Lake Powell’s Double Arch collapses

A natural wonder is no more. The double arch that spanned Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah collapsed.

The National Park Service announced the collapse of the arch on social media.

The sandstone structure has gone by several names over the years including the Toilet Bowl, the Crescent Pool, the Hole in the Roof and the Double Arch.

Park officials said the arch was formed from 190 million-year-old Navajo sandstone that had eroded, causing parts to break off over the years. The sandstone was formed between the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods.

“Changing water levels and erosion from wave action is suspected of contributing to the ultimate collapse of the arch,” officials said.

The weather conditions cited include wind and rain that have been battering the arch since it was formed.

“The great thing about geology is that it happens extremely slowly — except for when it doesn’t,” Arches and Canyonlands parks spokesperson Karen Garthwait told The New York Times.

There are more than 2,000 naturally occurring arches in the Arches National Park with Garthwait saying that collapses probably happen frequently but people just don’t see it. Some collapses are embraced by park officials.

“Arches National Park doesn’t protect arches. It preserves the natural processes that both make arches and eventually unmake arches,” Garthwait said.

There had been a plan to shore up the skinny portion of the park’s aptly named Delicate Arch, but the plans were scrapped in the 1940s, the Times reported.

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