There's a town in Germany that is literally physically splitting apart

Youtuber Tom Scott explains the science behind the giant cracks.
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There's a town in Germany that is literally physically splitting apart
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No, this isn't some weird idea for a Pixar movie -- this is actually happening.

In the clip above, Youtuber Tom Scott visits the town of Staufen in south-west Germany. Staufen has a very unique problem: it is splitting apart. Huge cracks run up buildings, and Scott finds out why.

It turns out that the government bored in the area for geothermic energy, but unfortunately the groundwater combined with a layer of anhydrite to form gypsum, which expanded causing the ground to bulge and the buildings to form these huge cracks.

Keep it together, Staufen!


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