Sink Holes showing up at alarming rate in Central Florida

In Hillsborough and Polk Counties here in central Florida, we have been getting 1-3 NEW sink holes daily. This all began after the long arctic freeze we had for a week or so--it was in the 20's many nights.

Some think that the cause is due to the farmers draining the local Aquifer to spray water on the crops to keep them protected (with a layer of ice).

And what is odd now, is three new 'depressions' showed up on off ramps off of I-4, but they seem to not want to admit they are sink holes.... now they are 'depressions'...

Come on.. I think there's a total of 20 now or around that in 4 days now. Anyone have any other ideas on why this is happening? Can farmers drain a local aquifer?

Could this be seismic maybe? I know there are no major faults in Florida, but maybe the actual plate movement is causing it? I don't know if there are any other sink holes besides central Florida, because of local news.. Anyone else in FL with news on anything odd?


www.cfnews13.com...


*Breaking at this moment*
www.theledger.com...


www.theledger.com...

www.theledger.com...

my sister lives on a lake in Lutz i hope her house doesnt sink in!!!!

Sounds to me like this is due to the freezing and then thawing of the ground. When the water in the soil (or anything else) freezes it expands. The more water there is in the soil the more it will expand, seeing that a lot of land in Florida is essentially just water that was "filled in", the ground there probably expanded quite a lot. Think if a can of soda left in the freezer, eventually the can will explode.

I have seen this happen many times, specifically in spots where there had been potholes filled. After a freeze it seemed like the "filler" for the potholes had never been put in.

Originally posted by Brahmanite
Sounds to me like this is due to the freezing and then thawing of the ground. When the water in the soil (or anything else) freezes it expands. The more water there is in the soil the more it will expand, seeing that a lot of land in Florida is essentially just water that was "filled in", the ground there probably expanded quite a lot. Think if a can of soda left in the freezer, eventually the can will explode.

I have seen this happen many times, specifically in spots where there had been potholes filled. After a freeze it seemed like the "filler" for the potholes had never been put in.

See, that's exactly what I thought.. It's had to believe they emptied an aquifer... it expanded enough to cause expansion of the limestone, and destabilized it enough that it lost its cohesion..

BTW, That "depression" on I-4 took 1,000 cubic yards of concrete (probably flowable fill). That's 100 (ONE HUNDRED) cement trucks of product. That is one hell of a sinkhole.

its HAARP

they are totally responsible for the sinkholes

RUN

reply to post by l neXus l


Whats wrong with you?

Yes - it was mainly the farmers (though everyone that used well water helped). It happened last time we had a long cold snap. Though this one was one of the worst ever.

You are dealing with an area around the town of Plant City FL. That area produces most of the winter strawberries in the US.

Plant City FL

But the strawberry is the crop for which Plant City is most widely known. The majority of the winter strawberries in the U.S. are grown on 8,300 acres of farmland surrounding Plant City. This area, rich in minerals and fertile soil, has a history of prosperity and promise that precedes the Civil War era.

Ok - so we have strawberries growing on 8,300 acres. The main method of keeping the strawberries when it drops below freezing is to run the sprinklers on them. This encases the berry and plant in a layer of ice and protects it. It also looks very pretty first thing in the morning.

Consider it got below freezing most every night for about a week straight. Conisder watering 8300 acres every night, all night, for a week. How much water is that??

Well it was enough water to cause the aquifer level to drop 60 feet. (see article below near the bottom - also there is a nice graphic of how it works there)

TBO - Sinkhole on I-4

The sinkholes have mostly been appearing since Monday in Hillsborough and Polk counties, where groundwater levels plummeted as farmers pumped millions of gallons of water to protect oranges and strawberries from freezing temperatures.

The aquifer level in some places fell 60 feet since the string of freezing nights started, said Robyn Felix, spokeswoman for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

So, as the water goes down - the ground sinks. I can tell you I live in the area and the ditches and streams were FULL of water running off from the fields.

This is some serious stuff! I wonder if any precautions are being taken at Walt Disney World which is surrounded by water, not to mention all the underground tunnels and what not. I sure would hate to see Mickey and pals end up down the drain!

Originally posted by savageheart
This is some serious stuff! I wonder if any precautions are being taken at Walt Disney World which is surrounded by water, not to mention all the underground tunnels and what not. I sure would hate to see Mickey and pals end up down the drain!

I doubt it, there are many aquifers, and it seems to be only happening in a 5-20 mile area around the farms...

I live in Lakeland, so I know all about the ice to protect the crops. Even went to a strawberry fest a few times.

Once we get some more rain (which it does all summer) we'll be fine..


BTW, 2 massive sink holes emptied an entire LAKE a few years ago.. this was quite a large lake too.. It was surreal seeing docks on dry land.. (many still are) it's not quite back to full levels yet.. The hole filled up..

Originally posted by l neXus l
its HAARP

they are totally responsible for the sinkholes

RUN

Heh, yeah.. Seems there's always that one person that says it, eh?

Originally posted by Pharyax
I live in Lakeland, so I know all about the ice to protect the crops. Even went to a strawberry fest a few times.

Once we get some more rain (which it does all summer) we'll be fine..


BTW, 2 massive sink holes emptied an entire LAKE a few years ago.. this was quite a large lake too.. It was surreal seeing docks on dry land.. (many still are) it's not quite back to full levels yet.. The hole filled up..

Heh - and I'm in Plant City. Small world!

Anyway, you are right - I heard on the local news today that the water level has started back up. Its a good thing too. Aside from the sinkholes I think around 600 people around here are without water because their wells went dry.

That's messed up.
Florida expanding and paving the Everglades has always been a problem.
We had a small sink hole where I work in NC, sucked a car into it. The driver got out in time. Scary. Took 2 cement trucks to fill and it was from a water main break.

[edit on 20-1-2010 by JJay55]

Wow, did not realize so many members lived in the area.

The aquifer is lower than it has ever been before. I blame the bottling companies. The strawberry farmers were just trying to protect a billion dollar industry. Hopefully this summer they will spend some money on cold protection that doesnt involve constant watering

reply to post by GW8UK


what are you talking about? i was totally kidding

I live just south of St. Johns county, FL and I did not hear anything about sinkholes around the first coast. So maybe it is just further south in Florida.

I live just south of St. Johns county, FL and I did not hear anything about sinkholes around the first coast. So maybe it is just further south in Florida.

Florida sits on top of caverns of limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, and dolomite, all of which dissolve, crack and break as water moves through the soil. As the water moves through the soil, it becomes more acidic and these formations start to crumble and cave in.

This is just a natural geologic formation in Florida. When I was a drilling fluids engineer back in the 80's, we drilled a number of wells in the Everglades and always drilled through underground caverns. Back then, the land didn't collapse into the caverns below, but all the development has caused changes on the surface, and the weight and load on the soil.

It's kinda like a house with a flat roof that collects 4 or 5' of snow. The weight of the snow overwhelms the roof and it collapses. Florida sits on top of underground caverns and the weight of all of the development and such is more than the "roof" of the underground caverns can hold up, so they collapse.

Originally posted by inthesticks
Florida sits on top of caverns of limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, and dolomite, all of which dissolve, crack and break as water moves through the soil. As the water moves through the soil, it becomes more acidic and these formations start to crumble and cave in.

This is just a natural geologic formation in Florida. When I was a drilling fluids engineer back in the 80's, we drilled a number of wells in the Everglades and always drilled through underground caverns. Back then, the land didn't collapse into the caverns below, but all the development has caused changes on the surface, and the weight and load on the soil.

It's kinda like a house with a flat roof that collects 4 or 5' of snow. The weight of the snow overwhelms the roof and it collapses. Florida sits on top of underground caverns and the weight of all of the development and such is more than the "roof" of the underground caverns can hold up, so they collapse.

Last summer when I drove to Miami I was surprised to see all the new construction there. Seems like below Jupiter everything is paved. The whole point of the penninsula is covered with cement now. Even houses have cement lawns rather than grass.

Just an update - evidently its supposed to freezing in the area tonight. Just got a recorded message stating that and asking to not use any water tonight.

reply to post by Brahmanite


I live in Central Florida and while it did get below freezing for a few nights, it was no where near cold enough for the ground to freeze. The grass & plants, yes, but not the ground.

During the cold snap the temps dropped below freezing at night but it warmed back up to the low to mid 40's during the days




[edit on 2/10/2010 by Sparky63]