How does a sinkhole occur in the ground? I seen a picture of one in Guatemala and its a big one!?

Answer 1

A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline (in the Slovene language dolina means valley), emergence hole or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the surface topography caused by the removal of soil or bedrock, often both, by water. Sinkholes may vary in size from less than a meter to several hundred meters in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. They may be formed gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide.

Mechanism of formation may include the gradual removal of slightly soluble bedrock (such as limestone) by percolating water, the collapse of a cave roof, or a lowering of the water table. Occasionally a sinkhole may exhibit a visible opening into a cave below. In the case of exceptionally large sinkholes, such as Cedar Sink at Mammoth Cave National Park, a stream or river may be visible across its bottom flowing from one side to the other.

Sinkholes may capture surface drainage for running or a standing water, but may also form in currently high and dry locations. Florida is known for having frequent sinkholes, especially in the central part of the state. The Murge area in southern Italy also has numerous sinkholes.


A special type of sinkhole - formed by rainwater leaking through the pavement and carrying dirt into a ruptured sewer pipe.
Sinkholes near the Dead Sea, formed by dissolution of underground salt by incoming freshwater, as a result of a continuing sea level drop.Sinkholes are usually but not always linked with karst landscapes. In such regions, there may be hundreds or even thousands of sinkholes in a small area so that the surface as seen from the air looks pock-marked, and there are no surface streams because all drainage occurs sub-surface.

Sinkholes have been used for centuries as disposal sites for various forms of waste. A consequence of this is the pollution of groundwater resources, with serious health implications in such areas.

Answer 2

It can form by the slow removal of underlying bedrock (such as limestone) by percolating water, by the collapse of a cave roof, or by lowering of the water table. Big sinkholes commonly connect to a cave below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole
In the case of the Guatemala sinkhole, there seems to have been a problem caused by leaking underground sewage pipes that must have removed soil and rock beneath the hole.