dirt around the water main until the ground above collapses.
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