Earth Changes: Massive Sinkhole In Florida Grows to 152 Feet Wide, Depth Still Unknown
POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Mosaic officials say they still don’t know the depth of a sinkhole that opened up at the Mosaic plant near Mulberry last month.
The hole opened up in August, but the public did not know about it until WFLA News Channel 8 broke the story.
On Monday, Mosaic officials released details about the size of the sinkhole, which ranges between 40 feet, and 150 feet in diameter at its widest point, and approximately 220 feet deep from the top of the gypstack. Mosaic recently used LIDAR/sonar equipment to measure the sinkhole. LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to provide three-dimensional mapping. This technology expedites the remediation process.
“Based on the survey results, the company now has a better understanding of the sinkhole dimensions – which is a critical step in remediating the sinkhole,” Mosaic said in a release. “We continue to work with closely with FDEP and continue to keep Polk County and Hillsborough County apprised of our efforts to remediate the sinkhole.”
It took an estimated 3 to 5 days to take the measurements. Mosaic does still not know the depth of the sinkhole, and until then, they cannot begin the process of repairing it. “Once we define what’s underneath it, and in the confining zone, we’ll know where to pump the concrete type material,” said Morris.
The process of filling the sinkhole could be very expensive. Mosaic’s CEO has previously estimated it could cost $50 million. They will not know the exact cost to fill the sinkhole until it is measured completely. Morris said they would start pouring a concrete-like material into the sinkhole in December. The goal is to have the hole completely plugged before next rainy season, May or June.
After remediation, it is unclear if Mosaic crews will ever be able to go near the ground and ever work safely in that area again.
News Channel 8 broke the story about the sinkhole, which is located at the New Wales plant off Highway 640, just south of Mulberry. The giant sinkhole sucked hundreds of gallons of radioactive water from a gypsum stack and dumped it into the aquifer.
As of October 17, 763 have been sampled. There are ten wells for which that showed signs of radioactivity. Morris said they were not related to the sinkhole. “It’s Florida. We have radioactive materials that are underneath the ground that are unrelated to our business. Also, there are other signature elements and molecules that go with our water and that’s not there [in the samples] so we know that’s not ours.”
TradCatKnight: "And the Earth Shall Swallow up..."
Mysterious meteor-like objects fall from the sky in Kerala, India
Several mysterious meteor-like objects have fell from the sky and landed near the city of Peerumade in the Indian state of Kerala on October 18, 2016, creating moments of tension.
Although the image shows something similar to a meteorite, the undetermined object is not a rock.
Meteor-like objects that fell in Peerumade on Tuesday night created moments of tension.
District Collector G.R. Gokul told The Hindu that the image he received was similar to meteoroids. However, the object photographed was not a rock. An iron meteorite maybe?
People have been advised not to come in contact with these space objects.
A team of officials led by a senior scientist from the Geological Survey of India will examine the strange ‘rocks’ today.
Peermade police cordoned off the area where the objects fell from the sky. A police officer said that they had alerted the people about the fallen objects and they would not be allowed to go near the objects.
Meteor fireball seen shooting over Ottawa, Canada
© Eugene Deery/CBC
This still, taken from a dashcam video submitted by Eugene Deery, shows what could be a meteor streaking across the sky early Monday morning.
Mary Dallimore was driving north along the Airport Parkway just before 6 a.m. after dropping her husband off at the airport when she saw it.
"There were no cars in front of me, no cars coming at me, no cars behind me and I had a clear view of the sky. It wasn't there and then it was there. It happened so fast. I saw this bright, bright, bright light go in an arc over the city, and then it just disappeared as fast as it came," Dallimore said by phone later Monday morning.
"I've never seen anything like it. It was brilliant and I hope to see something like that again."
'It was so close'
The bright light flew low in the sky, but didn't appear to cross the horizon, Dallimore said.
"It was low over the horizon. It wasn't high at all. And it was just like a brilliant fireball, I guess. It was quite exquisite," she said.
"I figured it was a meteor right away. ... It didn't appear like anything man-made coming across the sky. And it was so close, or it appeared so close, it was like standing on Parliament Hill and watching the fireworks. That's how close it was. I thought it was terrific.
"It was exciting, for an old lady! ... I was blessed, wasn't I? I'll buy a lottery ticket today."
Sightings reported on social media
Other residents reported the sighting on social media sites Reddit, Twitter and Facebook.
