Sinkhole Discovered At Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds, Is it Safe?

One of Arkansas' most popular attractions has a new and interesting feature. A sinkhole. What does this mean?

Well, this is kind of creepy. From a video on YouTube the sinkhole was discovered after a recent maintenance of bulldozing and plowing the diamond mine field.

It now has a netted barricade surrounding it so no one will get too close to it. It will be interesting to find out how deep and how wide this sinkhole really is underneath the surface.

According to the video, the hole is about a foot in diameter and about a foot deep, from what they can tell. Then it spreads out around 15 feet.

What is a Sinkhole?

A sinkhole is a hole or depression that develops in the ground when rainwater seeps in and starts to dissolve a certain type of rock called karst terrain that is located underground.

According to the United States Geographical Survey's website,

When water from rainfall moves down through the soil, these types of rock begin to dissolve. This creates underground spaces and caverns.

Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a period of time until the underground spaces just get too big. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces, then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur.

The good news is, that visitors to the park are safe and no other sinkholes have been discovered. So yes, you can still go and enjoy digging for diamonds. Just don't go climbing around the area they have roped off. That is for your safety, just in case. You can get more information about the park at arkansasstateparks.com. 

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