10 Examples of Geographic Depressions - encyclopedia

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Causes of the formation of geographic depressions
Examples of geographic depressions

A geographic depression it is a sunken surface in relation to the immediate or surrounding territory. It is also called this way to those surfaces that are below sea level.

Geographical depressions can generate a great tourist attraction since they have the appearance of being a large hole or subsidence that, in general, are full of water and surrounded by non-firm rocks. However, this depression is not always covered by water.

As a particular characteristic, geographical depressions appear as a collapse of mountain formations.

Causes of the formation of geographic depressions

There are several reasons why such depressions can form. However, in general, they are clayey soils (prone to collapse) in combination with compounds of hollowed underground areas that may present the causes for said collapse.
It can happen that depressions are formed by the movement of tectonic plates.
In other situations it happens that the depression is caused by the erosion of wind, water, glaciers, etc.
On certain occasions, depression can be the result of environmental factors that man (with his careless intervention) performs on the environment.

However, it is necessary not to establish a unified cause for each geographic depression but rather to inquire about the particular environmental conditions of each site.

Size or extent of geographic depressions

Regarding their dimension, geographic depressions can be from small centimeters to kilometers in diameter. We can cite as an example the Dead Sea, which is 395 meters below sea level. This is considered the deepest depression on earth.