1 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Hey, are you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind? 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: today we're bringing you an episode from the vault. This 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: is our part one of our episode on sink Holes, 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: which originally aired on January. We hope you enjoy Welcome 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My Heart Radio. 7 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and today 9 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: we're gonna be talking about sink holes. This is actually, 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: I think, in a way a listener request topic that 11 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,279 Speaker 1: turned out to be very interesting. But it's, uh, it's 12 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: sort of leap frogging off of some some previous episodes 13 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: we did. Rob did the did the sink Whole journey 14 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,319 Speaker 1: begin when we were talking about the star Lac from 15 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: Return of the Jedi. I think that is the original context. 16 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: I think that was the original point at which we 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: begin to hear listener males about the idea of in 18 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: a sink Whole episode, because we talked about the star 19 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: Lac and then we talked about some ideas and was 20 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: it meso American uh? Mythology concerning uh entities of the 21 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: ground that swallow things up. Oh, that could be it. Well, 22 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: I know we ended up talking about the Bible, which 23 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: will revisit in a minute here. But one of the 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: questions that came up was, you know that scene in 25 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: movies where there's an earthquake and and then suddenly a 26 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: crack opens up in the middle of the street and 27 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: it's you know, miles deep, and it just swallows people 28 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: down into it. Uh. The question was like, does that 29 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: kind of thing really happen? Does during an earthquake? Does 30 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: the earth open up and open these deep pits and 31 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: chasms that people fall down and disappear into. And our 32 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: previous answer to that was, well, not really, or it 33 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: seems like that's that's extremely rare if it ever happens. 34 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: That's not like a common feature of what happens to 35 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: the surf is topology during an earthquake. But sinkholes, a 36 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: listener pointed out, or a very different story, and sinkholes 37 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: could explain many of these stories, uh, from from mythology 38 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: and all that of the earth opening up and swallowing people. 39 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: We can get back into that in a bit. But 40 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: you actually turned up a really interesting photo essay about 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: a fascinating sudden opening of a sinkhole. Uh just earlier 42 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: this year, that's right. Well, actually it was last year, remember, 43 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: oh god, Yeah, I haven't turned the calendar fully yet. 44 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: It's still it's still It's like that year is kind 45 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: of like the the other world in hell Raisers. So 46 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: it's got chains with hooks and them, and they shoot 47 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:39,839 Speaker 1: out of the walls and so the hooks are still 48 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: in my brain, but I'm slowly methodically rebuilding my body 49 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,239 Speaker 1: to escape. All right, Well, this is this story takes 50 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: us back to April. So Um. What happened is a 51 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: whole opened up in the front yard of a home 52 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: in Black Hawks, South Dakota. Uh, specifically in a housing 53 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: development there that is called perfectly enough, the Hideaway Hills development. 54 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: That just doesn't sound great. I mean no offense to 55 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: the people who live there, but it doesn't sound like 56 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: a place I want to go. It sounds like a 57 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,239 Speaker 1: place where, I don't know, where you like retreat after 58 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,959 Speaker 1: you've committed a crime. What was the housing development on 59 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: arrested development, Sudden Valley or Sudden Yeah Appa, so Um, 60 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: Like you pointed out, there's an incredible photo essay photos 61 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: series on this on board Panda about this. If you 62 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: look up board Panda Black South Dakota sinkhole, you will 63 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: find it because uh this photo essay, if you will, 64 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: it takes us through a journey by a local caving 65 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: group called Pahsapa Grotto as they decided to venture down 66 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: into this hole that opened up in this front yard 67 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: to explore the world beneath the suburbs. Now, this sinkhole, 68 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: it turns out it's going to be very different than 69 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: most of the sinkholes we're talking about in this episode. 70 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: Most sink holes open up over some kind of void 71 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: that is formed in the rock below, and as we'll 72 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: get into a lot of that usually has to do 73 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: with water and hydrology. But in this case, the void 74 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: in the rock below the neighborhood was was more was 75 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: of a more artificial persuasion, right. That's because there was 76 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: an abandoned gypsum mine beneath the housing development, and so 77 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: the cavers had they had to lower down in on ropes, 78 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: you know, had to use like actual caving equipment into 79 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: the dark and sometimes flooded tunnels beneath reportedly over two 80 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: thousand feet across in a hundred and fifty feet wide 81 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: this tunnel um complex. Uh, and they encountered the remains 82 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: of what looks like an old, like nineteen fifties automobile. Uh. 83 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: There's just a whole world down there, like a whole 84 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: uh Minoan maze beneath this you know, rather mundane looking 85 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: housing development. It's like two levels of weird. So first 86 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: of all, it's yes, the suburban you know, neighborhood, and 87 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: then just in the middle of somebody's front yard a 88 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: pit opens up, so that's the sinkhole. But then it's 89 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: that the sinkhole goes to this maze. And yeah, like 90 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: you said, there's like an old Chevy convertible down there, 91 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: And I'm wondering, why is that down there? Did somebody 92 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: drive it into the mind before the mind was sealed up? Yeah, 93 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. Like, it's just it's a place full 94 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: of questions, is a place full of the past, of mysteries. 95 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: And so the article itself gets into some of the 96 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: community fall out over all this. But but what I 97 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: love about this episode is it illustrates for us this 98 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: divide between the surface world so tightly manicured and controlled 99 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,359 Speaker 1: so much of the time, and a world beneath that 100 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: we have only a shaky understanding of like something out 101 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: of a mash up between Poltergeist and The Descent. You know, 102 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: a gateway to that hidden underworld might open up at 103 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: any moment and reveal its secrets to us, invite us in, 104 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: perhaps swallow us entirely, and then we'll be part of 105 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: that underworld. Because if we're being you know, perfectly rational 106 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: without any supernatural ideas like that, that idea alone is terrifying. 107 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: You know that the earth might open up and we 108 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: might fall, you know, into a pit. But then if 109 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: you begin to layer in beliefs and superstitions, then yeah, 110 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: become this whole becomes a portal to other realms. Yeah, exactly. 111 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: Now we've talked about natural features in the landscape taking 112 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: on religious significance before, Like in we did a couple 113 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: of episodes called The Sacred Mountain, which was about mountain 114 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: peaks that were considered to be holy or supernatural or 115 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: the dwelling places of gods or places that Win explored. 116 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: People often reported having supernatural experiences, They're like One of 117 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: the things that came out of that was the the 118 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: often reported third man syndrome, feeling that mountain climbers sometimes 119 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: have very high up but we talked about possible ways that, 120 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: like the effects of the sun or that altitude sickness 121 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: could contribute to that um. But there are also ways 122 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: in which sinkholes can take on similar types of religious significance, 123 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: can have a similar mythological appeal, And one great example 124 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: is we is some of the sinkholes are also known 125 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: as sinnotes that we see throughout Mesoamerican religion in the 126 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: Yucatan Peninsula and among the ancient Mayan people. But I 127 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: guess well, we'll come back to that more later. I 128 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: wanted to get to this question about the the idea 129 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: that the earth can open up and swallow you. It's 130 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: an image that seems like to perfectly fit ancient myths 131 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: and texts. You would imagine passages like this appearing in 132 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: you know, Babylonian texts or something. It definitely appears in 133 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: the Hebrew Bible, for example, in the Book of Numbers, 134 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: there's a passage where Moses is speaking to people and 135 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: he's trying to demonstrate that he was in fact sent 136 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: by the Lord and he uh he, he says, and 137 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: basically he makes a promise that hey, if the Lord 138 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: has sent me he'll he'll send a sign, and you'll 139 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: know it, because there will be this group of people 140 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: that will be swallowed up alive into a pit that 141 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: opens up suddenly in the earth. For very these wicked 142 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: people who have rejected the Lord. And the passage says 143 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: in Uh in the Book of Numbers. Now it came 144 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that 145 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened 146 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, and 147 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: all the men of Cora, with all their goods. So 148 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: they and all those with them went down alive into 149 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: the pit. The earth closed over them, and they perished 150 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: from among the assembly. And so I wonder, I mean, obviously, 151 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: with passages like this, I wonder if it's this kind 152 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: of thing that inspired that scene in every movie that 153 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: has an earthquake in it where suddenly a bottomless pit 154 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: opens up in the ground and people get sucked into it. Yeah, 155 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: you know, this could also be graboids. If I think, 156 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: if they want to make another Tremor's film, which they will, 157 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: I'm sure they should go for you know, some biblical 158 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: flare here, go for an Old Testament Tremor's movie with 159 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: with Moses being our central character, and that's a very 160 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: good direction. Now, one thing I want to say, because 161 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: I feel like I have to bring this up every 162 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: time we talk about geo mythology. Uh, there's this question 163 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: of is this story in the Bible based on something 164 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:01,079 Speaker 1: that someone in history witnessed witnessing a real world geological event, 165 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: perhaps a sudden collapse of a settled area due to 166 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: a sinkhole. Uh. And as I pretty much always do 167 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: whenever we talk about geomethology, I want to emphasize that 168 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: fantastic imagery and in myths and legends and religious text 169 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:17,439 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily need to be explained by someone actually having 170 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: seen something physical in the world. I think we can 171 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: sometimes go overboard looking for naturalistic explanations of this kind 172 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: to explain what somebody thought they saw that appears in 173 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: a story. You know, people are highly imaginative, and sometimes 174 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: stories are just stories. But there's always also the possibility 175 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: that stories like these could be based on people hearing 176 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: stories about having seen I don't know, there was a 177 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: there was a castle or a building or something like 178 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: that that was just swallowed up into the earth, which 179 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: if you didn't have any kind of geological understanding with 180 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: which to to to interpret that. It would certainly seem 181 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: to be a you know, a supernatural event. I don't 182 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: I don't know how else you would interpret it. Yeah, 183 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: because I think one of the things that really drives 184 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: home and when we we see examples of sync holes 185 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: and we hear stories like this, we see cinematic interpretations, 186 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: is that idea that the that terra firma is not 187 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: that firm, is not that fixed, that it could change, 188 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: that the that the firm ground beneath our feet could 189 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: suddenly give way, you know, like that alone is just 190 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: this kind of uh, you know, horrifying idea that that 191 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: it that it easily applies as a metaphor to everything 192 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: else in our in our life. You know, that the 193 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,959 Speaker 1: thing that is the order that we depend upon might 194 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: go away at any moment. Yeah, it's interesting to think about, 195 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: like a vertical spectrum of of ways the natural world 196 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: can intrude on our lives and how most of the 197 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,319 Speaker 1: stuff that we're that we're used to thinking about taking 198 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 1: into consideration, worrying about as as possible threats, all basically 199 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: takes place like on the surface of the earth. And 200 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: that you know, when you go to the vertical ends 201 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: of that spectrum, you've got like impacts from space coming 202 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: from above, sinkholes up and opening up from below, and 203 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: these fen I'm gonna intrude on that day to day 204 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: understanding of physical forces. Yeah, so it's it's no surprise. 205 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: We were talking about this before the podcast started rolling 206 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: here that if you start looking around for sinkholes online, 207 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: you'll find just so many galleries, top ten lists, lots 208 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: of click bait about sinkholes. Like sinkholes are kind of 209 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: they're kind of like a like they're kind of like 210 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:27,719 Speaker 1: true crime, you know there um there. You also see them, 211 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: like I was noticing, like very tabloid sites sites that 212 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: otherwise they're not going to really have anything related to geology, 213 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: but they'll have sinkholes. You know, it'll be celebrity gossip, 214 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: um and you know, maybe some conspiracy theories. But then also, uh, 215 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: big old holes opening up in the earth. Chump boxes 216 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: are full of sinkholes. Have you ever noticed this? These 217 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: are the like the link um grids at the bottom 218 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: of blogs and whatnot. Yeah. Yeah, so, like you know, 219 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: like most websites on the Internet these days are just 220 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: being more and more infected by ads that a since 221 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: really take the form of malware. But if you scroll 222 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: down to the bottom of most articles or any text 223 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: image based website, you'll usually see one of these boxes 224 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: that's full of just like extremely tacky, distasteful images that 225 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: are either like something that's kind of sexually suggestive and 226 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: a gross way, or something that is uh sort has 227 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: some kind of like health vibe, Like it looks like 228 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: infected skin or holes in skin, or some kind of 229 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: bite or something like the kind of a necrotic bite 230 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 1: that you might imagine someone would get in their worst 231 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: nightmares from a brown recluse, you know that kind of thing. Um. Yeah, 232 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 1: they they tie into our like deepest, most primal fears 233 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:47,959 Speaker 1: and desires, just pure eroticism or just pure in necrotic 234 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: damage or indeed holes opening up in the earth. You know, 235 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: it's got to be something extreme like that to make 236 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: it into that grid of horror. Yeah. The toilet with 237 00:12:57,520 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: the rat coming up through it, remember that one. Oh, 238 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: I think I've seen that when I was a common 239 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: chumbox image or the like. You know, doctors say never 240 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: eat this vegetable, but they don't tell you what it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 241 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: sometimes it is. Um. It. It's economic as well. You know, 242 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: there'll be some sort generally it's like a picture of 243 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: an old person and just a few like alarming words 244 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: about you know, investments and retirement or something. Right, but 245 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,199 Speaker 1: that is the world. Well, sinkholes are actually in their 246 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: own way. I mean, of course they can be horrifying, 247 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: they can be destructive to human life, but they are 248 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: also fascinating in their own way. In the natural way, 249 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: they are wonderful. Uh. There can be beautiful uh legends 250 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: and stories attached to them, and so I don't know, 251 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: I feel like they are the most uh naturally beautiful 252 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: thing that that fits in the chum box. I mean 253 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: the rat and the toilet can't compete. I mean the 254 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: rat and the toilet. We could do an episode on 255 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: that as well. But yeah, I agree, the sinkholes need 256 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: to be rescued from the chum box. Uh. And and 257 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: that's kind of what we're doing in in this episode 258 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and the possible second 259 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: episode of Follan. Alright, so sinkholes are formed in a 260 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,839 Speaker 1: number of ways, but most naturally occurring sinkholes, like most 261 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: other things on planet Earth, in the end, come back 262 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: to the power of water. Water, of course, is the 263 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: molecule of life, largely because of its power as a 264 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: master solvent, and in much the same way really that 265 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: water created life on Earth, probably it also creates many 266 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: of Earth's most astounding geologic features. And so this is 267 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: how we we get sinkholes for the most part. So 268 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: as carbon dioxide in the air or in the soil 269 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: mixes with rain water, that mixture forms a weak acid 270 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: with the with the chemical formula H two c O three. 271 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: So what you've got there is you've got your H 272 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: two oh the water, and then you've got your C 273 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: O two the carbon dioxide. They react, they make a 274 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: compound with two hydrogens, one carbon and three oxygen's. And 275 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: this weak acid formed in the atmosphere or in the 276 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: soil is known as carbonic acid, and it is the 277 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: primary reason that caves exist. Now most caves in the world, 278 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: not all, but most are formed by the drainage of 279 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: acidified water through what you might call soluble rock and uh. 280 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: Soluble rock are types of rock that can react chemically 281 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: with this water and be dissolved and carried away. Now 282 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: they're they're multiple kinds of soluble rock, including minerals like 283 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: salt and gypsum, But probably the most important, or at 284 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: least the most charismatic, is limestone, which is in itself 285 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 1: a fascinating and even mind boggling rock. And sometimes I 286 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: really do think a lot about limestone, and maybe people 287 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: are aren't inclined to be as impressed by it as 288 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,119 Speaker 1: I am. But if you don't believe me that limestone 289 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: is amazing, I think it's worth considering that if you 290 00:15:58,040 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: live in an area of the world you know this 291 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: primary resting on limestone, which in the United States would 292 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: include huge portions of like Florida and the coastal southeast, 293 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: big parts of the Midwest. If you live in a 294 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: place like that dominated by this this carbonate rock, you 295 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: are walking around every day on rock that is probably 296 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: mostly built out of dead bodies. Limestone can be formed 297 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: in a number of ways. Some of those ways are 298 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: a biotic, but one of the major processes that forms 299 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: limestone is the gradual deposition of the shells and other 300 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: hard calcium carbonate body parts of animals and other tiny 301 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: organisms in the oceans and rivers and lakes where they 302 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: accumulate on the bottoms of these water sources over millions 303 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: of years, and apparently feces also in general, waste products 304 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: can contribute as well. So the calcium based body parts 305 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: of algae and coral and oysters and all kinds of 306 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: creatures of the sea settle in the deep, and then 307 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: they're pressed down and paved over by time and pressure 308 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: until they become layers of sedimentary rock. I really just 309 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: think about that. Sometimes limestone is largely made out of 310 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: life that has died and become rock, like the fallen 311 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: creatures of Earth pile up and become part of the 312 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: crust of the Earth itself. Wow, it's like it's like 313 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: the Medusa's layer, right, all these like the petrified bodies. Oh, 314 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: that's I wish I had thought of that when we 315 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: were doing our Medusa episodes. Except I guess in the 316 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: Medusa Garden that they keep their form right here. They 317 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,120 Speaker 1: just sort of like go back to whence they came. 318 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: They become part of this mass. But anyway, it's via 319 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: rocks like this that we get so many of the 320 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: naturally occurring sinkholes on the Earth. So how do they form? Well, 321 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: imagine that there is a storm, it rains here in 322 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: an area with some kind of soluble rock. Let's say 323 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,239 Speaker 1: it's a it's a carbonate rock, it's like limestone, and 324 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: rainwater collects on the surface of the earth and then 325 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: runs downhill. And if that rainwater drains down in two 326 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 1: cracks insoluble rock like limestone, things begin to happen much 327 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: in the same way that you can dissolve table salt 328 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 1: or sugar and a glass of water. The crystal contents 329 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: of these soluble rock surfaces are gradually dissolved in and 330 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: carried away by that acidified water. And over tens or 331 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of years, that dissolution of the rock 332 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: by acidic water can turn what might have started as 333 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: this tiny stress fracture in a chunk of bedrock into 334 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: an underground cavern large enough for a human to climb into. 335 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: And of course, as the centuries go on, these these 336 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,239 Speaker 1: voids created by the drainage pathways of water can just 337 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: get bigger and bigger. They can form underground rivers that 338 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: form larger and larger voids. And it's this dissolution of 339 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: soluble rock by water that usually leads to the creation 340 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: of sinkholes. Uh though these voids in the rock, I 341 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: think sometimes maybe geologists will get picky about this, these 342 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: voids in the rock are not technically themselves sinkhole, and 343 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: we would normally think of them as voids or just 344 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: caves right there, their caves in the rock. Um. Rather, 345 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: a sinkhole is more of a topographical designation. It's a 346 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: topographical concept about the ground and the surface of the earth. 347 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: So according to the U S Geological Survey, a sinkhole 348 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: is quote an area of ground that has no natural 349 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:25,719 Speaker 1: external surface drainage. So like in one of these areas, 350 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: if it rains, water just pools in and there's nowhere 351 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 1: on the surface level that allows this water to run out. 352 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: So if the water leaves, it's either evaporating into the 353 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 1: air or it's draining out through somewhere in the bottom. Sinkholes, 354 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: of course, can form gradually over hundreds or hundreds of 355 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: thousands of years, often of steady dissolution, or they can 356 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: form quite suddenly. For example, when the ground over a 357 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: void in the limestone below is suddenly just suddenly there's 358 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: not enough for it to support its own weight, and 359 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,400 Speaker 1: then it just collapses and reveals the void that had 360 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: been there for so long. Uh. And we know that 361 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: the sudden appearance of a sinkhole can have these devastating 362 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: effects on human settlements and uh whatever is lying on 363 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: the surface, which will get into more later, but it 364 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 1: can also have strange, otherworldly effects simply on the geological 365 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: and hydrological landscape itself. And I wanted to share one 366 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,639 Speaker 1: amazing example that I came across while I was reading 367 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: up for this episode. This was the opening paragraph in 368 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: an article for The New Yorker by David Owen. There 369 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: was an article about sinkholes called Notes from Underground, and this, 370 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: this paragraph really gave me chills when I got to 371 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: the end of it. So, uh, if you don't mind, 372 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: I just want to share this here. In the fall 373 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: of nine, much of Lake Jackson, a four thousand acre 374 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 1: natural body of water just north of Tallahassee and a 375 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: popular site for fishing, water skiing, and recreational boating, disappeared 376 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: down a hole like a bathtub, emptying into a drain trophy. 377 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: Bass became stranded in rapidly shrinking eddies, enabling children to 378 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: catch them with their hands and toss them into picnic coolers, 379 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,919 Speaker 1: and many of the lake's other fish, turtles, snakes, and 380 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: alligators vanished into the earth at various times. During the 381 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: next few years, the lake partially refilled, redrained, and refilled again. 382 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Arthur, who is Florida's state geologist and the director 383 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: of the Florida Geological Survey, was among several people who, 384 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: during a dry period descended a ladder into the main opening, 385 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: which was about eight feet in diameter. Quote, you could 386 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: climb down twelve feet or so and then walk under 387 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 1: the lake bed. He told me recently, I hadn't gone 388 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: very far before my red flags went up, and I 389 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: was like, maybe I won't go any farther. So that image, 390 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 1: it combined with the way it's phrase that that really 391 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: gave me goose bumps. Yeah. Yeah, the idea of yeah, 392 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: I mean, it really feels like like a place you 393 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: do not belong. The you know, the the cave beneath 394 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: the lake that is uh yeah, that that that could 395 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: potentially fill back up at any moment. Well. And also, 396 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: I mean, I think anybody who, especially people who do 397 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: like scuba diving and stuff, are made uniquely aware of 398 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: the dangers of of being in places that combine water 399 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: and overhead rock. Like Yes, absolutely that that can be 400 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: an especially dangerous and and suddenly dangerous surprisingly dangerous combination 401 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: of features. Yeah, I mean, even if you are an 402 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: experience cave diver, cave diving is dangerous. Uh so um so, yeah, 403 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: that is a dangerous realm to to go down into, 404 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: for sure. Now, I figured it would be worth talking 405 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,880 Speaker 1: about a few of the different ways that natural sinkholes form. Um. Obviously, 406 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: things will be a little bit different if you're talking 407 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: about sinkholes, you know, created by human activity, though human 408 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: activity can also contribute to some of the things I'm 409 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: about to talk about. But but if you're talking about 410 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:02,159 Speaker 1: natural sinkholes in a carbonate rock like limestone. Um. There 411 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 1: are three main pathways that were highlighted in uh in 412 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: several sources, in my major source here just being the U. S. 413 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: Geological Survey, who has great materials about this, um and 414 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: so the first one is dissolution sinkholes. These are relatively 415 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:19,880 Speaker 1: gentle sinkholes. You can think of it as a kind 416 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: of top down sinkhole. Here, what you should picture is 417 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: that you've got a thin layer of what would be 418 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: called overburden, and overburden just means whatever stuff's on top 419 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: of the rock that makes up the ground. So this 420 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: means soil could be sand, could be clay, pebbles, rocks, 421 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,119 Speaker 1: other material resting on top of the rock layer on 422 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: the surface. Now, in a dissolution sinkhole, rain comes down 423 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: and it collects in a depression in the soluble rock 424 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: and just continues to dissolve and deepen that depression over 425 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: time as water gradually percolates down into cracks or joints 426 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: in the rock below. These tend to form very gradually, 427 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: so you can picture kind of a a gentle sort 428 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,119 Speaker 1: of dip or pond in the rock that water is 429 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: going into, and slowly, over time it's draining down into 430 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: the rock below through some cracks or other types of openings, 431 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,479 Speaker 1: and as it does so, it is dissolving more and 432 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: more of the rock and carrying it away. The next 433 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: type would be cover subsidence sinkholes, and this is where 434 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: you've got a lower level of soluble rock that gets 435 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: dissolved by the process we've already talked about, you know, 436 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: water running through it opening up a void in the rock. 437 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: And in this case, if the soil or overburden that 438 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,160 Speaker 1: is above that layer of rock has certain physical characteristics, 439 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: I think, especially if it's like a more free flowing 440 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: kind of granular sediment like sand. Basically, the overburden or 441 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: the soil above kind of gradually pours down into the 442 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: void that opens up. You can imagine it being kind 443 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: of like sand pouring down from the top half of 444 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: an hour glass into the bottom half, and and that 445 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 1: that overburden pours down fills the void up partially. But 446 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: as it does so, it's sort of like creates a depression, 447 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: of visible depression in the surface of the overburden. And 448 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: these types of pits tend to develop pretty gradually and 449 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,199 Speaker 1: not be all that deep or all that dangerous. Right, 450 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: You've probably seen pits like this before. You're just walking 451 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: through a field and suddenly there's just a depression in 452 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: the ground. Very possibly what's going on there is this 453 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: cover substance sinkhole. The soil is just kind of draining 454 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: into a void in the rock below. Now, of course, 455 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: it's worth noting in all of this, even these milder 456 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: forms of the sinkhole can certainly be destructive if you 457 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: have some sort of humanum structure built atop of it, 458 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: or a road, etcetera, which is sometimes the case, right, 459 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,120 Speaker 1: But these first two have the benefit of not being sudden. 460 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: You know that they're going to take time to develop. 461 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 1: The third category, this is the real monster that could 462 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: inspire the geo myth potentially. This is the cover collapse, sinkhole, 463 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: and these are the ones that can potentially happen in 464 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: an instant and at least in the United States, they 465 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: tend to be most common in places where the overburden 466 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: is mostly clay. So again, you start the same way 467 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: that the last one did. Avoid opens up in the 468 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: underlying layer of soluble rock, and then the lower levels 469 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: of the overburden gradually drained down into the cavity in 470 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: the rock. And as this happens, what you get is 471 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: a cavity gradually opening up from from below and climbing 472 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: up into the overburden or the soil itself. So imagine again, 473 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: you've got to rock with a cavity or avoid in it, 474 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: and then maybe a layer of clay, and so the 475 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: clay on the bottom starts to seep down into that 476 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: cavern below and it just opens up a bigger and 477 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: bigger void in the clay. And eventually what's going to 478 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 1: happen there is that that void in the clay reaches 479 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: a point where where the collapsing roof of the void 480 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: breaches the surface, which means whatever is on the surface 481 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,480 Speaker 1: falls into the hole. And that surface might well be 482 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 1: a road or a lake bed, or the ground under 483 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: a building. And this is the example where we can 484 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: see sudden collapses that can be deadly and destructive and 485 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: terrifying because suddenly what you thought was solid ground is 486 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: revealed to have long had had to void beneath it, 487 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,640 Speaker 1: and suddenly it can't support whatever is on it anymore, 488 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: and it all goes down into the void. It's basically 489 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: like a trap door effect. You know, that's the that's 490 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: the terrifying part about it. You know, that's like suddenly 491 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: there is this opening beneath this and and people, you know, 492 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: can can build things without having any idea that that's 493 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 1: what's down there. Yeah, I mean, we've we've gotten to 494 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:45,959 Speaker 1: the point where if we know what we're looking for, 495 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: especially you know, we we have more tools at our disposal, 496 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,600 Speaker 1: uh for detecting sink holes and potential sink holes, and 497 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 1: in keeping track of of existing sink holes that maybe 498 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: expanding but but expanding have expanded. But yeah, for the 499 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: most part, like that that the the idea here is 500 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: that you don't know what's going to happen, and then 501 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: suddenly there's this chasm there in the earth. Now. Another 502 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,679 Speaker 1: thing that's interesting to me about sinkholes is that we 503 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: often think about geological events like earthquakes and volcanoes as 504 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,360 Speaker 1: what people sometimes call acts of God, you know, natural 505 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: events that occur for reasons vastly beyond our control and 506 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: that we can do nothing to stop. But there is 507 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,719 Speaker 1: some indication that human activity may have more impact on 508 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: some massive geological events than once thought, and it certainly 509 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: appears to have an effect on the proliferation of sinkholes 510 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: in particular. In other words, sinkhole collapses can it seems 511 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: absolutely be invited by human behavior, as will probably discuss 512 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: more as we go on, but in broad strokes, it 513 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: appears that sinkhole collapses can be induced by uh. So, 514 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: one thing is human construction and other changes in the 515 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: top level terrain, especially how that affects water drainage. So 516 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: you're moving earth around and changing the way that water 517 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: drains on the surface. That can lead to sinkle collapses. 518 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: But also pumping of groundwater is a huge thing here. 519 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: You pump out groundwater from deep underground uh the pressure 520 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: of the natural water that's in the ground helps keep 521 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: the soil above it in place. So if you take 522 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: that water out, you lower the groundwater level, you can 523 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: cause collapses of the overburden lying over now evacuated aquifer voids. 524 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: Another thing that seems kind of relevant to that story 525 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: you started with. Remember the sinkle collapse that turned out 526 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: to lead to a mine down below in South Dakota. 527 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: The mine was a gypsum mine. So gypsum is a 528 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: major mineral that's that's in the ground there. We've been 529 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: focusing a lot on limestone, but one thing to note 530 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: that I did read also from the U. S Geological 531 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: Survey was that other types of underlying rock layers, such 532 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: as minerals like salt and gypsum, those can sometimes dissolve 533 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: and form voids much fast to than even sedimentary carbonate 534 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: rocks like limestone. So limestone will form these voids with 535 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: water running through it over you know, thousands of years, 536 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: but apparently assault and gypsum, potentially with the right circumstances, 537 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 1: can form large voids in in a matter of you know, 538 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: days or months. Than well, let's get into some examples 539 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: of sinkholes. Uh. And granted there are so many sinkholes 540 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: that have either existed for you know, thousands of years 541 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,240 Speaker 1: or have just popped up in you know, recent decades. 542 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: But I want to start with one that I imagine 543 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 1: is instantly coming to a number of your minds. And 544 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: you're you're, especially when we were talking earlier about click 545 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: baity uh sinkholes, and that would be the two thousand 546 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: seven and especially the two thousand ten Guatemala City sinkholes. Um. 547 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: And they're they're worth mentioning for a couple of reasons. So, so, 548 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: first of all, there are some very dramatic photographs of 549 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: this thing. Photographs so dramatic that they they look photoshop. 550 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: You know, they don't look real. Absolutely, it looks like 551 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,560 Speaker 1: something out of a movie. Yeah. It looks like a 552 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: hole has been like a cylindrical hole has been bored 553 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: into this city escape and it just descends into absolute darkness. 554 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: It is. It's a terrifying image. Um. And And and 555 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:30,040 Speaker 1: when this these occurred, I mean, these were dramatic, traumatic events, 556 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: These were deadly occurrences. That two thousand seven sinkhole killed 557 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: five people and required the evacuation of more than a thousand. 558 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: The two thousand ten sinkhole swallowed a three story factory 559 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: and killed fifteen people. And in both cases, uh, it 560 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: seems to there seemed to have been a at least 561 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,360 Speaker 1: a trio of causes. So there was the impact of 562 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: tropical Storm Agatha as well as the Pacaya volcano eruption, 563 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:59,479 Speaker 1: but also leakage from sewer pipes and all of this. 564 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: So we're together to erode uncemented volcanic act, limestone and 565 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: other pyroclastic deposits beneath the city. And this case is 566 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:13,479 Speaker 1: actually so visually alarming. There's a Snopes article about it, 567 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: not because there seems to be like a lot of 568 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 1: misinformation about the event itself. Uh, but it gets picked 569 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 1: up continually on social media as if it just happened, 570 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,320 Speaker 1: as if it just happened, you know, this week or today, 571 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: as opposed to a decade ago. Right, So the photo 572 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,520 Speaker 1: is real, the story is real, but it's but what 573 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 1: needs to be debunked is that people want to just 574 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: like reintroduce it as newly relevant over and over again 575 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: because it will always get attention. It's so dramatic looking. Yeah. Uh. 576 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: There is also a good Atlas Obscure article about it, 577 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 1: though I have to point out that the Atlas Obscure article. 578 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: I think this is a feature of just things that 579 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: they have cataloged on the site. But it says sorry, 580 00:32:54,560 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 1: great Guatemalan sinkhole is permanently closed, which which is it 581 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: is a weird sentence to read. Now. Meanwhile, up here 582 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 1: in North America we have our own sinkholes of note. 583 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: For instance, there are two giant West Texans sinkholes in 584 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: Wink and Kerment, Texas. They're located about a mile apart, 585 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: and these are similar to the Guatemalan sinkholes, and that 586 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 1: we have definite uh uh connection to human activities. These 587 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: were caused by oil and gas extraction in the area, 588 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: especially during the heyday of nineteen twenty six through nineteen 589 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: sixty four. Uh Wink Sinc. Number One opened in nineteen 590 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 1: eighty and Wink Sinc. Number Two open twenty two years 591 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: later in two thousand and two. And I was looking 592 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: at a two thousand sixteen Southern Methodist University study where 593 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,520 Speaker 1: they were they were taking a look at these sinkholes 594 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: and the fact that they seem to be expanding because 595 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: the ground there is still unstable due to changing groundwater 596 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: levels and dissolving minerals um. However, like I said, are 597 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: they were now able to use stuff like satellite monitoring 598 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: to keep a better track of sinkhole development and progress. 599 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:02,360 Speaker 1: But again, this is a case someone to what we 600 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,920 Speaker 1: were describing earlier, where we've taken stuff out of the 601 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: ground and in doing so we have disrupted like the 602 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: you know, the natural balance of things down they're making uh, 603 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 1: sinkholes more likely to occur. Looking at a picture of 604 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: the wink sinkholes, Uh, just not as impressive as some 605 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 1: of these because the water level seems to have been 606 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 1: filled up pretty close to the top. So it looks 607 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: like just a weird pit in the middle of the 608 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: desert that could be like a lake. It's just you know, 609 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: water in it. But uh, but I imagine if you 610 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:34,280 Speaker 1: that water were to drained out, it would look pretty 611 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,359 Speaker 1: pretty messed up. Yeah. Plus, the bar is pretty high 612 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 1: for spectacular looking sinkholes, as we'll continue to see as 613 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 1: we discuss other sinkholes in the in in this episode 614 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: in the one to follow. Well, so I was wondering, 615 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 1: what's the what's the deepest known sinkhole on planet Earth? Oh, well, 616 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: if we want to go to the deepest, uh, then 617 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: we have to go to China. That is where we 618 00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: encounter China's um. This is the the the Shijia uh 619 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:06,520 Speaker 1: Tien King or the Heavenly Pit, and it's it's named 620 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 1: for a nearby village and then uh Tien King just 621 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: means heavenly pit. And it's located near Chuanshing in southwest China. 622 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,719 Speaker 1: It's apparently six hundred and twenty six meters or two 623 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:23,240 Speaker 1: thousand and fifty four ft long. It is five hundred 624 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,560 Speaker 1: and thirty seven meters or a thousand, six hundred sixty 625 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,880 Speaker 1: two feet wide, and it is between five hundred eleven 626 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:32,400 Speaker 1: and six hundred and sixty two meters deep or between 627 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: one thousand, six hundred and seventy seven to two thousand, 628 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy two ft deep, So it's deep 629 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 1: that it is an enormous hole. And this is one 630 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: that I recommend looking at pictures of because it's is 631 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,839 Speaker 1: really splendid looking. It's beautiful because it um. You have 632 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,320 Speaker 1: the it's it's you have this this this double um. 633 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: It's like a double pit. There's like the initial pit 634 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: and then the pit below. You have vertical walls going 635 00:35:57,880 --> 00:35:59,839 Speaker 1: down to a little area that tapers off and then 636 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 1: or vertical walls going down even further that there's some 637 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 1: rich vegetation around it. Um, it's it's really beautiful to 638 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: look at, and indeed it is a tourist attraction if 639 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,760 Speaker 1: you travel there. There apparently two thousand, eight hundred steps 640 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:16,279 Speaker 1: constructed that allow visitors to journey all the way down 641 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: to the bottom of that second nested pit, which I 642 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 1: was reading. I think it takes you're gonna spend like 643 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,399 Speaker 1: a couple of hours doing that. I think I read 644 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: that this is also a limestone pit, and yeah, one 645 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:29,239 Speaker 1: of the great things about it is pits of the 646 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: size and of of this age. You know, it's been 647 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,600 Speaker 1: around for a long time where the surface life has 648 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:39,120 Speaker 1: just poured down into it, so you know, it looks 649 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: almost like the forest is spilling into the pit. And 650 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: of course that you know, it's a habitat for many animals. 651 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 1: I think I saw a report that maybe rare like 652 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,919 Speaker 1: the clouded leopard had been spotted there. I think, oh, interesting. Yeah, 653 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: you see time and time again reading about different sinkholes 654 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 1: that they inevitably become uh an interesting place to look 655 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: at biodiversity. And we'll get we'll get more into that later. 656 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: But yeah, these are these end up being. You know, 657 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 1: they're not just especially ones that have been there for 658 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 1: a considerable amount of time. They're not just holes in 659 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:14,400 Speaker 1: the earth. They don't remain voids. Nature feels that void, 660 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,759 Speaker 1: and it does so in very remarkable ways. Now, there 661 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:23,239 Speaker 1: are numerous um heavenly pits in this region of China, 662 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:25,880 Speaker 1: and I can only imagine that there are some really 663 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: interesting traditions and legends about these geologic features. But I 664 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,360 Speaker 1: have to admit that I could not find any of them, 665 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,440 Speaker 1: at least none that had been translated into English. So 666 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 1: if anybody out there has that information, I would love 667 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,920 Speaker 1: to hear about it, because a sinkhole like this is 668 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,319 Speaker 1: just it's just too amazing. And it's been around way 669 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:47,160 Speaker 1: too long. It's been around since ancient times, so there 670 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:49,919 Speaker 1: have to be some cool traditions and legends regarding its 671 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:53,799 Speaker 1: origin and things that live there, et cetera. Yeah, like you, 672 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,319 Speaker 1: I was looking for similar things and I couldn't find 673 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: any any any cultural context for it. But I would 674 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 1: love to if you know out there now there is 675 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: another Chinese sinkhole of note that does have some cool 676 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,920 Speaker 1: legend applied to it, and that is a dragon hole 677 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:14,360 Speaker 1: in the Paracel Islands. It's nine four feet deep two 678 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,640 Speaker 1: hundred and nine so this is out in the ocean. 679 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: It's also known as the Young Lu Dragon Hole, named 680 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: for the fifteenth century Mean dynasty Young Lu Emperor Um. 681 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,520 Speaker 1: It's also known as the Eye of the South China Sea. 682 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: And the tradition here is that this is where the 683 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:36,360 Speaker 1: Monkey King Uh Soon Will Kong finds his golden cudgel 684 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 1: in Journey to the West, So this would be his 685 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,040 Speaker 1: magical staff. If you've ever seen a movie with the 686 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,320 Speaker 1: with the Monkey King in it or seeing images of 687 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,840 Speaker 1: the Monkey King, this is his big, amazing fighting staff. 688 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,360 Speaker 1: So he actually gets it from this pit. Well that 689 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,719 Speaker 1: is that is what that they've sort of taken the 690 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 1: story and said, oh, this must be the pit, okay, 691 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: because in the story he has to retrieve it from 692 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,279 Speaker 1: the underwater kingdom of of our Guang, the Dragon King 693 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:05,280 Speaker 1: of the East Sea, and uh yeah, this this amazing 694 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:09,759 Speaker 1: magical staff, the the compliant golden hooped rod or has 695 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,720 Speaker 1: it also been translated as the as you will gold 696 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: banded cudgel? Um? Oh I see compliant or as you will? Yeah, yeah, 697 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 1: it's um. They're also there's legends that this may have 698 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,360 Speaker 1: been you the Great's measuring stick for determining the depths 699 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,239 Speaker 1: of the Great Flood, So it has that would make 700 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:29,040 Speaker 1: sense that you know, that would be underwater because there's 701 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,400 Speaker 1: this connection to the depths, and so anyway, he dives 702 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,239 Speaker 1: down into this hole and retrieves it. Now is this, Uh, 703 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:37,440 Speaker 1: this is a picture of this pit that you've attached 704 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: here for us to look at. Yes, so again, it's 705 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:42,080 Speaker 1: out out in the water, and it's just like a 706 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:45,520 Speaker 1: sudden deep section of the of the water, a hole 707 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:50,400 Speaker 1: in the sea floor that contains you know, dark depths. 708 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 1: You may have seen pictures of sinkholes in tropical oceans 709 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,520 Speaker 1: like this before, for example, if you've ever seen a 710 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,919 Speaker 1: picture of the Great Blue Hole, which as I think 711 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:03,800 Speaker 1: isn't believe. Um, yes, because so the way that looks 712 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,000 Speaker 1: from above is that, yeah, you'll see a sort of 713 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:10,680 Speaker 1: just ring of dark blue surrounded by much lighter blue. Uh. 714 00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,360 Speaker 1: As as I guess that just reflects the sudden difference 715 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: in depth. Yeah, exactly, it's this is very much in 716 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,400 Speaker 1: keeping with the Great Blue Hole, just maybe less dramatic looking, 717 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 1: but still extremely beautiful. Now in s is reported by 718 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:27,279 Speaker 1: Danny Lewis for Smithsonian mag dot com researchers discovered uh 719 00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:30,959 Speaker 1: like something like forty nine sinkholes clustered close together while 720 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:35,640 Speaker 1: serving the chin Ling Bashan Mountains in China's uh Uh 721 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:40,400 Speaker 1: Shaunzi Province, the largest being one thousand, seven hundred and 722 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 1: six ft or five hundred and nineteen meters wide and 723 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 1: a thousand and fifty or three hundred and twenty feet deep. 724 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: So um, yeah, it's uh we keep finding these things, 725 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,600 Speaker 1: you know, or in many cases, rediscovering them, and every 726 00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:56,840 Speaker 1: time discoveries like this you're made. You know, it's not 727 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:00,560 Speaker 1: just an interesting geologic curio, it's a fresh operatunity to 728 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:05,280 Speaker 1: gaze back in time to understand geology, biology, and even 729 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,200 Speaker 1: the climate of the region in in times past. Oh yeah, 730 00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:11,480 Speaker 1: because this is an interesting thing. You were pointing out 731 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,680 Speaker 1: when we started looking at this, that sinkholes are often 732 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: used as a kind of scientific time capsule, That there 733 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 1: are ways that sinkholes can tell us things about the 734 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,759 Speaker 1: past that the surface can't do quite as easily. Absolutely, 735 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,760 Speaker 1: and I think we'll start our next episode by diving 736 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,680 Speaker 1: into that, discussing the ways that sinkholes are are very 737 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: often time capsules that we can unlock that we can 738 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,200 Speaker 1: we can venture into not just to you know, to 739 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,080 Speaker 1: to to be in awe of the of the you know, 740 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:44,080 Speaker 1: this dramatic environment around us, but to uncover the secrets 741 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:46,480 Speaker 1: of the Earth and the secrets of the ecosystem. I 742 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:48,120 Speaker 1: can't wait. We got a lot of cool stuff to 743 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 1: talk about. Next time we can talk about UH. Sinkholes 744 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:55,920 Speaker 1: in religions, sinkholes in space, sinkholes as time capsules. It's 745 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:59,080 Speaker 1: gonna be great, That's right. And in the meantime, if 746 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:00,920 Speaker 1: you want to check out other episodes of Stuff to 747 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:02,680 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind, you know where to get them. You 748 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: can get them in the Stuff to Blow your Mind 749 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,080 Speaker 1: podcast feed and you'll find that wherever you get your podcast, 750 00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:11,319 Speaker 1: Just rate, review and subscribe UH to support us. We 751 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:13,200 Speaker 1: have core episodes of Stuff to Blow Your Mind every 752 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:17,520 Speaker 1: Tuesday and Thursday. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we have What's 753 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 1: Seen an episode of the Artifact. We have some listener 754 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,120 Speaker 1: mail trickling in every week, and on Friday's we do 755 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:26,200 Speaker 1: a little weird House Cinema. That's our chance to discuss 756 00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:29,040 Speaker 1: a weird movie. You know, not not lean into the 757 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,480 Speaker 1: science too much, but more lean into the weird. Huge 758 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:36,040 Speaker 1: Thanks as always, to our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. 759 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:37,920 Speaker 1: If you'd like to get in touch with us with 760 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,680 Speaker 1: feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest topic 761 00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,160 Speaker 1: for the future, just to say hello, you can email 762 00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:53,880 Speaker 1: us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 763 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:56,440 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow your Mind. It's production of I Heart Radio. 764 00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:58,920 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart radiocause at the I 765 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,759 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listening to 766 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:18,400 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. U