TOP 15 STRANGEST HOLES OUR EARTH

       TOP 15 STRANGEST HOLES OUR EARTH

Publish On 15/01/18

TOP 15 STRANGEST HOLES OUR EARTH.

In man’s search for mineral wealth, many enormous holes have been dug. In addition, nature occasionally produces some astounding holes. This list is a pick of the ten most spectacular natural or manmade holes in the face of the earth. Many thanks to rushfan for sending in the images for this list.
1 – The Heavenly Pit - The Heavenly Pit sinkhole in China is located in Xiaozhai, Tiankeng in the Chongqing District. It is a double-nested sinkhole measuring 662 metres deep, 626 metres long and 537 metres wide.

2 – The Sawmill Sink - Another blue hole in the Bahamas, the Sawmill Sink has more scientific significance than extreme sports attraction Dean’s Blue Hole. The Sawmill Sink was the site of an archaeological dig that has helped change scientists’ views on what the landscape was like 1,000 years ago.

3 – Bingham Canyon Mine - The Bingham Canyon Mine is a copper mine in the Oquirrh mountains, Utah. The mine is 1.2 vertical kilometres deep and 4 kilometres wide.

4 – Dean’s Blue Hole - Blue holes are underwater holes, and the world’s largest discovered blue hole is Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. At a depth of 202 metres, Dean’s Blue Hole is more than twice as deep as most other blue holes, making it a favourite among professional deep-sea divers.

5 – Monticello Dam - Located in northern California, the Monticello Dam is the largest ‘morning glory spillway’ in the world. Dam water is swallowed at a rate of 1,370 cubic metres per second and, thanks to the dam’s funnel-shaped outlet, is allowed to bypass the dam when it reaches capacity.

6 – Harwood Hole - Harwood Hole, located in New Zealand’s Abel Tasman National Park, is one of several important cave systems in Takaka Hill, between the Tasman and Golden Bays.

7 – Siberian Holes - Three holes were recently discovered in Siberia. The first, estimated to be 50–100 metres across, has been found to have a lake at the bottom of it; the second hole, miles from the first on a peninsula lovingly referred to as ‘The End of the World.

8 – Mirny Diamond Mine - The Mirny Diamond Mine was the first developed and largest diamond mine in the Soviet Union. It’s 525 metres deep and has a top diameter of 1,200 metres.

9 – Dead Sea Holes- The Israeli town of Ein Gedi has over 3,000 open sinkholes along its coast. Experts believe there are twice as many more that have yet to open up

10 – Guatemala Sinkholes - In 2007, a 300-foot-deep sinkhole swallowed a dozen homes in Guatemala, killing two and causing thousands of residents to evacuate.

11 – The Devil’s Sinkhole - Edwards County, Texas is the home of The Devil’s Sinkhole, a massive underground limestone chamber with an opening 15 metres wide and a cavern 106 metres deep.

12 – The Deluxe Mystery Hole - The Deluxe Mystery Hole is a backyard attraction off Oregon’s I-205 freeway. According to the owner and promoter, it’s the most amazing archaeological site in the state.

• The Mystery Hole’s depth has never been accurately determined by modern scientific methods, but the consensus is it is very deep. Some speculate it was dug by primitive people; others think it is a mark of extraterrestrial visitors.
• The hole’s owner – Pastor Barron, leader of the Tunnel People and head of the Universal Church O’ Fun – alleges that the hole is 5,000 years old, but says that with aliens you can never really be sure.
• Going into the Mystery Hole will expose you to the Enchanting Vapours of Encouragement™, which is said to cure any illness and bring great financial and romantic fortune. However, a disclaimer informs hopefuls that these vapours won’t actually do anything.

13 – German Superdeep Hole - Germany’s famous superdeep hole was the result of the German Continental Deep Drilling Program, one of the most ambitious geoscientific projects ever.

• The project’s goal was to grant scientists the opportunity to study the earth’s crust, the effects of stress on layers of rock and observe any abnormalities along the way.
• The $350 million project, which concluded in 1994, left Windischeschenbach, Germany with a hole 9,100 metres (30,000 ft) deep and as hot as 265 degrees Celsius (509 °F).
• The project was also notable for Dutch artist Lotte Geeven’s involvement. Geeven wanted to know what the planet sounded like, so arranged to have a geophone lowered into the hole to record ultrasonic waves. She translated the data through a computer program to discover the sounds of the earth, which she likened to a distant thunderstorm. The sound eerily resembles a heartbeat.

14 – Udachnaya Pipe - The Udachnaya Pipe is a diamond mine in Russia. It was discovered on June 15, 1955, just two days after the discovery of the diamond pipe Mir.

• It is over 600 metres deep and is considered the third deepest open-pit mine in the world.
• The mine had estimated reserves of 225.8 million carats of diamonds and an annual production capacity of 10.4 million carats.
• The mine was controlled by Russian diamond company Alrosa until its operations were ceased in 2010 in favour of underground mining.

15 – Great Blue Hole - An underwater sinkhole located 60 miles off the coast of Belize. The hole is 300 metres across and 125 metres deep, and is found in the centre of the Lighthouse Reef.

• The Great Blue Hole formed as a limestone cave during the last ice age. It’s believed to have been created by a sea level increase.
• It has unusual stilted stalactites and is part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, which has been declared as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
• Its circular shape makes it popular among tourists. Scuba divers frequent this reef because of the rare animal species that reside there.