Salt occurs beneath the surface in areas that were once below sea level in restricted basins where extensive evaporation caused the concentration of salt in seawater to become so high that the salt was precipitated on the bottom. This occurred, for example during the Jurassic Period (about 150 million years ago) in the area of the Gulf of Mexico. Later deposition of other sediments on top of this salt, resulted in low density salt underlying higher density sediments. Since salt is rather ductile, it began to flow upward toward the surface, and in many cases became detached from the original layer of salt at depth to form what is called a salt dome. Since the salt now occurs close to the surface, it can dissolve and collapse to form sinkholes.
The salt can also be mined to produce salt for human usage. One mining technique involves injecting fluids into the salt to dissolve it. The fluids are then recovered and the salt re-precipitated from the solutions. Such mining, because it dissolves large cavities in the salt can lead to instability and collapse. Such solution mining resulted in a sinkhole 300 m in diameter in Hutchinson Kansas.
Another salt mine related collapse occurred as the result of oil exploration near a salt dome at Jefferson Island in southwestern Louisiana. Jefferson Island is not an island in the strict sense, but is an area of high topography that formed as the result of salt moving upward through the sediments and uplifting the surface. The salt dome contained active salt mines, where mining was accomplished by digging tunnels in the salt. An oil company attempted to drill a well from a lake adjacent to Jefferson Island, hoping to skirt the edge of the salt dome and find oil. Instead, the oil well penetrated the salt and entered one of the mining tunnels. This caused the lake to drain into the salt mine, which then caused some of the salt to dissolve. Eventually this undermined support above the mines and led to collapse of the surface. The lake drained into the salt mine, ten barges used for oil drilling were sucked into the hole, and a home and entire botanical garden collapsed into the depression. Fortunately no miners or other inhabitants of the area were killed. (See video at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI)
Coal Mining
Since mining often removes material from below the surface without dissolution, mining can create voids that may become unstable and collapse.
Coal occurs beneath the surface as extensive layers called coal seams. These seams were once swampy areas on the surface where much vegetation flourished, died, and became buried before it could decay. Processes acting over long periods of geologic time have turned dead vegetation into coal. Other useful substances are mined by digging tunnels in rock, but in most mining techniques the useful substance occurs along narrow zones only these enriched zones need to be removed. In mining coal, however, all of the material is useful, so large masses of material are removed. The technique used in coal mining is referred to as "room-and-pillar" mining. The rooms are where the coal has been removed, and the pillars are left to support the overlying rock. Sometimes, too few pillars are left, and the overlying rock collapses into the mine. This is not only dangerous to the miners, but can also cause hazards to areas on the surface where the collapse occurs
Underground fires in coal mines can also lead to collapse hazards. Fires can start by spontaneous ignition of coal dust or methane gas released from the coal. Such fires are difficult to extinguish, and often are left to burn for years. In Pennsylvania, for example, coal mine fires have burned for more than 25 years. Burning of the coal results in removal of the coal, and thus may undermine support for the roof of the mine resulting in collapse.