Rapid City, SD – As one gazes up at Cowboy Hill’s descending cliff line while traveling east through ‘the gap’ lies a visible reminder of the natural geologic forces that exist within our cities landscape. With the recent fluctuation of temperatures above and below freezing, nature’s natural rock cleaver recently sheered off a portion of the cliff which left a trail of multiple cooler size boulders laying on the steep slopes below. Ice wedging was the responsible culprit, which occurs when water seeps into cracks, freezes, expands and wedges rocks apart.
While small in comparison to more recent landslides, such as the one that closed Spearfish Canyon earlier this year, it still serves as a reminder to be cautions while exploring the soft sandstone rocks and cliffs that are prevalent on M-Hill. With this weeks weather expected to bring more moisture and temperatures above and below freezing, ice wedging will not only be working on the rocks within our region but also our city streets with pothole season now upon us.
