Don't Call The Guatemala Sinkhole a Sinkhole

[n2doc]

Analysis by Michael Reilly
Wed Jun 2, 2010 09:34 PM ET
The giant sinkhole that opened beneath downtown Guatemala City over the weekend is all the rage right now. There's just one problem: it isn't a sinkhole.

"Sure, it looks a lot like a sinkhole," geologist Sam Bonis told Discovery News from his home in Guatemala. "And a whale looks a lot like a fish, but calling it one would be very misleading."

Instead, Bonis prefers the term "piping feature" -- a decidedly less sexy label for the 100-foot deep, 66-foot wide circular chasm. But it's an important distinction, he maintains, because "sinkholes" refer to areas where bedrock is solid but has been eaten away by groundwater, forming a geological Swiss cheese whose contours are nearly impossible to predict.

The situation beneath the country's capital is far different, and more dangerous.

more

http://news.discovery.com/earth/dont-call-the-guatemala-sinkhole-a-sinkhole.html

[Goblinmonger]

1. I'm afraid that geologists are going to have to suck it up and live with it

God knows that English teachers have had to live with the bastardization of "tragedy" (among other words) over the years. Little Amy falling in a well isn't a tragedy, but everyone sure calls it so. At least this is somewhat close.