It’s Alive!”: Scientists Say Devils Tower Is Constantly Moving

New research published by the Geological Society of America has revealed that Wyoming’s iconic Devils Tower is constantly moving. An international team of geologists determined that the nation’s first national monument is perpetually and ever-so-slightly swaying, twisting, and turning in the wind. “It’s not only a static rock structure, millions of years in the making,” said Jeffrey Moore, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah and lead author of the study. “It is moving on human timescales. It’s constantly in motion.”

Devils Tower is a giant, eroded plug of volcanic rock—an intrusive body of magma that cooled under the surface and was gradually exposed by millions of years of erosion. When most people see it, they assume it is as solid as a rock. Moore’s research shows that is not entirely true. “It’s lively with vibrational energy,” Moore said. “You can’t see it, feel it, hear it, or anything, but it’s nonetheless very real. It’s happened right this very second.”