Massive crack appears near Yellowstone park
Digital Reporter
Saturday, October 31, 2015, 2:46 PM - Given the ongoing public fear that the volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park is about to erupt, people might be forgiven for being a little nervous when the landscape nearby splits in half.
The crack in the earth in the shots up above is no new Grand Canyon, but it's still a big one, at almost 700 m long and 45 m wide.
It appears to have opened earlier in October, in the foothills of Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains. Wyoming is home to the lion's share of Yellowstone National Park.
However, although ominous to look at, the experts say there's nothing sinister about it, and it doesn't portend an eruption at Yellowstone or some other disaster.
While hunting this past weekend in the Bighorns, we came across an awesome example of how our earth is not as stable as you might think. Awesome forces at work here to move this much dirt!!
Posted by Randy Becker on Monday, October 26, 2015
IFLS reports no seismic activity was detected in that sparsely populated part of the United States. A spokesperson for the Wyoming Geological Survey told the Huffington Post the phenomenon isn't too uncommon, and pointed to an early, wet spring and summer as potential factors.
"A number of things trigger them, moisture in the subsurface which causes weakness in soil or geology, and any process that would weaken the bedrock or unstabilize it somehow," Seth Wittke, another Wyoming Geological Survey representative who is the organization's manager of groundwater and geologic hazards and mapping, told the Powell Tribune.
SNS Outfitters & Guides, the company that first posted pictures of the crack online, said they consulted an engineer for an explanation.
"Apparently, a wet spring lubricated across a cap rock. Then, a small spring on either side caused the bottom to slide out. He estimated 15 to 20 million yards of movement," they wrote on Facebook.
SOURCE: IFLS | Huffington Post
