For years, geologists have been intrigued by landslide deposits in the the Marysvale volcanic field in southwest Utah. It was assumed that these formations were produced by multiple events. But a new study suggests it's the result of a single massive landslide that happened 22 million years ago, the likes of which boggle the imagination.
So how big was it? According to the new study authored by Robert Biek of the Utah Geological Survey and Peter Rowley of Geologic Mapping Inc. of New Harmony, Utah, the Markagunt gravity slide was 90 kilometers (56 miles) long and it enveloped an area somewhere between 1,700 to 2,000 cubic kilometers in volume (408 to 480 mi3). It was up to 200 meters (656 feet) thick in some places.
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