South Carolina Ping
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Posted on 12/09/2013 11:57:18 AM PST by Gamecock
LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC (WIS) - An iconic Lexington County rock formation has fallen, and officials aren't surprised.
MOREAdditional LinksPeachtree Rock, which stood for ages in an extraordinary upside-down pyramid fashion, is now lying on its side.
The sandstone formation is located in Peachtree Rock Heritage Preserve on Highway 6 near Edmund.
WIS viewers started sending in photos of the toppled rock on Sunday.
The rock's strange configuration was a result of the erosion of lower layers of rock and sand, with the upper layers of hard, coarse-grained sandstone eroding at a slower rate, according to the Nature Conservancy of South Carolina.
"It was inevitable at some point that that was going to happen," said Colette DeGarady, Senior Conservation Ecologist, SC Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. "It was eroding over time."
DeGarady says the bottom part of the formation had been disappearing, but the rock had also been vandalized in the recent past. "In the past year, we have had some varying amounts of vandalism that increased the rate of erosion," said DeGarady. "At some point in time it was going to go down on its own."
Lexington County Sheriff's deputies, according to DeGarady, have been patrolling the parking lot at night to keep an eye out for possible vandals.
At this point, officials don't have any evidence a single human act brought the rock down. DeGarady said rain has been the largest factor in the natural erosion of the formation.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is continuing to investigate.
Peachtree Rock Heritage Preserve comprises 460 acres and is co-managed by The Nature Conservancy and the Department of Natural Resources.
South Carolina Ping
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