Daisetta Salt Dome Sinkhole, Texas

The Hull Salt Dome is an underground geologic salt deposit, one of a few dozen in the Gulf Coast region. The town of Daisetta, northeast of Houston, sits on top of the dome, supporting the oil and gas industry that uses the dome as a storage facility, by excavating large vertical cavities in the salt. One of these here is a major gas storage facility, operated by ExxonMobile. Another storage chamber collapsed in 2008, suddenly forming a 600 foot-wide sinkhole at the north end of town, swallowing trucks and some buildings. The hole, now stabilized, is a round lake.