UKH

Recently did a bit of walking around Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. The OS maps show both sink holes and pot holes, but we couldn't determine the difference between the two.

Anybody know?

In reply to pepperpot:


Do you mean shake hole rather than sink hole? I can't see any sink holes on the OS 1:25k maps around Malham. There are plenty of shake holes, though: these are depressions or pits in the ground, caused by underground collapses, whereas pot holes are open shafts. There is also the occasional swallow hole, which is where a stream disappears underground. Does that help?

In reply to pepperpot: there is a lot of overlap in map terminology but a sink hole would just be where the stream or water disappears into the ground in a hole/crack/crevice
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/8755

A pothole however would usually be something pretty obvious and often spectacular (and not necessarily taking a stream in)
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1592600

So, a sink hole could be a pothole (or not) and a pothole can be a sink hole (or not). Not all potholes are sink holes (and vice versa). Hope that makes sense. Now a shakehole ........

In reply to Karl Lunt:

OS define a sinkhole as "A Sink Hole is an area where water often from a stream, collects forming a bog, marsh or pool and then disappears underground."

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/geofacts/geo0056.html