A land subsidence or also called sinkhole is a movement of the earth's surface in which the descending direction predominates and which takes place in areas of different characteristics and slopes. It differs from the term subsidence due to its much smaller temporal and spatial scales. This movement can be induced by different causes and can develop at very fast or very slow speeds depending on the mechanism that gives rise to such instability.

Among the main causes of land subsidence, we can mention the dissolution of limestone, which is calcium carbonate, due to the action of groundwater. Although CaCO has a relatively small solubility product constant, it is very soluble in the presence of an acid. This problem has caused many problems in many places and countries such as Prague, Mexico, Florida, Venezuela, Spain, among others.

The response of geological materials to distensional tectonic stresses, for example to the formation of tectonic trenches or which over time can give rise to fissures.

For its part, the causes of collapses involve the failure of the geological structure that supports a portion of the land under which a cavity exists, which may be motivated by the dissolution of the rocks (due to the effect of karstification, see Karst) to the limit of the resistance of the materials or the emptying of aquifers or in general the weakening due to physical or chemical weathering of a structure that houses a cavity. The use of natural resources (mining activity, exploitation of aquifers) can also induce collapses.

In particular, the continued exploitation of oil basins also gives rise to the sinking of large areas of irregular shapes that can cause problems such as flooding, disabling of natural drainage, alteration in land uses, etc. Hurricanes Katrina in August 2005 in New Orleans and Harvey in Houston in August and September 2017 (August 23 to September 3) are notable examples of the risks of such hurricanes in oil fields exploited for decades and the subsequent land subsidence due to such exploitation.