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Michigan Tech researchers determine cause of crack in earth

Allison Mills
/
mtu.edu

MENOMINEE, MI (AP)--   Faculty and student researchers from Michigan Technological University believe they have figured out how a large crack opened in the ground more five years ago near the Michigan-Wisconsin border. 

Since the Upper Peninsula isn't known for its earthquakes, the university's researchers have been studying the 360-foot long crack in Menominee in an effort to determine what caused it in October 2010.

Researchers have determined that a geological pop-up occurred when underground pressure on the limestone rock in the area was released, allowing the crack to form.

Michigan Tech dean of engineering Wayne Pennington tells the news station that a geological pop-up is a unique event because it's usually caused by the removal of a glacier.

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