An ancient forest has been found at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in the Guangxi region of southern China. Scientists believe it could contain undiscovered plant and animal species.
- Among 30 sinkholes in Leye County this is the largest, at 306 metres long, 150 metres wide and 192 metres deep.
- The ancient trees growing at the bottom are nearly 40 meters high, and the dense shade plants are up to one’s shoulders.
What is a sinkhole?
- According to the USGS, a sinkhole is a depression in the ground that has no natural external surface drainage.
- Basically, this means that when it rains, all of the water stays inside the sinkhole and typically drains into the subsurface.
- Sinkholes are most common in the “karst terrain.” These are regions where the types of rock below the land surface can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them.
- Soluble rocks include salt beds and domes, gypsum, limestone and other carbonate rock. Florida, for instance, is an area largely underlain by limestone and is highly susceptible to sinkholes.
- When water from rainfall moves down through the soil, these types of rock begin to dissolve. This creates underground spaces and caverns.
- Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a period of time until the underground spaces just get too big.
- The largest sinkhole in the US is called the “Golly Hole”, which collapsed suddenly in 1972 and is over 325 ft long, 300 ft wide and 120 ft deep.
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