27/07/2009 - Flood tide rips trench in field
Millions of gallons of flood water has torn a 15ft trench in a field near Durham.
Experts had to be called in to work out exactly how the 200-yard split in the earth - dubbed the Grand Canyon of Durham - was created in green belt land by the River Wear. A Durham University geomorphologist said the trench was probably formed when flood water from the river hit the already waterlogged field, farmed by Houghall College.
Jeff Warburton, a reader at the university who lives nearby and has studied the river for 15 years, said the earth could have been moving at walking pace. He and fellow academics think that, as the river broke its banks, it was met by millions of gallons of water on the field and ripped through it, creating the huge trench.
It is estimated that 12,000 cubic metres of soil, which would have weighed 15,000 tonnes, was washed away. Mr Warburton said: "It is an amazing feature. I was really surprised by the extent of the erosion of the flood plain."
The trench was left with only a small amount of water in it after the flood died down but Mr Warburton believes it will remain.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
Related links
|
