A widening chasm in Pondok Balik village in Indonesia’s Aceh province has now been confirmed as a water-carved canyon rather than a sudden sinkhole collapse.
That reclassification changes how the threat is understood, pointing to a slow, upstream advance that can keep undermining roads and farmland.
A hole keeps growing
Along the edge of Pondok Balik village, a 7.4-acre opening has steadily expanded since 2011 and now presses against a road and nearby crops.
Examining its fractured walls and retreating rim, Salahuddin Husein of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) documented erosion patterns that match a canyon cut by persistent underground water flow.
Instead of collapsing…