Giant sinkholes resembling biblical prophecies are appearing en masse in Turkey
Kyiv • UNN
Turkey is experiencing an increase in large sinkholes caused by drought and uncontrolled groundwater extraction. In Konya province alone, 648 serious sinkholes have been identified, threatening agriculture and infrastructure.
In Turkey, large sinkholes are increasingly being recorded, some of which reach tens or even hundreds of meters in depth. Although some superstitious people see signs of higher powers in this and even mention biblical prophecies, the scientific explanation for these sinkholes is quite clear. This is reported by the publication DailyMail, according to UNN.
Details
According to the Turkish Emergency Management Authority, 648 serious sinkholes have been recorded in Konya province alone, mainly due to prolonged drought and intensive, uncontrolled groundwater abstraction.
Researchers at Konya Technical University have identified more than 20 new sinkholes in the past year, adding to the nearly 1,900 sites already mapped by 2021 where the ground has slowly subsided or begun to collapse.
Until the 2000s, such collapses were rare, occurring once every few decades. However, over the past 25 years, the situation has significantly worsened: global climate change, lack of precipitation, and depletion of groundwater have caused dozens of large sinkholes to appear annually, some of which are more than 30 meters in diameter.
Falling groundwater levels exacerbate the problem, leading to drying wells, stress on ecosystems, reduced yields, and ground subsidence. Farmers who pump more water to save sugar beet and corn crops only worsen the situation.
It is noted that there have already been cases where farmers lost crops or were forced to leave dangerous areas.
Data from NASA's Earth Observatory confirm the scale of the problem: in 2021, water levels in Turkish reservoirs reached a 15-year low, and local geological services note a sharp drop in groundwater in Konya over the past decades.
Similar threats extend to other regions of the world. Researchers record such phenomena in the US, Asian countries, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Australia. In the US, the situation is particularly critical in the Great Plains, California's Central Valley, and the Southeast.
Texas, Florida, New Mexico, and Arizona are expected to see an increase in sinkholes under conditions of drought and weak water management. Monitoring shows that parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming have already reached critical moisture deficits.
The mechanism of sinkhole formation is well understood: in arid areas, water is massively pumped from limestone rocks, drying out underground cavities that previously maintained soil stability. When the water disappears, the "ceilings" of these caverns collapse, and within a few hours, large craters appear, swallowing fields, roads, and buildings.
Several such incidents have occurred in the US in recent years: from a 60-meter sinkhole in Upton County, Texas, near an old oil well, to collapses in southern New Mexico, where a 9-meter crater swallowed cars and forced people to evacuate.
Recall
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