Researchers from San Jose State University in California have published a study of the Mima mounds found in the western part of Washington state and parts of California.
Researchers from San Jose State University in California have published a study of the Mima mounds found in western Washington state and parts of California.
The study suggests a previous theory that gophers are responsible for the origins of the mysterious grass covered dirt mounds that can reach up to 8 feet tall and 30 feet wide could be correct.
[Gabet] suggestion: rhymes with ballet
Manny Gabet, a geologist at San Jose State University and author of the study is quoted as saying: “The problem with figuring out how Mima mounds form is that nobody has actually seen one form, which suggests that the processes that formed them are either no longer active or just very, very slow.”
Results of the study show that the original size of the mounds matches the territorial space taken up by an adult gopher.
The theory put forth by the study is that the mounds developed over 500 to 700 years of gophers running around in a field, and burrowing underground.
According to the researchers, this process would have been ongoing for generations.
This evidence is not hard proof that the movement of gophers formed the Mima mounds, but it adds to the existing theories of how they formed including earthquakes, floods, or extraterrestrials.
