The steadily growing sinkhole at Bayou Corne was discussed Tuesday at the monthly LSU Science Café at Chelsea’s Café wth guest speaker Jeffrey Nunn, University Ernest and Alice Neal Professor of Geology. 
Nunn addressed a mixed crowd of first timers and habitual visitors to the monthly LSU Science Café series, where guest speakers address issues in the science community and audience members ask questions. The main topic of discussion was the evolution of the sinkhole that formed near the community of Bayou Corne at the beginning of August 2012.
Bayou Corne lies an hour south of Baton Rouge, where some residents have had to vacate their homes in the region for more than a year now, Nunn said.
While most sinkholes get shallower and wider, this particular one is getting deeper and wider, he said, and currently it encompasses 25 acres, is 750 ft. deep and is continuously emitting natural gas from the subsurface to the atmosphere.
Nunn said projects to drill deep into the salt dome that lies under the sinkhole are ongoing. People are still working to figure out the source of the leaking gas as well as how to stop it.
An audience member asked Nunn about placing blame on a particular department or company, but, Nunn said, the event is so unprecedented and the affected area lies so far underground that it is hard to tell what caused the sinkhole.
Work to understand the implications of the sinkhole as well as the source of the gas will be ongoing for many years to come, Nunn said.
The LSU Science Café series is held on the last Tuesday of every month at Chelsea’s Café. The talks began in January 2013 and have since been serving as an outlet to bring scientific research of University faculty members to the general public.
“It’s not a lecture … it’s meant for the average person who just maybe has an interest in what goes on at LSU or what goes on in the scientific world,”  said Ashley Berthelot, University Office of Research and Economic Development director of Research Communications. “It’s a two-way conversation instead of just a one-way lecture.”
People of all ages are invited to attend the free science cafés, where mingling is encouraged and all questions are welcome, Berthelot said.
The next LSU Science Café will be held on Oct. 29 and will highlight how dance can be used to understand biology.
“It’s not a lecture … it’s meant for the average person who just maybe has an interest in what goes on at LSU or what goes on in the scientific world.”

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Sinkhole