Sinks Canyon
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"The Sinks" are a series of cracks and crevices at the back of the cavern.  The water of the Popo Agie River flows into the Sinks.  It then reappears at the "Rise of the Sinks", a large calm pool 1/4 mile down canyon.  The sinks are eroded into the soft while Madison Limestone formation.  No spelunkers have explored very far into the Sinks since the cracks narrow down to very mall log and rock choked passages.

It is unknown exactly how old the Sinks are although the are likely and Ice Age feature thousands of years old.  The glaciers that carved the canyon exposed the soluble limestone and the billions of gallons of water from the melting ice helped created the underground passages.

For many years it was unknown whether the water flowing into the Sinks was the same water flowing out at the Rise.  Dye tests have proven the connection but have also revealed another mystery:  it takes the water flowing into the Sinks over 2 hours to reappear at the Rise.  It was also discovered that move water flows out at the Rise than goes in at the Sinks.  Why the water takes over two hours to make the journey and where it goes during that time is still a mystery.

Click the links below for pictures of the Sinks and surrounding area.

Drew Sinks #1 Sinks #2 Sinks #3 Denise Sinks Surroundings #1 Sinks Surroundings #2


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 drew@mykitchentable.net.