No, a 100-foot 'fissure-crack' didn't recently form in Yellowstone | Fact check

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: A 100-foot-wide crack recently opened up in Yellowstone National Park

A nearly 20-minute-long YouTube video shows imagery from Yellowstone National Park and other areas, while a narrator claims "visitors might want to be careful" due to a recent event.

"NASA Just Announced A 100ft Wide Fissure-Crack Just Opened Up Yellowstone Volcano in 24hrs," reads the April 4 YouTube video's title (direct link, archive link).

The video was shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook in a little over a month, according to Crowdtangle, a social media analytics tool.

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Our rating: False

No 100-foot wide fissure opened in the park, according to researchers and a park spokesperson.

No new large fissure in Yellowstone

The claim is false, according to Linda Veress, a Yellowstone National Park spokesperson.

"A 100-foot-wide fissure-crack hasnot opened up in Yellowstone National Park recently," she told USA TODAY in an email.

Wendy Stovall and Michael Polland, two researchers at the U.S. Geological Service Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, also told USA TODAY the claim is wrong.

"In a nutshell, this is false," Polland said in an email. "The story seems to rehash a crack in a granite rock in Grand Teton in 2018 that was hazardous to rock climbers in the area. Not related to Yellowstone or to volcanism."

In the 2018 Grand Teton National Park incident referenced by Polland, an area was briefly closed after a new crack formed in a rock buttress, according to park press releases.

Fact check: False claim that Yellowstone National Park was closed due to 'volcanic uplift'

The post's claim that "NASA just announced" a new 100-foot crack is also inaccurate, according to Katherine Rohloff, a NASA spokesperson. The agency made no such announcement.

USA TODAY also did not locate any such announcement on NASA's news release page.

USA TODAY reached out to the YouTube user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The claim was also debunked by Politifact and Reuters.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No recent 100-foot crack opened in Yellowstone | Fact check