Quarky Explores Mexico City
Why is a whole city slowly sinking?
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Quarky is writing this for you...
The story
Mexico City sits on an old lakebed, and its water is pumped from underground. As water leaves the soft clay, the clay squashes flatter, so streets, churches and buildings sink, some parts by many centimetres a year.
What you'll learn
- Soft clay holds water between its particles and stays puffy.
- Pumping the water out lets the clay squash down, so the ground sinks.
- Buildings sink unevenly, which is why some doors and floors go crooked.
- Quarky takeaway: what you take from underground changes what happens on top.
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