A massive two-mile-long fissure has opened in the dry earth in Arizona. Geologists claim that it will most likely to continue and it will likely continue to grow.
A very recent footage from an overpass by an Arizona Geological Survey drone revealed the extent of the large fissure in Pinal County, between Casa Grande and Tucson, revealing the enormous tear fracturing the desert. The crack is so so immense that it dwarfs people treading along its edges in the video. AZGS is testing the drone technology as a tool for mapping fissures and other surface features, such as landslide masses. The massive fissure was formed between March 2013 and December 2014 and is believed to have apparently grown after heavy rains during the fall of 2014.
According to Joseph Cook, a geologist with the Arizona Geological Survey, the southern part of the fissure is tens of feet deep. On the other hand, the northern fissure, partially older than that of the south part, is shallow and partly filled in. In a report by Live Science, Cook first spotted the massive fissure in Google Earth imagery around December 2014. He was quoted saying that upon checking out to map the fissure, he discovered that the fissure was longer than what was seen in the Google imagery by almost two miles.
Furthermore, Joe Cook of the Arizona Geological Survey said that the fissures, which are apparently common in the Arizona desert, was formed after extensive groundwater pull out in the Sonoran Desert. Water withdrawal, primarily for agriculture, is the perpetrator. Once groundwater is pulled up, it leaves a void and the land above it subsides, generating cracks. Arizona is full of these cracks, Cook told 12news. "We see earth fissures forming around the margins of these subsidence areas and along mountain fronts within the subsidence areas," Cook said.
In the previous years, a series of the cracks also exists around Eloy, as well as in Cochise, La Paz, Maricopa, Pima and Pinal Counties, with the first fissure opened up near Eloy in 1929. The fissures are unsafe to people doing off-road activities such as riding ATVs in the area. In addition, it poses a risk to roaming livestock who can fall in and get stuck. Moreover, it is perilous even to stand near the edge of a fissure due to a great risk that it could suddenly cave in.
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