Creepy Sinkholes

A hole that appears all of a sudden that could swallow anything on it? This usually happens in cartoons, anime and other fictional movies, sounds magical but very creepy in real life. Imagine a hole that will appear all of a sudden that could “eat” anything” on it. And yes it is possible, and is very common in some places. Sinkhole, sometimes called snake hole, swallow hole, or devil's hole, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rocks, salt bed or rocks that can naturally dissolve by circulating ground waters through them. As the rocks dissolves, spaces and caverns are formed underground. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur. These collapses can be small, or can be huge and can occur where a house or road is on top. Sinkholes can also be formed in retention ponds from large amounts of rain. It can also form in coral reefs and islands that collapse to enormous depths which are known as Blue Holes. Blue Holes become popular diving spots though nobody know its depth.

Sinkholes have some various names, like

Blue Holes - This name initially has been given to the deep underwater sinkholes of Bahamas but often is used for any deep water-filled pits formed in carbonate rocks. Name originates from the deep blue color of water in these sinkholes, which in turn is created by the high lucidity of water and the large depth of sinkholes – only the deep blue color of the visible spectrum can penetrate such depth and after reflection return back. The deepest known undersea sinkhole is Dean’s Blue Hole in Bahamas.

Tiankengs - These are extremely large sinkholes which are deeper and wider than 100 m, with mostly vertical walls, most often created by the collapse of underground caverns. This term is proposed by Chinese geologists as many of the largest sinkholes are located in China. The largest tiankeng is the 662 m deep Xiaozhai tiankeng, which is also the largest known sinkhole of the world.


Sotano - This name is given to several giant pits in several states of Mexico. The best known is the 372 m deep Sótano de las Golondrinas – Cave of Swallows


Cenotes - Characteristic water filled sinkholes in Yucatan, Peninsula and Belize and some other regions. Many cenotes have formed in limestone which deposited in shallow seas created by Chiczulub meteorite impact.

Black Holes - Group of unique round, water filled pits in Bahamas. These formations seem to be dissolved in carbonate mud from above, by the sea water. Dark color of water is caused by the layer of phototropic microorganisms concentrated in dense, purple colored layer in 15 – 20 meter depth – this layer "swallows" the light. Metabolism in the layer of microorganisms causes heating of water – the only known case in natural world where microorganisms create significant thermal effects. Most impressive is Black Hole of Andros.