page_title: Sinkhole
section_title: Artificial processes
hierarchical_section_title: Sinkhole / Formation / Artificial processes
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a sinkhole in a parking lot at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA, USA. A contractor I spoke with said the hole was 32 feet deep. It was formed as rainwater leaked through the pavement and into a break in the sewer line below.
context_page_description: A sinkhole, also known as a cenote, sink, sink-hole, swallet, swallow hole, or doline, is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. Most are caused by karst processes – the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes. Sinkholes vary in size from 1 to 600 m both in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. Sinkholes may form gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide.
context_section_description: Collapses, commonly incorrectly labeled as sinkholes also occur due to human activity, such as the collapse of abandoned mines and salt cavern storage in salt domes in places like Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. More commonly, collapses occur in urban areas due to water main breaks or sewer collapses when old pipes give way. They can also occur from the overpumping and extraction of groundwater and subsurface fluids.
  Sinkholes can also form when natural water-drainage patterns are changed and new water-diversion systems are developed. Some sinkholes form when the land surface is changed, such as when industrial and runoff-storage ponds are created; the substantial weight of the new material can trigger a collapse of the roof of an existing void or cavity in the subsurface, resulting in development of a sinkhole.
caption: Collapse formed by rainwater leaking through pavement and carrying soil into a ruptured sewer pipe.
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