Zion RockfallsZion National Park in Utah is open year round, but the weather recently left many of t
Zion RockfallsZion National Park in Utah is open year round, but the weather recently left many of the park’s most popular features inaccessible. Snow, ice, and rain are all common there in winter, and Zion had plenty of all three last week. The soil became saturated and went through freeze/thaw cycles that triggered rock falls.The first landslides occurred on trails. The well-worn Lower Emerald Pools Trail was one of two trails that become impassible and had to be closed after several debris and rockfalls completed covered portions of the trail (see photo). Heavy rain also meant that popular The Narrows and other canyon trails had to be closed as well due to high water levels.Then another landslide hit the Zion Scenic Drive dropping 200 tons of sandstone onto a section of the road about 4 car-length long (see photo), trapping 12 cars on the opposite side with no other outlet. The occupants had to temporarily leave their cars behind and take a shuttle back out of the park. Thankfully no one was hurt. It’s the second time in 5 months that rockslides have closed a road at Zion (http://bit.ly/2iKyGX9).Geologists and engineers will help the NPS decide when and how to safely remove the debris. No work can begin until the area is determined to be stable. And while it’s sad to see a beloved park suffer damage, the NPS notes it’s a good reminder that geologic processes at the park are always on-going.REPhoto Credit: National Park Servicehttps://www.facebook.com/zionnps/References: https://www.facebook.com/zionnps/https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htmhttp://bit.ly/2k1mfrS -- source link
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