The hill in front of you has the appearance of sliding slowly into a jumble. That is exactly what it is doing through a process called slumping.
When the coal vein burned under this area, cracks formed in the hillside. Rain flowing into the cracks weakens the hill, especially where it saturates bentonite clay layers which become slippery when wet. As the bentonite slides, the hill slowly slumps away.
Slumping happens on a small scale like you see here, but also on a very large scale when entire hillsides slide. The picture above, taken in the North Unit, shows masses of rock that slid from near the top of the canyon, coming to rest far below.
When the coal vein burned under this area, cracks formed in the hillside. Rain flowing into the cracks weakens the hill, especially where it saturates bentonite clay layers which become slippery when wet. As the bentonite slides, the hill slowly slumps away.
Slumping happens on a small scale like you see here, but also on a very large scale when entire hillsides slide. The picture above, taken in the North Unit, shows masses of rock that slid from near the top of the canyon, coming to rest far below.
Is there something we missed for this itinerary?
Itineraries across USA
Acadia
Arches National Park
Badlands
Big Bend
Biscayne
Black Canyon Of The Gunnison
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns
Channel Islands
Congaree
Crater Lake
Cuyahoga Valley
Death Valley
Dry Tortugas
Everglades
Gateway Arch
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Basin
Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Haleakalā
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
Hot Springs
Indiana Dunes
Isle Royale
Joshua Tree
Kenai Fjords
Kobuk Valley
Lassen Volcanic
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
Petrified Forest
Pinnacles
Rocky Mountain
Saguaro
Shenandoah
Theodore Roosevelt
Virgin Islands
Voyageurs
White Sands
Wind Cave
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion