Sedona's GeoHazard: The Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole

There are thought to be at least seven sinkholes in Sedona and its surrounding areas, and the most recent sinkhole was discovered in late 1989. This sinkhole, named the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole in northern Sedona has received the most attention due to its fairly recent collapse. The initial collapse of the sinkhole is thought to have happened in the early 1980’s, yet the 1989 collapse is responsible for enlarging the sinkhole by an entire third.

Sinkholes are typically formed though a process of dissolution from the atmospheric carbon dioxide mixing with rainwater, which together make an acidic groundwater. This solution very slowly eats away at and dissolves limestone, however, no limestone is found in the immediate surroundings of the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole. Scientists credit a deep-seated collapse of caverns in the nearby Redwall limestone as potential reasoning as to why the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole took place.

 

The Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole is approximately 4510 feet above sea level and is located on a NW joint. Caves and sinkholes are often lined up along fracture zones, and once enough time has passed for the dissolution to occur on a large enough scale, it causes the cave to sink in. The stratigraphic cross sections of the rock’s strata around the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole can be seen in the accompanying figure. 

Even though sinkholes are a natural geographic occurrence, they can still be extremely dangerous if proper cautionary steps are not taken. After thorough examination, scientists have determined the northern tip of the sinkhole to be at a greater risk of collapsing. The 1989 collapse made the northern rock wall extremely unstable in comparison to the rest of the sinkhole, and a jeep tour route for excited Sedona tourists has since been set up along the southern, considered to be safer, end of the sinkhole where there seems to be no danger of an upcoming collapse. 

Geology of Sedona, ArizonaRuins.com. 2007.http://www.arizonaruins.com/sedona/sedona_geology.html. 19 Sept. 2012.

Lindberg, Paul A. "Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole- Sedona, AZ" Arizona Geology, 2009. 
http://azgeology.azgs.az.gov/archived_issues/azgs.az.gov/arizona_geology/winter09/article_devilskitchen.html.
10 Oct. 2012.

Images taken from Goole Images and the Lindberg article.