Sinkhole Swallows Trees

Louisiana has been sinking under rising waters for an awful long time, as you can see in some frightening pictures here. The Assumption Parish sinkhole in Louisiana had been growing for a year now before this happened in 2013. You can see a clump of cypress trees being swallowed by the hole. First the trees lean a little, then they disappear, then the water rushes into the hole, lowering the water level as you can see on the remaining tree trunks.

The sinkhole has been growing since it emerged from the swamps sometime late on Aug. 2 or early on Aug. 3, 2012, as the suspected result of a salt dome cavern failure deep underground months beforehand.

Scientists have said this growth is expected as the hole seeks a final shape and size, a geologic process that may take years.

Though the watery hole — now approaching some 25 acres in size at the surface with some sections that may plunge hundreds of feet deep — has undergone continuing edge collapses or slough-ins, rarely have such sizeable failures been caught on video.

No matter what you think you can engineer, the earth and its waters will have their way.  (via Daily Picks and Flicks)