Dead Sea Sinkholes  February 02, 2013  Dead Sea bank Samar -
Draga (2)  Photographer: Menashe Davidson  Summary Author:
Menashe Davidson  Sinkholes are depressions or holes in the land
surface caused by karst processes that generally takes place
slowly but can open suddenly, drawing in everything above. These
craters, abundant on the western side of the Dead Sea (near Ein
Gedi, Israel), stem from a severe water shortage, magnified in
recent years by the reduction in the amount of water flowing in
the Sea's main tributary, the Jordan River. The Dead Sea's water
level has declined over 80 ft (25 m) from 1939 to 1999 -- it's
now shrunk by about one third of its mid-1960s volume.  These
swallow holes or sinkholes form when a subterranean salt layer,
buried about 65-230 ft (20–70 m) beneath the surface that once
bordered the sea, is dissolved by underground fresh water. As
the sea level drops, groundwater from adjacent aquifers flows in
to replace the retreating seawater. This fresh water meets a
layer of rocky sa