The sinkhole measures more than 12 meters and authorities say it could continue to grow larger. It's a sinkhole near a naturally occurring underwater geyser.
A huge sinkhole has opened in Australia and there are fears it could continue to grow. The event dates back to June 10, the hole opened in land near the tourist town of Robe in South Australia and is about 12 meters in diameter. Citizens along the Limestone Coast have been turned away from the area specifically because the rift could widen. It would be a sinkhole near which there would also be a natural underwater geyser.
How the sinkhole was formed
The Australian Limestone Coast, for some time now, has been facing constant erosion due to strong waves that lap the coast. The recent heavy rains and ocean swells may have contributed to the opening of the sinkhole. The hole would also be located near a natural underwater geyser, known as a blowhole, which forms when waves erode caves along the reef.
James Holyman, the chief executive of Robe District, speaking to ABC said that the constant action of storm surges in the area has gradually reduced the reefs, making it more likely that sinkholes of this type will form, and from the initial investigations into the giant sinkhole in Australia, the site would still be unstable and could collapse further.
Recently, a similar event occurred in Mexico, where a sinkhole opened up and grew from about 5 meters to nearly 30 meters in diameter in 24 hours. The hole is located in a farmland in the municipality of Juan C. Bonilla, just over 12 miles from the capital Puebla, near a water well that was covered to work the fields. In the case in Mexico, it is likely that water pressure led to a change in weight on the earth's crust which eventually gave way. Usually sinkholes form in soils formed by limestone rocks and are caused by the dissolution of calcium carbonate that makes up the rocks. They would be typical of the karstic environments and the depression would be formed with the dissolution of the limestone rock caused by the superficial waters that penetrate through the fractures of the ground or for the collapse of rocky masses provoked by the dissolution and underground removal of limestone material by circulating waters.
About the formation of the earth's crust and the depth of the subsoil are still many mysteries to unveil. Suffice it to say that only two people, so far, have descended to the deepest point of the Planet