10 Mysterious Places on Earth Where Water Vanishes

6. Lake Beloye: The Vanishing Lake of Russia

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In 2005 residents of Bolotnikovo awoke to find Lake Beloye gone, replaced by a crater and a gaping hole. The lake sits on karst terrain, where soluble limestone collapses into underground voids. Water drained rapidly into this hidden network, likely resurfacing in the Oka River. A year later the basin partly refilled, then emptied again, highlighting the unpredictable tug-of-war between surface water and subterranean channels in karst landscapes.