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What are sinkholes and what triggers them?T U E S D A Y 18 FEBRUARY 2014

Sinkholes are appearing across Britain as rain batters the U an! "loo!s contin#e to s$a%p

so%e areas & b#t $hat are the'( an! is hea)' rain reall' to bla%e "or that sinking "eeling*

A 5ft wide hole that opened up beneath a 100-year-old detached house in Ripon,

North Yorkshire is the latest in a spate of sinkholes in the UK

!t appeared on "onday, days after a #5ft wide and $0ft deep sinkhole opened up

under ho%es in a &uiet cul-de-sac in 'e%el 'e%pstead, 'ertfordshire

(ast week, a stretch of the "$ in north Kent was closed after a 15ft deep hole was

disco)ered in the central reser)ation, and on $ *ebruary a teena+ers car was

swallowed up when a #0ft deep crater appeared in a fa%ilys dri)eway in 'i+h

yco%be, .uckin+ha%shire

/o whats +oin+ on /inkholes are fri+htenin+, dra%atic and can be )ery sudden -

not at all the .ritish countrysides nor%al beha)iour erhaps predictably thou+h,

they can be linked back to so%ethin+ which is rather %ore traditionally .ritish2

rain And we)e had plenty of that in recent weeks, leadin+ in so%e areas to )ery

http://www.channel4.com/news/what-are-sinkholes-flooding-uk-floods-weather-stormshttp://www.channel4.com/news/hemel-hempstead-sinkhole-video-floods-evacuatedhttp://www.channel4.com/news/hemel-hempstead-sinkhole-video-floods-evacuatedhttp://www.channel4.com/news/floodshttps://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000346925885/dc61c359015ca22c6993b3e60c25c8b5_bigger.jpeghttp://www.channel4.com/news/hemel-hempstead-sinkhole-video-floods-evacuatedhttp://www.channel4.com/news/hemel-hempstead-sinkhole-video-floods-evacuatedhttp://www.channel4.com/news/floodshttp://www.channel4.com/news/what-are-sinkholes-flooding-uk-floods-weather-storms

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serious floodin+

What are sinkholes?Accordin+ to the U/ 3eolo+ical /ur)ey, sinkholes are co%%on where the rock

below the surface is li%estone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or other kinds of rock

which can naturally be dissol)ed by +roundwater circulatin+ throu+h the%

As the rock dissol)es, spaces and ca)erns de)elop under+round /inkholes are

dra%atic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the under+round

spaces 4ust +et too bi+ !f there is not enou+h support for the land abo)e the

under+round ca)erns, then a sudden collapse of the land on the surface can occur

- a sinkhole

/inkholes can be di)ided into two types *irst, there are co)er-collapse sinkholes,

which can de)elop abruptly o)er a period of hours6 and cause catastrophic

da%a+e

7he for%ation of sinkholes, fro% the .ritish 3eolo+ical /ur)ey

/econdly, there are co)er-subsidence sinkholes, which for% slowly o)er ti%e with

the +round +radually subsidin+ or deflatin+ 7hese types of e)ents can be less

noticeable and +o undetected for lon+ periods

http://www.channel4.com/news/floodshttp://www.usgs.gov/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/science/landUseAndDevelopment/shallow_geohazards/sinkHoles.htmlhttp://www.channel4.com/news/floodshttp://www.usgs.gov/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/science/landUseAndDevelopment/shallow_geohazards/sinkHoles.html

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/inkhole collapses can ran+e in si8e and se)erity /inkholes can )ary fro% a few

feet to hundreds of acres and fro% less than one foot to %ore than 100ft deep

7hey ha)e all kinds of disastrous conse&uences, and ha)e been seen to swallow

up swi%%in+ pools, parts of roadways, and e)en buildin+s

What triggers sinkholes?A ran+e of factors - natural and %an-induced - can tri++er sinkhole collapse, and

hea)y rain or surface floodin+ are considered to be e9a%ples of tri++ers

:r ;anessa .anks fro% the .ritish 3eolo+ical /ur)ey, told 7he

+round is saturated at the %o%ent, in certain parts of the country, and where its

saturated, it will re%ain saturated for so%e weeks, if not %onths

>3radually the situation will i%pro)e, but in the short ter% ! suspect there will be

%ore of these incidents bein+ reported>

"ost of the areas in the UK which can be susceptible to sinkholes are relati)ely

s%all or are in upland rural locations 7hey ha)e also been known to occur in

areas includin+ the "endips, parts of ales, and the northern ennines includin+

the Yorkshire :ales

?ld coal%ine shafts in Yorkshire ha)e been known as a cause of holes which could

>theoretically> be the case in Kent but is it >%ore likely to be related> to the

probable chalk or li%estone %ake-up of the area alon+ with the rainfall, /arah

*ray, director of @n+ineerin+ and 7echnical /er)ices at the !nstitution of /tructural

@n+ineers, told

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7he study of sinkholes attracted considerable %edia attention in $01# after the

tra+ic death of a %an at /effner near 7a%pa, *lorida A sinkhole, that had for%ed

beneath Beff .ushs house, >swallowed> hi% when the house floor collapsed

?ne of the %ost spectacular e9a%ples is the collapse that occurred in "ay $010

in 3uate%ala

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deposits followin+ a tropical stor% 7hese then collapsed, creatin+ a shaft

appro9i%ately 100% deep and $0% wide

7here was a pre)ious sinkhole elsewhere in 3uate%ala

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her car in 7oledo, ?hio in Buly $01#