Table of Contents
1. Great Blue Hole, Belize
The Great Blue Hole is a large submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 km from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300m across and 124m deep. It was formed during several episodes of quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower.
2. The Door To Hell, Turkmenistan
The Door to Hell is a natural gas field in Derweze (meaning “gate”), Ahal Province, Turkmenistan. The Door to Hell is noted for its natural gas fire which has been burning continuously since it was lit by Soviet petrochemical engineers in 1971. The fire is fed by the rich natural gas deposits in the area. The pungent smell of burning sulfur pervades the area for some distance.
3. Giant Sinkhole, Russia
The Siberian Times, explained: “The striking puncture in the earth is believed to be up to 80 metres wide but its depth is not estimated yet. A scientific team has been sent to investigate the hole. The cause of its sudden appearance in Yamal – its name means the ‘end of the world’ in the far north of Siberia – is not yet known, though one scientific claim is that global warming may be to blame.”
4. Diavik Diamond Mine, Canada
The Diavik Diamond Mine is Canada’s largest diamond mine. Diavik was established following the discovery of four diamond-bearing deposits, called kimberlite pipes, in 1994 and 1995. The mine site is located in Canada’s remote wilderness on a 20 square kilometer island, at Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories, approximately 300 kilometers from Yellowknife, the territorial capital, and just 220 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.
5. The Big Hole, South Africa
150 years ago, the site of the Big Hole was a featureless, flat-topped hill. When word spread that diamonds had been discovered, thousands of prospectors, armed with nothing more than picks, shovels and hope, descended on Kimberley and created the largest hand-dug excavation in the world
6. Bingham Canyon Mine, United States
The Bingham Canyon Mine is an open-pit mining operation extracting a large porphyry copper deposit southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, in the Oquirrh Mountains. The mine is owned by Rio Tinto Group, an international mining and exploration company headquartered in the United Kingdom. The mine has been in production since 1906, and has resulted in the creation of a pit over 0.6 miles deep, 2.5 miles wide, and covering 1,900 acres.
7. Well Of Chand Baori, India
Chand Baori is a famous stepwell located in the village of Abhaneri near Jaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated opposite of the Harshat Mata Temple and was constructed in the 9th century. Chand Baori consits of 3,500 narrow steps over 13 storeys. It extends approximately 100 ft into the ground making it one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India.
8. Sinkhole, Guatemala
The appearance of a massive sinkhole in Guatemala City is thought to have been triggered by tropical storm Agatha, a violent tempest that struck Central America. From photographs, the new Guatemala sinkhole appears to be about 60 feet wide and about 300 feet deep, said James Currens, a hydrogeologist at the University of Kentucky—which explains how the sinkhole was reportedly able to swallow an entire three-story building.
9. Morning Glory Pool, United States
This is a hot spring in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. It’s called Morning Glory Pool. The distinct color of the pool is due to bacteria which inhabit the water.
10. Mirny Mine, Russia
The second largest man-made hole in the world (surpassed only by the Bingham Copper Mine in Utah (#6)) is a diamond mine located on the outskirts of Mirny, a small town in eastern Siberia. Excavation on the pit began in 1955, and today it is 1,722 feet deep, and 3,900 feet across.
