A black oak is slowly swallowed by the Mount Baldy sand dune, which moves about 4-feet a year, at the Indiana Dunes National Park
Mount Baldy is 126 feet above Lake Michigan and part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The dune is moving approximately four feet inland every year and slowly swallowing everything in it's path and will eventually overrun the parking lot and facilities. Climbing the dune has been closed to visitors since a near fatal accident in 2013 when the dune unexpectedly swallowed a child in a deep sink hole. Additional sink holes have since been detected at Mount Baldy and climbing the dune is now only available through an official Park Ranger guided tour. The exact cause of the sinkholes is uncertain but believed to be related to the remains of decaying oak trees that the dune swallowed and killed in the past. As the trees decompose it is believed they leave behind a chimney that can open up and close again under the shifting sands.
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: Mount Baldy, Michigan City, IN, USA
Photo credit: © D Guest Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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