Swimming between two continents, debunked
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- Опубліковано 30 сер 2020
- Silfra, in Þingvellir National Park in Iceland, is where the Eurasian and North American continental plates are dividing. It's a crack in the earth where you can snorkel or dive between the continents. Well, sort of. As ever, it's a bit more complicated than that.
Þingvellir geology:
www.thingvellir.is/en/history...
notendur.hi.is/oi/geology_of_...
Þingvellir history: www.thingvellir.is/en/history...
An interoduction to divergent plate boundaries: geology.com/nsta/divergent-pl...
Articles mentioned:
www.smithsonianmag.com/travel...
www.bbc.com/travel/story/20140...
www.businessinsider.com/scuba...
Filmed safely: www.tomscott.com/safe/
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com/ / lateralcast
➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: / tomscottplus
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: / techdif
I think this is the first time I've failed to film a piece to camera on-location! I did try, but it turns out it's really difficult to wear a microphone and a dry suit at the same time.
So when will you have a community discord?
2 weeks ago??? damn
We forgive you, Tom.
⠀
How was this from 2 weeks ago???
Shout out to the guy happily skipping across the bridge, hope he's doing well
@Voltaic Fire one day we'll all get there buddy and this point in time will be one sour little step in our merry skip across the bridge
@@inthiccwetrust5779 Could be a nice meme! Anyone who's there and witnesses someone skipping across the bridge *knows* that that person has seen this video.
CrippleX89 we gotta make this a thing now.
Dude's in Iceland, he's already winning
Hopefully he's we'll!
1:46 The guy crossing the bridge has the jauntiest run I've ever seen!
Hahah, it looks like he’s working with different gravity than everyone else
His arms are just swinging back and forth to a point a don’t understand
i literally did the same when i was there. I don‘t know why, but if you‘re there, you‘ll think about it, too.
Meirl
@@unnamed2723 I walk like that when I am walking down hill and trying to slow down, maybe the bridge is a bit down hill
that's a very long-winded way to say that the Earth has stretch marks
it comes with being the largest of the 4 rocky planets in the inner solar system
And we’re taking pictures in and building bridges across the stretch marks.
wait...
STARCH MASKS
Now you are just making Earth feel self conscious 😭😭😭
Rami Slicer preganté
0:56 "...or holding up this bridge in a photo", as two tourists in the background proceed to do just that.
I'd like to think they know who Tom is and wanted to do something silly in the background.
That’s the joke....
@@mac6 Tom scripts these, so I don't know if it was deliberate.
But the joke wouldn’t have made sense if their weren’t 2 people in the background holding up a bridge
@@mac6 Is it really a joke though if it's true? Holding up bridges is an extremely common type of tourism picture, people love taking silly pictures because it creates fun memories.
“I’m swimming in a literal river of mineral water”
Nestlé enters the chat
Pure Imagination intensifies
Nestle: " Iwonder how we can make Iceland pay for the lake"
This nation fought the UK 3 times over cod. Rio tinto is about to move out because we are raising their electric bill.
Nestlé who?
@@Minuz1 I wish every country had metaphorical balls as big as Iceland. Then the world would be a much nicer, happier place for everyone!
@@Minuz1 they won with the cod war too. British decided it wasn't worth it.
Basically, take a piece of bread and start pulling it apart - Before it fully separates look at the cracks and try and determine whether a bit of bread belongs to the piece you're pulling on from the left or the piece you're pulling on from the right.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to shove bread into my face!
Now I want bread
@@anatypicallyhumanperson7200 Don't let your dreams be dreams!
I did your experiment and I managed to determine that both pieces of bread belong in my mouth. This is science I can really get behind!!
directions unclear, accidentally ate the entire North American Continental Plate.
guess theres a reason they insist on calling it the crust
Tom really missed a “In the real world, there’s a lot of grey area” joke while pointing the camera at the sand
When the imposter is sus! 😳
@@Liamjlm amogus
@@boxcarz mouse.
I was just thinking that!
hahhahahaha
Would love to see a mini-series called something like Our Messy World that deals with things like this
yes
Collaboration with map men?
+
Yes
This could even be renamed episode 1
Tom Scott is like your personal universal tour guide
He's like UA-cams Attenborough
Oh, the places you'll never go but you'll be interested in anyway.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Haha. Perfect way to describe it
I know the use of universal here was not how I initially read it, but I'm just imagining
'I'm here on Kepler-186f, a planet which is supposedly habitable'
@@KenkuCry hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy vibes
As a geology PhD student who studies mid-ocean ridge plate boundaries I enjoyed this. It's always cool when someone takes time to learn about stuff you're really into.
Well although it's not the contact between two continents, like you say it's a MOR, a bit more complex as it is a tripple point, but still...
How's your studies going? Or did you graduate already?
I love how multiple videos (landmark misconceptions, linguistics, historical misnomers...) of yours are "And there isn't a concrete answer, and that's okay." and how you focus on how our perceptions and past experiences are still real regardless of what the technicality says.
Technicalities are super important because they give a new perspective, but they are given a bad rep because they are often thought as putting down and negating other perspectives and experiences, when really, they can be enriching them.
1:46 my guy on the bridge walking in cursive
Toms voice is so satisfying that I could listen to it all day
I've been watching a few videos in bed before sleep every night since March. I'm not say Tom has a boring voice though. His videos put me at ease.
I did my doctoral thesis on this same topic!!!
I mapped a portion of a transcurrent plate boundary on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Indonesia (transcurrent rather than Iceland's divergent boundary) and a huge part of the conclusion was that there's no clear divide as to where the boundary is. It's hundreds of miles wide filled with slivers and mish mash of both sides dragged into one another. I love that you include things like this on your channel.
To quote Futurama: "Technically correct is the best kind of correct"
Now I got the bureaucrat song stuck in my head... /watch?v=r4oPXHWrqVI
@@TheMightyZwom Me too. Sorry :-P
the skipping between the bridges at 1:48 is too happy to be living in 2020, what is his secret?
edit: possibly a time traveller
or just Scandinavian
those buggers are always happy! :P
@@caramelldansen2204 damn those scandinavian buggers, them and their perfect lives.
Hopefully from the future.
@@caramelldansen2204 Not true, I'm Swedish and I'm positively riddled with depression :^/
Covid test negative, maybe
I now have the image of like, pulling a croissant into two halves, with the middle flaking and tearing etc.
That does seem like a good analogy.
I did my PhD in plate tectonics and I never thought of how good this analogy is. And that's wild because the ONLY analogies geologists use are food analogies!!
@@seyeruoynepotsuj it's all the plates, you gotta put food on them
Or like two slices of pizza. Where the rock is more plastic it's like the mozzarella, it stretches and you can't see the crack but where there's a slice of pepperoni across the gap you can see it, like at Silfra.
Edit: I want pizza now.
@@seyeruoynepotsuj don't forget the earth is ravioli.
The Silfra dive is one of those "You should do this, but once you've done one or two dives in a day you can tick it off the bucket list and never do it again". The profile is VERY saw tooth (which is generally a bad thing for divers). The only good thing about that saw tooth profile is that it's generally quite shallow (in diving terms).
If you're every going to dive silfra think of it as a drift dive and don't kick yourself forward, only to the sides or back. The current will carry you forward, kicking forward will only shorten your dive.
Thought my dude was about to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar
While I think it would be interesting, that's one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, getting permission would be a right pain.
The Bosporus or Hellespont might be easier.
Its not plural. There's just one strait.
Wick9876 was about to comment the same thing hehe.
I was contemplating whether it was strait or straits on my last swim across the Dardanelle.
This guy is getting younger and younger I swear.
It's probably the fact that Tom wears sunscreen and drinks from the skulls of his enemies
And wears the same red shirt every day.
His hairline isn't, though :/
Edit: Not trying to make fun of it, just genuinely sad for him.
There is a painting in an attic somewhere... ;)
Thats impossible.
Tbh Tom this added the magic back to Silfra. I went diving there last year but had already heard it wasn't really between two plates. Still enjoyed it sure, but I had understood it as it was marketing and we were really just close to the edge of one plate.
Being in the stretch between is way cooler than I thought. So thanks
Yes it's fair to think of the entire area as the gap between the two continents, and that its formation is literally the continents splitting apart. It's just more than a few meters wides.
2:18
Imagine spending your life’s savings on a trip to the tectonic line and hearing someone walk by you saying that :)
Came looking for this comment
Tom Scott back in the day "here's an incredible thing!"
Tom Scott now "Incredible things don't exist, here's a cruel lie"
Hm, more so "Incredible things are often complicated, but they're still incredible; here's a clarification."
Gotta say, had never heard of this place, and now it's on my bucket list.
Incredible things exist, this just isn't one of them. Not every assumption you make or marketing claim you hear is true.
@@ShroudedWolf51 it's a joke guy
@@ratedpending
How to invalidate your opinion WR ANY%
Tom's doing enough travelling for the rest of us this year
0:10 *_"You're tearing me apart _**_-Lisa-_**_ Earth"_*
WHY LISA WHY
@@iriscandy6377 "Oh hi, Mark."
Many times people have asked, "what's this, down below?"
I asked when I was in iceland
Video: 1minute ago
Toms comment: 2 weeks ago
Me: *visible confusion*
EcreeperKiller the owner of a video can comment on it before it goes public.
Ok
0:53 There goes the sponsorship from the Icelandic tourist board.
I've had a really stressful day and this is exactly the content I need to make me feel better. Thank you again Tom, love your videos!
The obligatory "Hey, thats my country" for me
The 8th continent is that sand bank
Tom: talks underwater
Me: perfectly normal for Tom
If he’s holding the camera in front of him, _of course he’s gotta talk_
Mariam Shehab More like 1:20 *_unintelligible wet microphone noises_*
Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean surely counts as swimming between 2 continents... Surely...
1:46 how is it possible that there is always something to see in the background of his videos?
Paid actors Tom puts in there for little easter eggs
I have been here as well and swum, the cold on the face isn't as bad as it might seem but its absolutely gorgeous and amazing to do! if you ever visit Iceland I highly recommend doing this!
So, if the Earth was a cupcake, Silfra would be one of the little crumbs that fall off when you pull it apart.
Great. Now I want a cupcake.
People walking by: “Oh hey that’s Tom Scott”
Tom: “These stupid idiots”
1:46 that guy walking on the bridge in the background has probably the best energy of anyone ever
Tom:holding up this bridge in a photo,,,,,,,
The people in the background: 🤷♀️
0:58
The guy at 1:45 🏃♂️
I actually went to the bridge between continents! It was so cool to see the exact spot on video, aha - our whole school trip lined up, held hands, and stretched one side to the other! I still have the photo :D
Great as always, thanks Tom
Tom, I can’t handle all of these informational videos. I can’t keep all the fun facts in my head with these epic videos
Your videos are always so awesome
"The real world does not fit into the neat little boxes that we'd like it to..." That is my existence in a nutshell.
"And designing more boxes does nothing but kick the bucket down the road"
The real world fits inside your nutshell? :D
I swam there myself in Jan 2020, and it was indeed an incredible experience. If you find yourself in Iceland, i highly recommend doing it. And yes, you can drink the water whilst you are swimming in it!
I've literally dived in Silfra, and had no idea that this was a thing lmao - I had the great experince and no dreams crushed with this video, so all good :P
That gap and the water is simultaneously the prettiest and the scariest thing I've ever seen.
A ravine underwater
It'll be hard to go to the stronghold
At least you won't have to worry about Endermen
the seed Tom used in the video was the same as ph1lzas
nezuko kamado hi
The river south of Glacier National Park in NW Montana has float trips. I brought my wetsuit and snorkeling equipment, and since I knew the guide, I 'accidentally' fell overboard and swam next to the 8 person raft. Initially my hands were painful the water was so cold (3-4*C) I had to keep them out of the water, but later I was able to be completely under. The water was exactly as clear as you show, and at some points very deep and looked incredibly like at 1:06, with the AMAZING clarity of the water. There was a strong current since the river was moving fast, and at points the river was over 30 feet deep and at others less than 2 feet deep, which was a challenge when you are moving at about 10 mph and have little time to dodge the rocks that appear coming at you at high speed :-)
Love your vids, thank you.
Your "Amazing Places" videos are ... ummm ... amazing! Thank you for this one.
Brilliant content as always Tom.
"The real world is far more messy than we often think"
Yes, i know.
I wish for all of us to be so carefree and cheerful as the guy at 1:46
Like your video details, great . I'm enjoyed and following your channel on ♥
Wait this was a new video? I was on a watching spree and thought hey another video I haven't watched but it was new! Great job ❤
The last bit of this video made me extremely thirsty
the forbidden drink
@@PD_CĪPHĒR Nothing is stopping you from drinking mineral water
@@TheSkypetube not the best idea though
@@merlith4650 It's filtered
Tom Scott is the kid at the sleepover who says “it’s tomorrow” after midnight
I thoroughly enjoy your videos
I really enjoy the fact that your videos are increasingly like 'the world is full of nuance and I could tell you cool stuff just for views but it's really not that simple'.
Tom: *visits area famous for a peculiar thing*
Tom: *proceeds to debunk peculiar thing*
When the imposter is sus! 😳
@@Liamjlm When the impersonator is suspicious!
This is a prime example of "Just keep swimming" taken literally.
Tails is best character
@@caramelldansen2204 fully agree on that
Hey just wanted to say I’m a huge fan...keep up the good work
Thank you very much for existing, Tom.
I was litterally just watching another Tom Scott video
same
I was watching the 10 min fishermen video
Me too
Same
This is the best comment i've seen in the last years
THANK-YOU. As a trained geologist (see username), I've been frustrated by people misinterpreting the significance of places like Silfra for years. Having been to Þingvellir (didn't swim there though, not sure that was even something on offer back in 2005 when I was there), and places like it, where continents were either tearing themselves apart or colliding (places including the East African Rift Valley, and subduction zones created by the Nazca plate and the South American plate, the Cocos plate and the North American plate, the Cocos plate and the Caribbean plate, the Pacific plate and the North American plate, and the African plate and the Eurasian plate*), I know just how chaotic the boundary zones can be. It makes for VERY interesting geology. Faulting and folding, erupting volcanoes (my raison d'être) and earthquakes (I felt a moment magnitude 5.6 in Guatemala a few years back)...I always enjoy my time spent in these geological paradises.
*In the case of the subduction zones, the actual zone where one plate becomes another is obviously underwater. But in many cases, you can actually find areas where fragments of the subducting plate have been broken off and uplifted, to be included in the above-ground landscape. Moreover, much of the land that is Western North America (to take one common example...there are others) was once small microplates that accreted onto the North American continent many millions of years ago, so there are ancient convergent boundaries that remain above ground in this region, to this day.
1:46 Guy runnin like he’s the main character, and he’s going to his next quest.
Congrats on 3 million! Definitely deserved! :D
"Imagine that this bridge..." and the guy on the bridge is right on queue.
Did you not notice the tourists beyond the bridge posing for a photo while pretending to hold up said bridge. There was a lot going on in that scene.
1:45 mad lad on bridge
Did not realise it was a monday until you uploaded
Wow a youtube recommendation that I actually want to watch and on upload day no less!
Fresh Tom Scott! Yay!
Y e s
I suppose, though, that with hindsight one might be able to say that one particular crack was a single line at which the two plates separated. What I mean is, one should be able to find a point (several points) where the rock on one side will end up comfortably part of Eurasia and the other comfortably part of America. If the rock on my right will end up drifting east for ten thousand years and the one on my left will drift west for ten thousand years then there’s an appreciable sense in which I am indeed standing at their point of departure.
Congrats on 3 mil subs!
Congrats on 3,000,000 subs!
I was just talking about how the Appalachian Mountains go from Scotland to Alabama thanks to the continents moving.
bruh WHAT
When you stand under the bridge between the continents, and the sun shines in your face, isn’t the American plate on the other side than the one you’re pointing to?
Just noticed you hit 3 Mil Congrats Tom you deserve it🎉🎉🎉
Just been watching some of of your old stuff. How your not a TV presenter is beyond me. Better than most of them anyway
1:46
*I've found a happy hippy*
When I saw the word “debunked” in the title I thought it was a collab with captain disillusion 😕
Reality is often disappointing
they’ve already done a collab. -haven’t you seen the chinese invisibility cloak video?-
NateStorm12 oh how i wish it was real
@@ipaintontheskies Oh, it was. There is an unlisted video where Tom instructs captain D on how to speak like him.
Mike Uk 😂😂😂
Great video x
Feels like that's really ruined some vacation memories that I don't even have
Tom - not a qualified diver? A PADI open water certification isn't expensive or difficult to get, a few hours of classes, a written test, and a couple dives with an instructor and you're all set.
The equipment is the expensive part, however you can (and probably should) simply rent gear from tours or local dive shops.
It's definitely worth doing, even if you only ever go on a few dives.
It would even make an interesting little documentary
I recently got my Padi Advanced Open Water. While standart Open Water may be simple to get, it takes time(about 4 dives in 2 days for me) and tom is presumably quite buisy and travels a lot. (Not to mention the time he is prob spending doing research for new topics)
Sure maybe it could provide new oppertunities for videos, not everyone is super down to put on a BCD and heavy tanks cause it seems imposing at the start.
I remember hiking up to an inactive volcano (and going down into it) where we had to cross a narrow enough spot where you could stand with a foot on either plate, neat photo spot, only caveat was that you did not really see the bottom of the crack (admittedly you’d get stuck before falling too far).
This is why i always word it like this: " if i drive from my hometown of Akureyri, east for about four hours to Eigilstaðir, i'm taking a road trip from north america to europe" its more acourite while still leaving people that don't know this amusingly confuded
Dang Tom, you're up to 3M subs, that's crazy! I'm not going to pretend that I'm an OG subscriber or anything, but when I found this channel it only had just over a quarter million subs, and I was genuinely surprised that it didn't have more. You deserve all the growth, your vids are always stellar and interesting!
Tom you can't fool us. We know you are wearing red t-shirt
I mean I guess if you swim in the Suez Canal or the Panama canal, you can say "swimming between 2 continents"
@Zero 01 tectonically sure, the fault is in the gulf of aqaba but Sinai is considered to be in Asia geographically by most.
informative and wonderful as always!
Tom, 3 million! Congratulations 🎈
Me: today is a great day
Tom: *hands an AK-47* I'm sorry, I'm about to debunk you right there
Imagine being there during an earthquake
I'm no expert, but isn't an earthquake suppose to occur on transform plate boundaries?
@@alexle7120 All boundaries experience earthquakes.
@@alexle7120 Earthquake happens anywhere, really. If you've got two bodies of rock in contact and motion, you can be sure eventually there'll be an earthquake.
thats regular around 1500earthquakes a day
I love this video. It inspired me to get the extra scuba certification to dive the site and it was an incredible experience that I otherwise may have missed.
Always love watching his videos
I’d love to visit Iceland... it looks stunning! And I want to learn Icelandic too.
MynameisLG dont learn icelandic
From an icelander
Cantfind Name I’ve heard it’s difficult!... but I speak Norwegian and like old Norse and the sagas, and I like a challenge... :D
Tom Scott, public enemy #1 of Icelandic tourism
Cool video Scott
Great vid !