Talk:Sinkhole
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[edit] removal of Greek name
Is there a good reason for removal of the Greek namne for sinkhole? I suggest re-instatement, unless it is incorrect. If it is obscure, in the Greek script, it could also be written in 'normal' letters (katabothra). - Ballista 03:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- I removed it because it was sitting in a list of English language synonyms for the word "sinkhole" and inbetween the word dolina and the explanatino that dolina is a slovene term. The greek word has no more place in the firt sentence of the article than the french or the german. As there is not yet a page on the el.wikipedia I have not linked to it. Is there good reason for keeping the Greek name and excluding others? --5telios 06:53, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- I suppose some explanation is required as to why the Slovene language of all should be included. Karstological studies were first conducted on Karst, an area of then Austria-Hungary with a majority of Slovene population. Hence some karstological expressions are directly taken from the Slovene language. Doline is an example of this - a karstological term in the English language, stemming from Slovene. TomorrowTime 03:20, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Question
Are holes rapidly formed in cities by sewer line breaks and the like, truly sinkholes? Is there not another term for them? I know on the news they are always called sinkholes but I always thought this was a colloquial usage and not officaly correct. Is that true or am I totally wrong?
[edit] No reference for El Zacatón
I was doing some research and always check Wikipedia first when looking up topics on the internet and was shocked that El Zacatón is not listed anywhere on wikipedia. El Zacatón is the largest water filled sinkhole in the world. Here is a one reference to it http://www.geo.utexas.edu/zacaton/ I am not a registered user here so I really have no idea how to add this data or even request it be added other than here. 192.44.136.103 16:29, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Most shocking sinkhole?
Does this one [1] deserve a new article? Or at least a new section? --V. Szabolcs 18:06, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Sinkholes in Paris
Just found out your article. It seems we have the same thing in Paris and around. We have a natural phenomenon called "fontis" in French. This happens near abandonned limestone quarries which where dug under Paris for decades (hundreds of miles of galleries and abandonned quaries lies under Paris). Sometimes (rarely the underground of Paris is heavily watched) the sinkholes go to the ground and a big hole appears under your feets. In french we say "le fontis voit le jour" (the fontis sees the light). In the XVIIInth century it is well known that many fontis have seen the light under Paris. As a result, the king established the "Inspection Generale des Carriéres" (IGC) to consolidate and inspect the quarries. The work of engineers from IGC is now very famous because at one time, the galleries they built to inspect the quarries where used to dump the cemetaries. This is now known as the Catacombs of Paris.
The wikipedia French article on Fontis is there : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontis
(The article only speaks about quarries because this is I think the only risk in France of finding one).
If you happen to visit the underground quarries under Paris or the suburbs (this is illegal and dangerous, don't do it unless shown by someone who does know the quarries very well), you can see some fontis under formation. Under Paris they are usually quite small, but under some parts of the suburbs you can see mammoth fontis which are very frightening (especially when you lie under them). As the quarries are usually 15 to 30 meters below the surface, this can be deadly. People buying real estate in Paris are usually aware of this and go to IGC in order to check the map of the quarries. In case of doubt, heavy works is done usually nowadays by concrete injection (very sad, the quarries are amazing and after an injection they are lost for ever) and more traditionally by building pillars and walls. (Some of these consolidations constructions especially when they date back to XVIII or XIXth centuries are real works of art. You can admire them if you visit the catacombs).
A famous place for this is the "Massif de L'Hautil", a small hill near Paris. The forest is now forbidden to the public because there are so much giant fontis ready to see the light that a hole can appear under your feet at any time. Many trees in the forest already fell to the ground due to this. Very frightening at night ! This was due to the exploitation of gypsy's quarries where they almost entirely emptied the whole hill. The ceiling of the cave is more than 6 meters high and has been consolidated with stone arches. It almost look like a (nowadays collapsing) cathedral. A visit of the quarries under the Massif de l'Hautil is very intersting on a geological point of view (I did it one time) but people should be warned that those abandonned quaries are extremly dangerous and you need caving equipment (and an experienced caver with you) to go (presence of deadly CO gas, low oxygen level, high water level requiring a boat and risk of falling stones which make a big splash noise). Anyway this is an alien world :) (Photos there : http://www.catacombes.free.fr/140101.htm)
If you think it is the same phenomenon, I think this should be a valuable insert in your article.
[edit] why?
Why did someone take out the reference to the Alpena, MI area sinkholes under links?
What the hell! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.213.237.206 (talk) 01:48, 20 October 2007 (UTC)
