The Chasm and the Canyon Gorge - the Fissure

Academia has still not decided on the sequence of events that led to the formation of the Chasm and Canyon fissure. There are many conflicting scientific observations.

Firstly, the date of the sudden cataclysmic uplift that thrust Attland island, and its northern mountainous peninsula high above the sea level is different from the formation of the inner peninsula geology. However, they are not too ancient: the dates point to a very recent phase of the quaternary period. It seems that the Fissure appeared shortly after the catastrophic uplift.



What is certain is that the fissure happened when the northward down slope of the northern mountains cracked and slid relatively short distance, which created a deep gorge.
The width of the gorge varies erratically from several meters to about 300 meters.

The fissure as seen in the image, is a U shaped tear, is anywhere from 30 meters to 2000 meters deep.

In its early history, the cataclysmic fissure caused the river to fall into the newly formed canyon and start to fill it, eventually creating a deep lake that almost reached the upper rim of the fissure. At least 200 hundred years passed before another critical event took place. The waters of Glada river found a newer, shorter drainage path, (though not through corroding the canyon walls) and rushed along the new course. Most likely, post-fissure, minor racking lasted for many years, finally creating a narrow and deep passage for the river. See the image above.

The relatively wide parts (the middle 20 miles and the 10 miles at the eastern end) of the fissure remains open, while the narrower parts have become overgrown with vegetation, effectively closing it off from much of sunlight. The fissure has multitude of dry and flooded caves, ledges and arches of mysterious geological origin, and unique flora and fauna (marsupial tarsiers and bats).