Imagine that you are walking down a deserted road and you find a huge round crater 32 meters wide and 64 meters deep. This is exactly what happened to some residents of Tierra Amarilla, a small town of about 15,000 in the Atacama region of northern Chile. The hole appeared, apparently “out of nowhere” on a road that crosses land owned by a mining company.

A week later, the failure increased. According to the latest satellite measurements, the current diameter is 36.5 meters.

In light of the incident, Chile’s National Geological and Mining Service (Sernageomin) ordered the Candelaria mining company to stop all activities in the area while the team investigates the possible causes of the failure. Sernageomin also initiated disciplinary proceedings against the company.

How did the funnel form?

According to geologists interviewed by BBC News Mundo, the BBC’s Spanish-language news service, the sinkhole could be caused by a variety of natural phenomena as well as human activities. There are two most likely causes: heavy rains that hit the region in July and mining in the area.

Chilean geophysicist Christian Farias, director of civil engineering and geology at the Catholic University of Temuco in Chile, explains how the rains could have formed the crater. There are many layers of soil and many ways in which

water can ruin it. When too much rainwater falls on gypsum-rich soils, the water seeps through and corrodes the entire lower section within a few days, reducing the stability of the upper section, leading to collapse.

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The second hypothesis, the impact of mining activities, is related to copper mining in the region. Mine adits go underground both around the well and below it to a much greater depth. Cristobal Muñoz, director of information NGO Red Geocientífica de Chile, says early information indicates the company has over-explored for minerals in the area.

He points out that the company predicted the extraction of 38 thousand tons of ore, but at this deposit it extracted about 138 thousand tons, that is, more than three times. Over-harvesting could destabilize the soil, diverting groundwater from its natural course and depleting aquifers. Perhaps this created spaces that contributed to the sagging of the terrain due to its own weight, forming a huge hole. Mining company Candelaria acknowledges the overexploitation of the minerals, but ensures that the process was completely legal.

This is not the first time this has happened in Tierra Amarilla. The sinkhole, 20 m long, 30 m wide and 30 m deep, was formed after the collapse of an underground structure as a result of mining operations in November 2013.

Will the hole get bigger?

The dip increased by 450 cm due to landslides on the walls. According to Farias, the hole began to expand at the bottom, and then began to take on an asymmetrical shape. The one on top has no support, it starts to fall and slowly expands until it takes the shape of a cylinder.

Thus, the crater can continue to grow, at least until the diameter at the surface equals the diameter at the bottom, which is 48 meters. But with new destabilizations on the ground, it can increase even more. The problem is that it does not exceed 300 m, since the nearest village is 600 m from the site.

However, this phenomenon can be replicated in other nearby areas that are being studied.

What will happen to the crater

The future of the Tierra Amarilla funnel is still uncertain. Due to the size of the hole, plugging it up would be problematic, in addition to being a waste due to the nature of the crater. For the director of the Red Geocientífica de Chile, one solution would be to secure the perimeter and install security barriers.

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Source: BBC

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