u/AdSubstantial8136

A beautiful mature red maple in our front yard looks as though it's been attacked recently, with an alarming new gap in the bark and erosion at the base of the trunk. Does anyone recognize this kind of injury, and have a sense of what I might do to minimize the damage? (The mulch is too much, I know. Regrettably, my spouse has not fully embraced my mission to naturalize.)

We are in the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont, zone 7b.