Mother Earth Cited In Wild Drinking Binge

WILDWOOD, Mo. - To folks around Wildwood, it is nothing but freaky: an entire 23-acre lake vanished in a matter of days, as if someone pulled the plug on a bathtub.
Lake Chesterfield went down a sinkhole this week, leaving homeowners in this affluent St. Louis suburb wondering if their property values disappeared along with their lakeside views.
"It's real creepy," said Donna Ripp, who lives near what had been Lake Chesterfield. "That lake was 23 acres - no small lake. And to wake up one morning, drive by and it's gone?"
What once was an oasis for waterfowl and sailboats was nothing but a muddy, cracked pit outlined by rotting fish.
The sight had 74-year-old George English scratching his head.
"It's disheartening, getting out on your deck and seeing this," he said as he stood next to wife, Betty, and the "lakeside" condominium they bought in 1996 for its view. "One day it's a beautiful lake, and now, bingo, it's gone."
Some residents said they noticed that the lake, after being swelled by torrential rains weeks earlier, began falling last weekend. The Englishes said they noticed the drop-off Monday.
By Wednesday, the manmade lake - normally seven to 10 feet deep in spots - had been reduced to a mucky, stinky mess.
David Taylor, a geologist who inspected the lakebed Wednesday, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the sinkhole was formed when water eroded the limestone deep underground and created pockets in the rock. The sinkhole was "like a ticking time bomb."

MSNBC - Woe! Lake begone!
Address:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5191079/

That's interesting, and a bit funny. It's unfortunate for those nearby who lost it's scenery though.

With my luck, I probably live over a potential sinkhole. One of the offices I used to report to was in Chesterfield, outside of St Louis.

Sinkholes are scary. I've read about them eating houses and cars. This is the first time I've heard of one swallowing a lake.

What is a sinkhole? Geographically or whatever. I know what the other type is, we arent bereft of plumbing in my household.

jimmy p said:

What is a sinkhole? Geographically or whatever. I know what the other type is, we arent bereft of plumbing in my household.

http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/servs/pubs/geobits-pub/geobit7/geobit7.html

Okey dokey, thanks for the link!

Also in the news:

Mole men community innundated by surprise flash flood! Morlochs glad to have new beachfront property.


Njorl

Instead of "lake front" property, they now have "lake under" property.

November 20th, 1980
Texaco drills into Diamond Crystal Salt Mine operation under Lake Peigneur. A whirlpool one quarter mile in diameter formed, and the entire lake disappeared into a crater formed where the rig had been…

Taken from;
http://www.uno.edu/~gege/Easley/Essays/Jefferson_Island.html

Texaco =

Wow, I never knew what happened to Diamond Crystal. When I was a kid, that was THE brand of salt everyone bought, then it just disappeared from store shelves. Little did I know they dissolved the company...literally!

If I owned the property next to that lake that disappeared, I think I'd be more worried about the extent of sinkholes in the area than that I just lost my lake view. Sink holes are scary things!

BoulderHead said:

A whirlpool one quarter mile in diameter formed, and the entire lake disappeared into a crater formed where the rig had been…

That's a pretty amazing story.