Figure 15.11
Sinkholes. (A) Most sinkholes form gradually as limestone at Earth’s surface dissolves and is carried away by water. Sinkholes can give way quickly, destroying structures built on them (inset photo). When the lowest elevation of a sinkhole is lower than the water table, a sinkhole lake forms. (B) This Landsat satellite image of Florida is centered on Orlando. The dark areas are surface waters. Most of the lakes visible here are sinkhole lakes. Some of them are as large as 15 km (9 mi) across. For scale, this image is about 200 km (124 mi) across.(Top right: © Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images; B. EROS Center, U.S. Geological Survey)