The Science Of Sinkholes
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-03-20/science-sinkholes
A man in Florida died after a sinkhole opened beneath his bedroom, swallowing him as he slept. A golfer broke his shoulder when a sinkhole opened on a golf course in Illinois. Suddenly it seems sinkholes are making news everywhere. But scientists insist they're a common and naturally occurring geologic phenomenon. Sinkholes usually occur on the fragile terrain called “karst," which underlies about 20 percent of the United States. Sinkholes also can be triggered by human activity. We learn what sinkholes reveal about the interconnectedness of life above and below ground, our freshwater supplies and climate change.
Guests
Randall Orndorff
director of the Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey.
David Owen
staff writer for the "New Yorker," contributing editor of "Golf Digest" and author of a dozen books, most recently, "The Conundrum" and "Green Metropolis."
Erin Brockovich
environmental activist and former legal clerk who spearheaded the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind against Pacific Gas and Electric Company of California.
Sinkhole Map
This simplified map shows the areas with potential for sinkholes and karst in the conterminous United States (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
Comments
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First hour about taxes, second hour about sinkholes.....
let me be the first to point out the "interconnectedness" of the 2 topics....
most of my taxes disappear down sinkholes
Aren't these formations the place we plan to store toxic wastes "forever?"
My house in New Port Richey, FL has had 4 sinkholes (yes, I said 4!). One opened under a bedroom and was supposedly mitigated after it was filled with grout. Even so, it reopened 4 months later. My house now sits on 28 steel piers anchored to the bedrock below my home. I am told that the State of Florida could float away and my house would be an island onto itself. I don't know if that is good new or bad news! :-)
isotopic analysis of gas samples collected in the area is being conducted to match the gas back to operations occurring on the Napoleonville Salt Dome. Analysis of the results has linked the natural gas found in the failed Texas Brine cavern, at the sinkhole site and the closest bubbling sites as having come from the same source, a naturally occurring formation deep underground.
The collapsed texas brine cavern was closed due to failed integrity tests from 2 yrs prior if incident. Gas was not stored in the solution mined cavern.
As the salt diaper pushed up though overlying sediments, gas is trapped against the salt edge.
The cavern was mined to edge of salt which allowed release of gas in natural formations at the edge of the salt into the solution mined cavern that ultimately failed and created the sink hole.
I live in Oklahoma, we have had a record number of earthquakes, my sister 's home in Tulsa was damaged.
This is not unique as a building owned by the Tulsa World was declared structurally unsound. See http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20121....
I live in Florida, and while sinkholes certainly pose a threat to people's lives here, the bigger issue is what's causing those sinkholes. Yes, they happen naturally, but they are happening with more and more frequency as big agriculture and industry are permitted to suck vast quantities of water from the Floridan aquifer.
We are running out of water! That's the story, or should be.