The  Wyoming crack

A slow-moving fissure in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains has grown to the size of nearly seven football fields.

According to reports the remote mountain range crack began to form in late September possibly due to excessive moisture, a state geologist said.

A commercial hunting group discovered the Wyoming crack  last week and posted photos online.

The Crack in Wyoming. Photo by Randy Becker of Casper.

The Wyoming Crack. Photo by Randy Becker of Casper.

Explanation: Wittke told GrindTV: 'A lot of landslides are caused by subsurface lubrication by ground moisture or water and things like that, or in this case, a spring'

Explanation: Wittke told GrindTV: ‘A lot of landslides are caused by subsurface lubrication by ground moisture or water and things like that, or in this case, a spring’

Science: The Wyoming Geological Survey's Seth Wittke told GrindTV : 'Without getting out there and looking at it, I can't be positive, but from what I've seen on the Internet it looks like a slow-moving landslide'

Science: The Wyoming Geological Survey’s Seth Wittke told GrindTV : ‘Without getting out there and looking at it, I can’t be positive, but from what I’ve seen on the Internet it looks like a slow-moving landslide’

Hunters from SNS Outfitters and Guides said a device used to measure distance for hunting purposes suggested the fissure was 750 metres long and 50 metres wide.

Since so many people have commented and asked questions, we wanted to post an update with a little more information. An engineer from Riverton, Wyoming came out to shed a little light on this giant crack in the Earth. 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. By range finder, an estimate is 750 yards [685 meters] long and about 50 yards [45 meters] wide.

The Wyoming crack was estimated to be more than 700 yards long. Pic: SNS Outfitters

The Wyoming crack was estimated to be more than 700 yards long. Pic: SNS Outfitters

Seth Wittke, division manager of the Wyoming State Geological Survey, said the so-called “mass wasting event” was not uncommon but this particularly fissure was relatively large by state standards.

He said most occur in remote areas and do not directly threaten lives or property.

“Each landslide is unique. You can’t say whether this one will be the one to fail but the potential does exist,” he added.

Since so many people have commented and asked questions, we wanted to post an update with a little more information. An…

Posted by SNS Outfitter & Guides on Monday, October 26, 2015

“Amazing what Mother Nature can do and is still doing,” one Facebook user commented.

“Holy mackerel…,” another added.

“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, Wyoming Geological Survey’s manager of groundwater and geologic hazards and mapping, told the Powell Tribune.