Read the Following Scenario and Answer the Question Below

question 46

Multiple Choice

Read the following scenario and answer the question below.
On a September day in 1999, folks began to notice that Lake Jackson in the panhandle region of northern Florida was shrinking. Within a few days, it was almost gone. A sinkhole had opened beneath the lake and drained it, along with all of the fish and alligators.
As aquifers lose water, their substrates can become weaker and less capable of supporting overlying strata and any human structures built upon them. In such cases, the land surface above may subside. Sometimes subsidence can occur locally and suddenly, in the form of sinkholes, areas where the ground gives way with little warning. Once the ground subsides, soil becomes compacted, losing the porosity that enabled it to hold water. Recharging a depleted aquifer may therefore become more difficult.
-In July of 2001, the town of Spring Hill, Florida, about 45 miles north of Tampa, had 18 sinkholes appear in a single day. The largest holes were nearly 100 feet deep. A good explanation for this is that ________________.

• A) agriculture had increased, and the water table rose with irrigation recharge
• B) hurricanes had recently occurred, and the water table rose
• C) prolonged rainstorms had recently occurred, and the water table rose
• D) earthquakes had recently occurred, and the water table sank
• E) a drought had recently occurred, along with increased development