Friday, June 04, 2010

Piping feature

I can't see leaking pipes causing the sinkholes in Guatemala City. Most likely these holes are the direct result of subsidence due to excessive groundwater pumping. It may be that storms and leaky pipes precipitate the visible consequences, the sinkholes, but the root cause is many decades of excessive groundwater pumping.

in reference to:

"In fact, Bonis thinks calling the Guatemala City chasm a sinkhole is a misnomer—a true sinkhole is an entirely natural phenomenon. There is no scientific term for what happened in Guatemala, he said, adding that he recommends the pit be dubbed a piping feature."
- Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature (view on Google Sidewiki)

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