Anyone know what these horizontal lines are on mountains?
Posted Feb 7, 2016, 10:00 PM UTC
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We have them around here in Montana. They are the water levels of the shore of Glacial Lake Missoula.
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I am pretty sure this is it. Very similar to the lines on some of the canyons upstream of Missoula.
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I've seen these lines in two places in Utah: pictured here 10k feet up near Provo Peak, and the other on the north slope of Ben Lomond 9k feet up. Glacial Lake Bonneville only went 5k feet up, so I don't think it can be this.
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Where I live we have horizontal lines on mountains from water lines from an ice age lake. This doesn't look like the same area I live in at all so it's probably something else :)
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I don't know it, but it could be paths from grading animals, if you look closely you can see diagonals connecting the lines at different heights
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I was gonna say grazing animals, but your answer makes more sense.
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It depends on where you are... Rice terraces look kind of like that, but I don't think they are farming rice in Utah. I suspect that the terraces in your photo were man-made specifically to prevent erosion along that steep slope. Creating a stepped surface on a steep slope is a common enough method of erosion control, geologists/geomorphologists will be familiar with the concept. I found a link that describes such terraces, found on a trail in Utah... You can't believe everything you read on the internet, but that weird link does confirm my hypothesis, so maybe it's true.
I would agree with u/bodocont's hypothesis, but the lines are a little bit too regular for animals. This photo claims to show cow trails on a hillside.
edit: grammar
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This is actually the mountain pictured, and wildfire control makes a ton of sense. Slopes like that burn like crazy.
Edit: Spelling
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Possibly old terrace farming locations?
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They don't look natural, just too perfect. Do you have a picture from ground level, or another view?
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I see these hiking in Utah all the time but have never known what they are.
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could be erosional pattern based on each layer of sedimentary rock having a different resistance to erosion. would have to know where to be sure.. these lines look man made though.. maybe farming related
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Do they exist in real life? They look too regular to be natural in this google earth shot. They look like relief lines on a topo map. Mapping artifact maybe?
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I am almost certain this is terracing for erosion control.
Also, this is in any state that has mountainous farming/grazing.
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It's just where they carve it out to make the topographical maps
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Mass wasting is a natural consequence of combining an unconsolidated mass (the soil), with gravity, water and time. It just happens so slowly that we don't perceive it moving.
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Super weird but I remembered this video I saw probably 6 months ago where this glider pilot mentioned them... actually I miraculously found the video again and it turns out he was flying in Utah. He thinks they're for erosion control or snow retention. 45 seconds in:
https://youtu.be/ITl8bItBmUo
This is actually the mountain pictured, though I have seen it other places. Erosion control makes a ton of sense here. Thanks!
Sure :) pretty cool coincidence.