SCP-4271, circa 1908.

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Item #: SCP-4271

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the immobile nature of the anomaly, the exclusion zone surrounding SCP-4271 is to be closely monitored for any changes in temperature and kept away from public eye. Provisional Research Site-08 are to make adjustments to the zone of exclusion due to SCP-4271's growing territory. At this time, research into slowing or stopping SCP-4271's growth is considered top priority.

Description: SCP-4271 is the designation given to a large mass of tubular, Silicon carbide-based (SiC) sessile organisms that have integrated across a valley within the Guadalupe Mountains of El Paso, Texas. These structures appear to function similar to that of Giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila); lacking any digestive, reproductive, or excretory systems.

SCP-4271 forms a complex root system which has merged with the crust of the planet. Underground scans of the exclusion zone containing SCP-4271 reveals that these roots have integrated within the mantle, and are estimated to extend all the way down into the inner core of the Earth. SCP-4271 contains vents that expel Carbon Dioxide (CO2) out into the atmosphere with a estimated rate of 95 metric tons each year. SCP-4271 displays an ability to asexually reproduce by way of fragmentation1 as well as propagation by expanding its total area. This expansion has been steadily increasing at a rate of 2.6% each year.

SCP-4271 responds to stimulus, reacting when touched by repulsing from the point of contact as well as moving or swaying when left to idle.

Discovery: SCP-4271 was originally discovered in February of 1908 by prospectors during the Sutter Mill goldrush. At that time, SCP-4271 was only a conglomerate mass that was attached to a wall near the mountain's crest. Originally presumed to house gold within its cavities, the prospectors attempted to mine for the gold using their pickaxes but spent hours trying with no results and broken tools. The prospectors then tried to use their stacks of dynamite to break open the cliff face. The resulting explosion caused the rock face, which SCP-4271 was rooted on, to collapse into a ravine below.

In 1920, SCP-4271 was rediscovered by ASCI operatives within the ravine and was cordoned off from the public. The exclusion zone surrounding SCP-4271 was established alongside Site-08.

Addendum 4271.1: Future projections of SCP-4271 estimate that at its current rate of growth, SCP-4271 will spread and encompass the entire Eastern Seaboard in as little as 500 years. Further projections of SCP-4271 also estimate it to expand itself across the North American continent by the year 2███.

Incident: On September 3, 2021, Foundation seismographs detected an oncoming earthquake emanating from beneath SCP-4271. Drone inspection of the valley revealed that a large crack had begun to form across SCP-4271.

Several hours later, various winged insects composed of calcium and silicate compounds had emerged from the vents of SCP-4271. Simultaneously, a large entity (SCP-4271-B) estimated to be over 9 meters in height, composed of magma and a dark-colored igneous rock, rose from the fissure within SCP-4271. SCP-4271-B is covered in what appear to be glyphs and runes engraved across its back2.

For the next four hours, the entity climbed out of the large crevice within SCP-4271 as the fissure started to widen due to the weight of SCP-4271-B before finally giving way and collapsing beneath SCP-4271. The entity ceased all motion as it fell into the large crevice. SCP-4271's total area shrunk as it slowly recovered the mass lost during the entity's arrival to the surface; resetting its growth rate for at least sixty years.

Aerial reconnaissance of the incident revealed that after the creature fell back into the crevice within SCP-4271, six irregularly shaped humanoid entities covered in dark, crystalline structures were seen around the walls of the fissure as it closed up.

Seismic activity has only increased after this incident. Further research and changes to SCP-4271's containment protocol are currently underway.

Footnotes

1. A form of asexual reproduction in which an organism is split into fragments. Each of these fragments develop into matured, fully grown organisms that are identical to their parents.

2. These runes do not appear to match any known set of symbols on Earth. Furthermore, the symbolic nature of these glyphs do not belong to any known set used in runic thaumaturgy.