Massive crack in earth mysteriously opens up in Bighorn Mountains

[madamesilverspurs]

Hunters on a private ranch in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming stumbled upon an incredible and mysterious scene: a massive crack in the earth that in some places resembles a mini Grand Canyon.

SNS Outfitter & Guides first reported the anomaly on its Facebook page on Friday, saying it “appeared in the last two weeks on a ranch we hunt in the Bighorn Mountains. Everyone here is calling it ‘the gash.’ It’s a really incredible sight.”

With no earthquakes reported in the area, locals were stunned and at a loss to explain the shift of soil and rocks that left the gaping crack estimated to be 750 yards long by 50 yards wide. ...

Read more at http://www.grindtv.com/nature/massive-crack-in-earth-mysteriously-opens-up-in-bighorn-mountains/#5c4TJZFBhFrZpZFk.99

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. yikes

[sgtbenobo]

2. Don't worry...

....this where Dick Cheney goes to poop.

[Duckfan]

25. I didn't know that?

[Renew Deal]

3. Better update the GPS

[2naSalit]

5. Hahaha!

But GPS doesn't work very well in these here parts.

That is quite a change in the landscape! I'll have to call some friends over there and see what that's all about. Lots of fracking and drilling and mining goes on in that area and has for decades.

[Deadshot]

4. I see water at the bottom of that mini canyon.

It looks like there may have been water flowing temporarily in the area that eroded away the overlaying sediment.

[Wilms]

6. Was looking at the map.

There's a lot of lakes in that region.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. That's almost it-- read the end of the article where they found a geologist...

who explained how that happens a lot out there.

But, it's actually the soft underlying rock that gets eroded and the harder surface rock collapses.

(Fracking had nothing to do with it this time)

[TexasProgresive]

28. The same thing that causes a lot of sink holes

[bkkyosemite]

7. Is there any fracking around there.

[rhett o rick]

8. HRC and Chevron agree on the support of fracking for profits in spite of the environment damage. nm

[lancer78]

21. don't think

That was the question he asked.

[pintobean]

34. That made me laugh.

[postulater]

9. Not terribly far from the Yellowstone caldera.

Kaboom!!

[Wounded Bear]

10. Was my first thought, too...

That would be a mess. Pretty much end life as we know it, perhaps globally.

[Warpy]

18. My thought, also, especially if it's to the east northeast

I hope that geologist's BS about springs and capstones is correct.

[Mendocino]

29. That area of WY

isn't subject to magmatism. The Bighorns are not volcanic, they are the result of an uplifted sedimentary basin. Erosive forces, particularly glaciers sculpted their present form.

[postulater]

33. Whew! Thanks for the info.

And a big YAY for science.

[Mendocino]

36. I was replying

to someone who thought there could be a connection between the two areas. not to you. Your snark is noted.

[postulater]

37. And that poster was replying to my post.

I was thankful that you addressed my concerns about Yellowstone with additional information. I apologize if I spoke out of turn.

[Mendocino]

39. It's all good.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

41. I read something once upon a time that the volcanic zone that is now under Yellowstone is actually..

...moving to the northeast. Moving, that is, at geological timescales - verrrrry slooowwwwly.

[Mendocino]

42. The hotspot doesn't move.

The land-form above it does. There is a trail of past calderas and volcanic activity SW of Yellowstone back to the Nevada-Oregon border region. If this track continues on it's present course, in millions of years, the Winnipeg area of Canada will have magmatic activity.

The same happens in the Hawaiian Island chain. As the Pacific Plate moves over the hotspot, a chain of volcanoes emerge. You can trace this back to the NW for thousands of miles The Big Island is the newest and has the magmatic activity. The others in the chain are older and will eventually erode to virtually nothing. There is an emerging volcanic spot on the seafloor SE of the Big Island. In about fifty thousand years it will break the surface and the building of the newest Hawaiian Island will continue. The Big Islands volcanoes will slow down, become dormant and finally go extinct.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

43. Yes, that's it! Thanks for the refreshers, Mendocino ;) nt

[KamaAina]

46. Its name is Lo'ihi. When it emerges, the Hawai'i flag will have to be redesigned.

The eight stripes represent the eight present-day islands.

[Warpy]

52. Well, emerge and cool off enough to grow food and get populated.

With the rise in sea level, that's likely to be a prolonged process.

[KamaAina]

55. I suspect that people will be fishing and gathering 'opihi off it right away.

'Opihi are tasty mollusks that live on rocks that get sea spray. Mostly ex-DUer opihimoimoi took his name from them.

edit: Kaho'olawe, off Maui, is unpopulated, yet merits a stripe.

[Jim Lane]

59. That assumes it will be part of the U.S.

I don't know what the law is concerning new islands that emerge from the sea. Other nations might not just concede that, because it's the ninth island in the chain, it's ours.

You say it shows up in 50,000 years? Then I guess in the 52,012 election, the Republican candidates will be calling for a huge military force to be sent to the area to protect our claim to the incipient island.

[KamaAina]

60. Actually, that was originally the flag of the Kingdom of Hawai'i

After the overthrow and annexation, the Territory of Hawaii adopted it, then the state did after 1959.

If it's within 12 miles of Hawai'i (Big) Island, it belongs to whoever controls Big Island by then.

[Warpy]

51. Right, and the Bighorn Mountains are right in the path

This crack is pretty small and if it's part of the process that starts a supereruption, we don't know the timetable. It's pretty certain the whole area will start to fracture before all hell breaks loose and that could take months, a decade, a century, millennia, or more than that. Geology's got its own timetable.

[Mendocino]

54. The Yellowstone "hotspot"

has subsided in the last few years after a period of uplift. There is is no more imminent danger of a caldera expansion in the immediate future there than have been in the in the last geologic epoch. A very minor subsistence in a sedimentary formation, not in a plate directional orientation across an unconsolidated basin is not indicative of any magmantic activity.

Take a look at images of the Badlands of South Dakota. They are extremely like what is being seen here. There are no volcanoes there, only the erosion of relatively loose deposits.

[Warpy]

56. Not at Yellowstone, itself.

The North American plate has drifted to the southwest. The hot spot itself is now under an area NE of the Yellowstone caldera. There are maps online of the system feeding the chamber under the caldera. You might find them interesting to look at.

[Mendocino]

57. I know the maps well

Last edited Sat Oct 31, 2015, 07:15 AM - Edit history (1)

unless the North American Plate abruptly takes a sharp turn, which it hasn't, your theory that a minor land collapse, indicates a threat, is without substance.

[Sunlei]

11. giant drought crack in the great north american grasslands. Looks like the last 'good season ring'

was 100 years ago, when maybe wild herds covered those lands. Covered and 'renewed' and benefited the grasslands.

[postulater]

13. That's a likely explanation.

I hope the soil doesn't start blowing away. We don't need dust coming east.

[Sunlei]

15. the grass cover is so thin now because all the wild herds have been gone for 100 years in areas.

That will be a windy barren desert one day soon. grass can't grow and thrive without wildlife.

[csziggy]

14. That happened in Mexico last year

Mysterious Fissure Splits Ground in Mexico
By Brian Stallard
Aug 23, 2014 10:47 PM EDT

A Massive crack tore through more than a half-mile of ground in northern Mexico, according to numerous local reports. Now experts are struggling to explain what caused it and if it is a threat to public safety. The mysterious trench in question is up-to nearly 16 feet across at its thickets, and stretches for nearly half a mile according to Sky News, one of the first to report this unusual geological event.

Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Emergency Management released footage taken by a drone flying over the perplexing crack while motorists remained stopped in their cars on either side of fissured roads as early as Wednesday. It is unclear when the earth was first broken, but residents of northern Mexico reported discovering the fissure earlier this week.

Some local officials and experts alike are blaming seismic activity for the phenomenon, with a 5.0 magnitude earthquake occurring only earlier this month.

However, not everyone is convinced. According to a number of local reports, recent heavy rainfall may have also caused the fissure by condensing and shifting the sub-terrain.
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8697/20140823/mysterious-fissure-splits-ground-mexico.htm

That was probably a subsidence fissure caused by water flow: http://geo-mexico.com/?p=11856

[Maynar]

16. The voice in that video

definitely not human. A new one on me.

And that's some earth-crack, for sure.

[csziggy]

20. It seems to be computer generated

And it was the same on several of the videos on YouTube. The one I posted was from AP News - other YouTube accounts that used that video with the voice were less reputable.

[Maynar]

58. Sounds like the voice recog

in my bluetooth phone earpiece.

[SandersDem]

17. Crap, It's the Gates of Hell

The Third Way Gates of Hell

[pinboy3niner]

19. Can't be the Gates of Hell

I don't see any handbaskets lying around.

[hay rick]

22. Or good intentions. nt

[pintobean]

35. I think buckets are the vehicle of choice these days

and I understand it's an enjoyable ride.

[Duckfan]

23. Could we fill it in with republicans?

Just thinking out loud.

[Fairgo]

24. What cha got there is a grade 3 Hell Hole

It's a common problem where real estate is exposed to high concentrations of evil for too long. Look for a snarling troll of a man, usually in a position of authority, who goes by "King of Lies", "Senator", Vice Chancellor, Lord of Vice, under president of the the Dead, republican, or other really vile title. It's likely that some past heinous deed or series of deeds caused by this man has summoned demon spawn to split the earth and what-not. Don't let it spread, you'll want to nip this in the bud. You can fill that gap with about 7000 cubic hectares of Jesus-grade spackle for now, but you really need to find this guy and douse him good in holy water. Then imprison him for all eternity on "The View"...It's the only place the devil himself fears. Otherwise, that hell Hole is going to throw up frog storms, boil plagues, and tea party candidates from the bowels of Satan...and you won't know which is which. I could send a guy out in the morning...?

[mountain grammy]

40. Oh yeah! It's the dark one..

"Jesus grade spackle"

[central scrutinizer]

47. Cubic hectares?

So we are talking the sixth dimension here?

[Fairgo]

48. Well, of course

Usually with Hell Holes, you've got cracks in the space/time/moral continuum running all the way down to the 6th level of the inferno and across 5 dimensions You need a transcendental amount of holy spackle...I'd go with cubic hectares to be on the safe side.

[Duckfan]

26. Would I find that in the Old Testament or New Testament?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. THIS again????

Full movie:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xls663_crack-in-the-world_shortfilms

[bvar22]

49. I saw that, and

the crack will continue until it circles the globe and cracks us in half.
The only way to stop it is a Nuclear Bomb.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

50. Ain't nuthin' a nuke can't fix....

Oops! Even in the movie it didn't work.

[Alkene]

30. Just say no. n/t

[dembotoz]

31. tell rush l it is free crack...then push him in

[lonestarnot]

32. Are we sure is wasn't the boil on his ass that erupted?

[Rex]

38. Erosion.

[madamesilverspurs]

44. ...

[AngryAmish]

45. First movie I saw in the theater

Double feature with Orca.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

53. It's just a landslide

The layers of ash fascinate me.