http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2013-11-14/Massive-Florida-sinkhole-sparks-Lee-County-conversation#.UoZBZo25fiE
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LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. - Leeland Lake Sinkhole in Lehigh Acres holds a lot of history and is considered a geological gem.
"A
lot of people at first they thought it was a lake, but it's really a
sinkhole. We had some scientist come out and take a depth finder and
they found out it was 200 some feet deep," said AJ Stokes who works at
the Lehigh Resort Club nearby.
Leeland Lake dates back to 1943 and was called Still Lake.
"We
have guests that stay here and they always have a bunch of questions
and ask about it. They are pretty surprised when they hear it's a
sinkhole. A lot of them get scared," Stokes said.
Lee County has
only a handful of sinkholes, compared to Central Florida. Wink News
wanted to know why that's the case. Jamie MacDonald, Associate Professor
of Geology at FGCU says it has to do with bedrock and groundwater.
"The
groundwater has carbonic acid in it. It's not harmful. It's there
naturally. It comes out of the atmosphere. And the carbonic acid can
dissolve the carbonate rock beneath the surface making caverns that
can sometimes collapse in," he said.
Professor MacDonald says
this type of pure calcium carbonate bedrock is not prevalent here in
Southwest Florida so we don't have nearly as many.
"Areas that
have pure calcium carbonate bedrock, pure limestone bedrock are really
susceptible to sinkholes. Areas that have a limestone bedrock that has
lot of impurities like Southwest Florida, we don't have a lot of
sinkholes," he said.
Lee County has had three reported sinkholes since 1983.
Wink News
