But experts are equally concerned about the threat sinkholes pose to Florida's underground drinking water supply. I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. Imagine having a house overlooking a lake, and one day, the lake disappears. Or that a huge hole suddenly appears in place of the road you had been driving on. And those sediments kind of mantle the limestone.
Limestone is very soluble.
And as water moves through it, small holes develop into larger holes. And the overburdened sediments can cover the hole for a certain amount of time. But once the hole gets larger than their ability to bridge across it, the sediments collapse into it. But it's not a very thick covering and there are usually sinkholes common wherever you have limestone terrain. With help from its Environmental Studies Program we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.