Qué (quién) es sinkhole - definición
![Red Lake]] sinkhole in [[Croatia]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/07 Imotski Crveno Jezero (1).jpg?width=200 "Red Lake]] sinkhole in [[Croatia]]")
![The entire [[surface water]] flow of the [[Alapaha River]] near [[Jennings, Florida]] goes into a sinkhole leading to the [[Floridan Aquifer]] [[groundwater]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/AlapahaRiver2002.jpg?width=200 "The entire [[surface water]] flow of the [[Alapaha River]] near [[Jennings, Florida]] goes into a sinkhole leading to the [[Floridan Aquifer]] [[groundwater]]")
![Collapse sinkhole in [[Chinchón]], Spain.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Chinchón dolina c1991.jpg?width=200 "Collapse sinkhole in [[Chinchón]], Spain.")
![Sinkholes near the [[Dead Sea]], formed when underground salt is dissolved by freshwater intrusion, due to continuing sea-level drop.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Dead Sea sinkhole by David Shankbone.jpg?width=200 "Sinkholes near the [[Dead Sea]], formed when underground salt is dissolved by freshwater intrusion, due to continuing sea-level drop.")
![More than three acres of forest suddenly disappeared into this "December Giant" sinkhole in [[Montevallo]], Alabama, USA.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/December Giant sinkhole collapse USGS 1972.jpg?width=200 "More than three acres of forest suddenly disappeared into this \"December Giant\" sinkhole in [[Montevallo]], Alabama, USA.")
![Gouffre de Padirac]] in France known since the 3rd c. and explored in 1889](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Gouffre-v-hdr.jpg?width=200 "Gouffre de Padirac]] in France known since the 3rd c. and explored in 1889")
![The [[Great Blue Hole]] near [[Ambergris Caye]], Belize](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Great Blue Hole.jpg?width=200 "The [[Great Blue Hole]] near [[Ambergris Caye]], Belize")
Wikipedia
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A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as vrtače and shakeholes, and to openings where surface water enters into underground passages known as ponor, swallow hole or swallet. A cenote is a type of sinkhole that exposes groundwater underneath. Sink and stream sink are more general terms for sites that drain surface water, possibly by infiltration into sediment or crumbled rock.
Most sinkholes are caused by karst processes – the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks, collapse or suffosion processes. Sinkholes are usually circular and vary in size from tens to hundreds of meters both in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. Sinkholes may form gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide.
