Slade Lake
© The Chronicle HeraldSlade Lake disappears overnight in Canada Nova Scotia in June 2020.
Picture in your mind's eye a bathtub that's a kilometre-and-a-half long by 200-metres wide. Then pull the plug. In essence, that is what's happened this spring to Slade Lake.

Two-and-a-half kilometres southwest of Oxford, Cumberland County, the large lake has been drained of its water by underground geological activity.

"The most obvious culprit for this is the water just disappeared down some of the sinkholes at the bottom of the lake," said Amy Tizzard, regional geologist for the Department of Energy and Mines.

"It could be that some gypsum dissolved (below the lake) or sediment or vegetation gave way... we can't really tell because we can't see to the bottom of it."

There remains a pool of water at deep points in the lake.

You probably remember similar dramatic lake disappearances in Mexico, in Hawaii, and in Russia.

Slade Lake in Nova Scotia, Canada

Slade Lake is one of a series of water bodies running along a five-kilometre stretch of what geologists call karst topography in a southwest direction from the edge of Oxford.

Karst means a geological formation that houses pockets of gypsum, salt and other minerals that are dissolved by water.

As this happens, underground caves are created that can collapse, causing sinkholes.

Slade Lake, like the others in the area, is actually a series of connected sinkholes.

If interested, this article discusses sinkhole formation and prone areas in the U.S..

Another sinkhole lake, Salt Lake in nearby Oxford, brought international attention and significant worry to the town in 2018 when a new sinkhole opened up beside it in the Lions Club Park.

A study of the area's geography released last year warned of the potential for further ground collapse in the area. The Karst topography continues under the Trans Canada Highway, raising concerns of a sudden collapse there.

This may not be the end of Slade Lake. Some area residents know it as Dry Lake because it has been emptied in the past... But not to this extent since the 1970s. So, do you think the water will reappear and fill Slade Lake in Canada? More sinkhole and lake disappearance news on Strange Sounds and Steve Quayle. [The Chronicle Herald]
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