Hunting firm SNS Outfitter & Guides first noticed the spectacular gap in the ground.
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A “crack in the Earth” really did open up in the foothills of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains – but it’s not almost as alarming as a few of the reports on social media suggest. “There is a good chance, though, that there is a progressive failure and that the changes in the behavior of the springs occurred as the internal damage of the slope (reconfigured) itself as the deformation developed”.
The split is 750 yards long and 50 yards wide, according to Grind TV.
Over time, this seeps through the ground, effectively lubricating it. It makes sense: after decades of mankind’s constant pollution, Earth occasionally decides to flex its muscles and show us that we know very little about this giant rock we live on.
Wittke said the significant shifting seen in the Bighorns south of the tiny community of Tensleep, Wyoming, was likely tied to moisture acting as a lubricant in the slumping of layers of rock and soil already weakened by a freeze-thaw cycle that routinely happens in winter and spring in the Rocky Mountains.
One expert who hasn’t been at the scene, but saw the images, explained that the crack could be caused by a number of factors.
“Everyone here is calling it ‘the gash”. Awesome forces at work here to move this much dirt!!
It wrote on its Facebook page: “Everyone here is calling it ‘the gash'”. “Then, a small spring on either side caused the bottom to slide out”.
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‘He estimated 15 to 20 million yards of movement. “By range finder, an estimate is 750 yards long and about 50 yards wide”.
