Pinge
deepening in the terrain created by mining activities
A Pinge ([ˈpɪŋə], plural: Pingen) or Binge ('binger') is the name given in German-speaking Europe to a wedge-, ditch- or funnel-shaped depression in the terrain caused by mining activity. This depression or sinkhole is frequently caused by the collapse of old underground mine workings that are close to the Earth's surface. Unlike natural landforms, a Pinge is a direct result of human activity. The term has no direct equivalent in English, but may be translated as mining sinkhole, mine slump or, in some cases, as glory hole.
Origin of the word
In the original sense of the word, the mining terms Pinge or Binge go back to the activity known as pingen, which meant something like 'prospecting'. An aufgepingter lode was one near the surface of the ground. The Pinge was therefore like a primitive open-pit mine.
Subsequently, the term was transferred to the funnel-shaped depressions that formed at the surface above filled or collapsed mineshafts. In lode mining, shafts and pits followed the strike of the lode and left behind the typical lines of Pingen (Pingenzüge) associated with medieval mining that may still be seen, for example, in the Thuringian Forest, the Upper Harz Mountains, the Ore Mountains and the Eschweiler area in central Europe.
Later on, the term Pinge was applied to many kinds of depression left in the terrain as a result of mining activity, including the holes left by open-cast pits in surface mining or the cave-ins above underground mines.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pinge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.