Giant Cracks Are Gradually Swallowing the Desert in Arizona

Some arid valleys of central and southeastern Arizona are home to giant earth cracks that swallow everything on their paths.

These huge earth fissures threaten people, property, infrastructure and livestock.Giant cracks do not only open up in Mexico, but also in arid Arizona. These earth fissures pose danger to cattle, wildlife, and unwary humans. And, because they tend to develop perpendicular to surface drainage, they can capture runoff and develop into large gullies.
Most earth fissures in Arizona occur in the corridor between Tucson and Phoenix, and from Phoenix west along interstate 10. Here an example of one of these Arizona giant cracks that opened up on the Navajo Nation ground. The still growing 900 feet long crack is 12 miles north of I-40. It is up to 500 feet deep in places.  The USGS has no real answer other than growing tensions in the local rock formations have caused the cracks to form.