Devil's Throat, Gold Butte National Monument. (4-25-22)

Sinkholes--collapse features--are well-known in humid areas with limestone bedrock. They are unexpected, however, in a desert landscape, so Devil's Throat is a surprise. This large sinkhole formed ca. 1908, when cowboys working in the area were startled by a roar and a column of dust in the distance. On investigation they found a section of desert floor had collapsed into a pit.
The mechanism is thought to result from dissolution of gypsum in the subsurface. Gypsum, calcium sulfate, like limestone is barely soluble in water, and the soils underlying this area are rich in it. It's thought that moving groundwater, over time, leached out enough gypsum to form a void, which then collapsed.

Sinkholes--collapse features--are well-known in humid areas with limestone bedrock. They are unexpected, however, in a desert landscape, so Devil's Throat is a surprise. This large sinkhole formed ca. 1908, when cowboys working in the area were startled by a roar and a column of dust in the distance. On investigation they found a section of desert floor had collapsed into a pit.
The mechanism i…  (read more)

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