Are more sinkholes forming in 2012 or leadingup to this year?

I have never figured out why people are so intereted in sinkholes. They form in a number of different conditions. This is not one of them:

Stretch zones primarily experience sinking ground, as the support in the rock strata is stretched thin. Thus, buildings implode and gas and water mains break.

That claim comes from the closed minds of poleshift.ning.com...

Sinkholes happen where the ground collapses. To collapse the ground must be undermined in some manner. Erosion or solution can do that. A sinkhole will not collapse until the downward force exceeds the strength of the materials. So let's consider a few examples.

1. A water main breaks. The moving water flushes out any sediments that end up in the stream of water. Eventually the land above falls into the void formed by the eroding waters. In a city this is usually damage to a building or road.

2. Some rocks dissolve in water. Limestone certainly does. Voids form. Phreatic passages in caves form when the void is completely submerged. Water falling into a void can form a dome room. After enough material is removed the cave can collapse. Some rooms remain filled with water. The rock above the void is buoyed up by the water. During a drought the lowered water level removed the upward force called buoyancy and the cave room collapses to form a sinkhole.

To claim that there are more sinkhole incidents could mean that:
1. More water mains are breaking
2. More droughts are happening
3. Somehow lots of places have reached the mechanical strength of the supporting rocks at the same time

What I can't figure out is:
1. Are sinkhole incidents more common
2. What the blazes does this have to do with gravitational affects from nonexistent unknown planets

Does anyone have any insight into why people are captivated by sinkhole stories?

Originally posted by stereologist
I have never figured out why people are so intereted in sinkholes. They form in a number of different conditions. This is not one of them:

Stretch zones primarily experience sinking ground, as the support in the rock strata is stretched thin. Thus, buildings implode and gas and water mains break.

That claim comes from the closed minds of poleshift.ning.com...

Sinkholes happen where the ground collapses. To collapse the ground must be undermined in some manner. Erosion or solution can do that. A sinkhole will not collapse until the downward force exceeds the strength of the materials. So let's consider a few examples.

1. A water main breaks. The moving water flushes out any sediments that end up in the stream of water. Eventually the land above falls into the void formed by the eroding waters. In a city this is usually damage to a building or road.

2. Some rocks dissolve in water. Limestone certainly does. Voids form. Phreatic passages in caves form when the void is completely submerged. Water falling into a void can form a dome room. After enough material is removed the cave can collapse. Some rooms remain filled with water. The rock above the void is buoyed up by the water. During a drought the lowered water level removed the upward force called buoyancy and the cave room collapses to form a sinkhole.

To claim that there are more sinkhole incidents could mean that:
1. More water mains are breaking
2. More droughts are happening
3. Somehow lots of places have reached the mechanical strength of the supporting rocks at the same time

What I can't figure out is:
1. Are sinkhole incidents more common
2. What the blazes does this have to do with gravitational affects from nonexistent unknown planets

Does anyone have any insight into why people are captivated by sinkhole stories?

Gravitational effects are all around us in some way. They have a great effect on what is below the crusts we all float around the planet on. At this time, the Pacific Plate in particular has been quite busy, as we saw with Japan's plight. If you look there is volcanic activity all along the pacific plate edges and any other plates that may be speeding up movement as a result. Some are saying this is due to pole shift. What if it's time to go the other way? All of this, including magnetic influences, will play a major part in a BIG HOOPLAH on the planet environmentally. I think this also plays a major part in water mains breaking, under ground rivers re-routing and causing these sinkholes. The planet is belching and heaving. It's not going to slow down until it's ready to. As the earth rotates, all this mingles and changes, so many reactions bouncing off one another with such energy, such force.

It's my feeling that the earth is going through it's cycle, this has happened before when all these gasses where MUCH higher than they are now. There were no humans spewing gasses into the planet's atmosphere then, it's the EARTH. What we're doing on it isn't helping for the most part, but at least some are waking up to what is going on.

Me, I got a nice bottle of scotch to share with my hubby when somethin big goes down, then we'll cap 'er till the next big thing. WaHoo!

Another option is that humans are removing more water from the water table and underground reservoirs faster than nature can replace it.

Think of these large sprawling cities with thousands of miles of road and tens of thousands of miles of storm sewers channeling water to rivers and lakes where normally it would filter through the land into the water table

It's easier to make a sand castle on the beach with wet sand than dry sand..... A dry sandcastle become brittle and will easily fall apart.

Just a thought

Does anyone have any insight into why people are captivated by sinkhole stories?

Well, from a psychological perspective, the idea of the solid earth giving way under our feet and swallowing us up is quite terrifying. It highlights our need for things to be solid, stable and unchanging. If it can happen in one place, it can maybe happen under our house as we sleep.

Plus, we're all fascinated by disasters....and a sinkhole swallowing a building or a few cars is a bit of a disaster, no?

There are very terrifying tales of collapsing ground in areas where coal mine shave caught on fire. Children have fallen into flaming pits while playing in their own front yards. One of the stories comes from Centralia where the child fortunately was able to hang onto roots until rescued.

en.wikipedia.org...

A bit terrifying. I wouldn't want any family members to be working in mines at this time.

But why do people think that gravity from some other celestial body can cause sinkholes?

Lots of places claim that is true, but the way these form has nothing whatsoever to do with other worlds. You'd think there would be a tie in to the Moon if other planets or the Sun could influence sinkholes.

Also, the sinkholes are there. The voids in the ground are there. What happens is not so much the void, but the collapse.

So why the attraction to sinkhole collapses?

I told those guys not to bounce balls at C but they didnt listen....Black Holes abound

We're all gonna die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sooner or later

Ok seriously. why? do they happen and where does the dirt go. Its said that underground water sits on top of bedrock some times.

Are they lost voids of Gas which bleed off pressure, I give up and the why is interesting and has nothing to do with 2012 Forum

reply to post by rebellender


Voids can form by dissolving rocks. This is how caves form. The rocks are dissolved and transported to other places.

Sometimes sinkholes are formed by washing away unconsolidated material. Most sinkholes in large cities form that way. A water main breaks and washes away the surrounding soil until a void forms and the ground above collapses.

An interesting collapse formed in a neighborhood built on till. That's a glacial deposit. Soil was laid down over boulders. The story, which I have not confirmed, was that someone accidentally left a garden hose on their lawn for an extended period of time. The water flowed through the soil and washed away dirt down and between the large boulders far below. Eventually the lawn collapsed to form a huge depression which alerted neighbors that something was up. I doubt the tale since I imagine other torrential rains must have hit the area since the till was laid down. But could you imagine seeing a lawn replaced with a gaping hole?