While some are calling it “The Crack”, there are many who are referring to it as “The Gash”. A large number of people also feel that it’s nothing but a topographical change taking place due to opening up of the earth’s surface. Whatever might be the case, the new geologic phenomenon appearing in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains has to be tagged as something really impressive.
The world was first alerted about this crack by SNS Outfitters & Guides last week. They presented pictures featuring a rolling and mostly barren landscape split up by a sliver which was also split up.
It’s true that the structure cannot be categorized as a canyon as canyons are known to take centuries to develop. However, the drop showcased in the pictures is precipitous and several stories deep in some parts.
It’s not just a single crevice, which would have suggested that the ground split cleanly. Instead, the crack consists of multiple levels with massive steps. According to numbers put up by the SNS team, the cracks are around 750 yards in length and 50 yards in width.
For those who are wondering exactly what caused all these: SNS informed that a Riverton, Wyoming-based engineer spotted that a small spring forced the bottom to slide and shifted as much as 15-20 million yards of soil.
On Thursday, The Wyoming Geological Survey talked about the event on its official Facebook page. The organization wrote that the event might have been caused by weakness created by groundwater in a wobbly hillside.
There are experts who are saying that water did play a big role, but that doesn’t mean that the event was a sudden one. They pointed out that usually water performs the job of changing effective stress; it doesn’t provide lubrication. Those experts believe that there has been a progressive breakdown. They feel that the springs’ behavior changed when internal damages within the slope reconfigured naturally.
Whatever might be the actual cause of the event, one thing can be said confidently that changing of the Earth so dramatically and so quickly has left the world deeply mesmerized. While some are saying that images offered by SNS are making them feel insignificant, others are expressing their amazement about Mother Nature’s immense power.
