Formation

Aquifers

According to Waltham et al.^[3]

Type	Formation process	Host rock	Formation speed	Typical max. size	Other names
Solution sinkhole	Dissolutional lowering of surface	Limestone, dolomite, gypsum, salt	Stable landforms evolving over >20,000 years	Up to 1,000 m across and 100 m deep	Dissolution s/h, cockpit, doline
Collapse sinkhole	Rock roof falling into underlying cave	Limestone, dolomite, gypsum, basalt	Extremely rare, rapid failure events into old cave	Up to 300 m across and 100 m deep	Cave collapse s/h, cenote
Caprock sinkhole	Failure of insoluble rock into cave in soluble rock below	Any rock overlying limestone, dolomite, gypsum	Rare failure events, evolve over >10,000 years	Up to 300 m across and 100 m deep	Subjacent s/h, interstratal karst
Dropout sinkhole	Soil collapse into soil void formed over bedrock fissure	Cohesive soil overlying limestone, dolomite, gypsum	In minutes, into soil void evolved over months or years	Up to 50 m across and 10 m deep	Subsidence s/h, cover collapse s/h, alluvial s/h
Suffosion sinkhole	Down-washing of soil into fissures in bedrock	Non-cohesive soil overlying limestone, dolomite, gypsum	Subsiding over months or years	Up to 50 m across and 10 m deep	Subsidence s/h, cover collapse s/h, alluvial s/h
Buried sinkhole	Sinkhole in rock, soil-filled after environment change	Rockhead depression in limestone, dolomite, gypsum	Stable features of geology, evolved over >10,000 years	Up to 300 m across and 100 m deep	Filled s/h, compaction s/h, paleosinkhole

^ Derek C. Ford; Paul W. Williams (2007). Karst Hydrogeology and Geomorphology. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 103–144. ISBN 9780470849972. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
^ Chris Leibundgut (1997), "Vulnerability of karst aquifers", in Chris Leibundgut, John Gunn, Alain Dassargues (ed.), Karst Hydrology, IAHS Publication, vol. 247, Wallingford, UK: International Association of Hydrological Sciences, pp. 45–60, ISBN 9781901502404, retrieved 6 April 2011 ((citation)): Cite has empty unknown parameter: |lay-date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
^ Tony Waltham; Frederic Gladstone Bell; M. G. Culshaw (2005). Sinkholes and subsidence: karst and cavernous rocks in engineering and construction. Springer. p. 27. ISBN 9783540207252. Retrieved 6 April 2011.