There is an episode of the flintstones where they go to visit the Grand Canyon and it’s nothing more than a tiny crack with water running through it. Vilma makes the comment “it doesn’t seem to Grand to me” where Fred responds back “it’s suppose to be great in a few million years”! Must see.
NOTE: I wasn't able to talk about every single layer that makes up the Grand Canyon in this video, but you can go check out the interactive geologic map (linked in the description) to read about the other layers! :D Also, please know this explanation was very simplified and there is so much that could be covered about this incredible canyon! So, I apologize for the over-simplifiication of much of this discussion. I hope to make more in-depth videos on specific aspects of this discussion in the future! Reply to this comment if you want to request a specific topic for a future grand canyon related video! ;D Thanks!
This is great. I'm new to geology and you and Nick Zentner are the best at communicating these things. I'd love to see you 2 collab for a video or something in the future
Memory lane for me. I took my girlfriend there thirty years ago, a wonderful trip, we hiked into Indian gardens half way down, and back out the same day. I bought several geological maps of the Grande canyon but they got lost in our last move. Our kids are grown now, and she died years ago. My recent history is not even a dusting layer relative to the epochs displayed. This was a fantastic review of what I used to know, and some solace - thank you.
I'm sorry for your loss. Life feels like a dusting sometimes when compared to geologic time but to experience the grandness and intimacies of living... for me that feels enough. Seeing a billion years of history exposed in the canyon was good enough to make adolescent me love geology as a hobby and decades on, I still enjoy visiting the Grand Canyon whenever I can.
Love this video! Back in the late in the late '90's, I travelled there with a uni student tour. Three busloads of students disgorged onto one of the lookouts, to much amazement and awe. Of the 140 or so of us, there were only half a dozen that were studying earth sciences (geology myself). After half an hour or so, the rest were getting pretty bored, except for us, we were trying to explain and convey the sheer magnitude of what was visible and what it represented. It was fantastic. Thanks for the video and explanation. It brings back a lot of good memories.
As someone who first hiked the Canyon in '65, it always makes my heart sing to see someone experience it for the first time. Nicely presented! (Also, "Vishnu Schist" would make a great name for a band. 🎶)
Awesome that so much of Earth’s history is preserved and visible in one place. I’ve been wanting to head out to the Grand Canyon for years and I really need to go.
I've only see the Grand Canyon from the air. These shots of you on the edge seem so not real. Amazing and beautiful. Thank you for the science behind this amazing piece of nature.
Thanks for another great video, GeoGirl! At the risk of sounding silly your boundless enthusiasm and love of science is so needed in this time of cynical attacks on science, culture and the very rule of law. It's good to know there are still people that love this world enough to try to understand it. 🥰🙏🌏
No, that's not silly! That is so reassuring actually! I was a bit concerned that it was silly of me to post such uplifting and carefree content like this with all that's going on right now, especially this war against science, but it is really nice to hear that it has had an positive impact during this time :) Thank you
Fun fact #1 translated for mere mortals - the volume of the canyon is ~1000 cubic miles (or 4170 km^3) which puts it somewhere between lakes Huron and Michigan.
I recommend walking the Trail of Time on the South Rim. Along the trail, the National Park Service has placed large rocks from each of the layers, going from oldest to youngest (or vice versa, if walked in the reverse direction). Really easy way to see and feel the different layers.
Excellent and informative video! I had once requested that you begin making some field geology videos just like this one, but I really had my concerns about that. Recording in the field is MUCH harder and complex than a classroom-like lecture. Field conditions, travel, sound issues all add to the difficulty. (Plus, if you miss something, it's not easy to go back to the Grand Canyon!) But you've pulled this off expertly! You have good production, clear sound, a variety of camera angles, and informative graphics - all put together with well-presented information. FANTASTICALLY DONE!!!
I've only been able to visit the Grand Canyon once but the memory is burned in. It's impossible to get your head around the sheer scale until you see it for yourself. The best description was by one of the guides who said it's like someone took a range like the Blue Ridge Mountains and flipped it down instead of up.
Thanks for the video, I always wonder about the processes that formed the canyon. I've been there a few times and it is really unfathomable to imagine a river that wide or deep. Maybe I'm thinking about it the wrong way though. I'd love to see an illustration that helps to understand these concepts. When you stand at the edge of the canyon it all just seems so enormous.
A very simplistic explanation, but realize that the river doesn't have to be the whole width. Erosion from weather and gravity makes the sides fall in and widen the upper part. Note along all the walls of the canyon you see sloped areas. Think of it as an inversed mountainside. Also keep in mind what is at the top was originally also buried and erosion has uncovered it as the area lifted up, so the original "top" of the area maybe before the river started through it was up even more feet (hundreds or a thousand?)
Well the river (or rivers) that carved the canyon were never that wide or deep. Try to imagine it when it was 80% shallower (so before 80% of those deeper layers were cut into). This is likely how it began. A small, narrow canyon carved by a regular size river. Now, imagine this river system continues to cut down this canyon, slowly over millions of years. Over this course of time, the river didn't necessarily change width or depth, but the canyon became deeper and deeper, and eventually it got to be the way it is today. I hope that helps a little bit (albiet without visuals). :)
Ooooo! A new geo vid! Thank you! 50 years ago I was a geology major. Got to see some amazing places in all those years but never the Grand Canyon. I really appreciate your work!
My goodness, I still remember my trip to the Grand Canyon in 2021 and it is still one of the most magnificent sights my eyes have ever beheld!! I really hope to visit it again someday.
1) There are marine fossil trails on the south rim, where the Park Service spread gravel to make the trail. Look closely at a handful of gravel and it is mostly shell fossils. 2) The trip from rim to river and back can be done in less than about an hour by some park workers who use a shorter but steeper route. They jog the trail with their legs of steel. 3) Wording on a t-shirt: Where were you when the vishnu schist hit the alluvial fan.
Spent Christmas Vacation of 1975 hiking to the bottom of the canyon, spending 5 days at the bottom and then hiking back up. Been back to many parts of the rim in the years since. Always produces the same sense of awe and peace when you let the view soak in. Love your work.
So much to love about this video I wouldn`t know where to start, or end. I`ll have to watch it again maybe a few times to absorb more of the info presented. It`s a cake too big to eat in one sitting. You are the best Prof. Rachel. Cheers!
Fun fact: the continental divide used to run north south without most of the canyon not eroded away. The eastern part of the colorado river emptied into the carribean's predecessor. The western part of the colorado river emptied into the gulf of california. Side streams connect to a river in something of a fan shape. Look at the side streams connections online users see from the little little colorado river to the east. It is obvious that at one time some of the colorado flowed east.
Field trip! I love this area of the world because of all of the geology. Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, etc, just blows my mind of the time and forces that have created the beauty we get to witness. Have you ever looked into the super slides that happened in and around Southern Utah? That may be a good video to cover some time. (Just a suggestion)
Literally next on my wish list after the ones I have planned this spring is Zion and the rest of Utah! I love it out there and hope to go back soon! :D
Thanks for a trip down memory lane. It was on a raft trip on the Colorado River through the Canyon many years ago that I learned about the great unconformity, sparking my passion for learning more about earth's history. You’ve done a great job in recapitulating the wonder I felt.
Wow, isn't this the perfect place to study all the major extinctions of the last 2 billion years? Great work, Rachel 🌺 Greetings from the Rhine valley in Germany 👋
Nicely done Rachel! My wife and I hiked down to the river and back two years ago. It was very hot and I don’t think my wife was too happy about my continuously stopping, breaking out my hand lens and in deep thought about each formation we passed through. I was like a kid in a candy store!!
As vast and spectacular as the Grand Canyon is, it is a mere ditch compared to the Great Rift Valley in Africa, which is itself the size of one of the tributaries of Valles Marineris on Mars, the largest known canyon structure in our solar system.
Wonderful Doc. Your students and colleges are verry lucky to have your knowledge and enthusiasm. So nice to see you this Sunday morning. I look forward to meeting you someday at a GSA event my old bones can carry me to. LOL!!!
This was great! Thank you for continuing to get out to location shooting. The quality to the storytelling and crafting an interesting video goes up so much when you are on location. I love all your videos, but these ones are next level. Keep growing as an educator and pushing yourself creatively. It is paying off.
Thanks a lot for this Grand Canyon feature! It reminded me how an old school and sports buddy of mine, who also became a geologist and paleontologist, once visited that place. While working and studying at the Salt Institute in La Jolla, nearly 40 years ago, he took lots of (analogue) photos of that hike and turned them into a magnificent private slideshow for his German friends at home - nice memories. 🙂
14:13 Graupel; flakes that have frozen/risen-melted/refrozen/etc and become tiny balls that are denser than snowflakes but not as heavy as ice chunks we would call hail. Graupel commonly range up to the size up to a BB or a small ball bearing. They can be intermixed with rain or snow. They can feel painful against skin. Thank you, GEO GIRL, I always learn from you.
I love looking at sedimentary deposits. I've never been to the Grand Canyon but Southern Utah and Mesa Verde have outstanding rocks. Great presentation Geo Girl.
I had the good fortune to raft all the way through the canyon when I was 18. I still vividly recall the boatmen talking about how we were going back in time the deeper we went. They were basically live narrators for a spectacular 10 day geological history lesson. It was an incredibly thrilling experience.
"This snow is actually a rock." Spoken like a true geologist! A field trip with my favorite instructor is always a treat. Thank you for bringing us along. I still can't imagine a river carving the Grand Canyon. Was the Colorado River super wide at some point? Or was there flooding from ice age glacier dams (like the Missoula Floods out west)? Or did erosion continue to widen what the river cut?
There are multiple hypotheses about how the canyon was cut, and researchers still aren't sure! Near the end of the video, I talk about the hypotheses, but the most likely scenario at least from what I read seems to be that multiple river systems began carving the canyon in different regions tens of millions of years ago and later merged to form the colorado river. And yes, there was periods during which these rivers and the colorado river were much wider due to periods of higher sea level and changes in regional climate, which would've greatly increased the rate of erosion at those times as well as the width of the canyon. :)
@@GEOGIRL Thanks, GeoGirl! I rewatched the part of the video where you went over the old canyon hypothesis. For some reason it didn't stick in my mind the first time. The story that's been ingrained in me is that the Colorado River cut the canyon over millions of years. I'm glad to think it's not as simple as that. It's more satisfying to believe it was carved by a network of ancient rivers and flooding, and not only by the tiny river that now flows at its bottom (keep in mind 8k to 20k cubic feet of water passes through the Grand Canyon per second, which is unimpressive compared to the 265k cfs running through the Columbia Gorge).
Our family has been to grand canyon three times in rhe past five years. I recommend the north side rather than the south side. The north side has far fewer tourists and far more trees.
Thanks for the recommendation! I wanted to visit the north side in addition to the south side, but most of those paths were closed due to winter weather. Hopefully though I'll be able to go there the next time I visit! :D
You can get to the bottom and back to the top in one day, but they don't recommend it unless you are an experienced and fit hiker. You start at first light and get back up late in the evening. The Bright Angel trail on the South Rim is only about 16 miles or so to the river and back. I've done it twice myself. Be prepared, and hydrate well if you do it in summer, and go in a group. The hike back up takes 2/3 to 3/4 of the total time. But honestly, I would have preferred to camp at the bottom and have more time to explore and see the sights and the incredible geology. An hour for lunch just is not near enough.
There is a sign at the top of Bright Angel Trail mentioning that it is not uncommon to have to be rescued, or even die of dehydration/overhydration/heat exposure/etc. in the attempt to make it in one day. Definitely not something to be approached casually.
You could take the volcanic activity of the eons for part of the carving with sulfuric acids from rains which could also account for some layers disappearing. There were also super volcanoes that worked west to east currently at Yellow Stone. You know, yellow as in sulfur deposits from sulfur rich volcanic activity.
I am so in love with AZ. I've been here 23 years. Last weekend, I was at a place called Red Valley, not too far from Shiprock. The geology is so interesting. Shiprock is a volcanic neck, and between Red Valley and Lukachuckai there is some Jurassic rocks that are so amazing. Indian Route 13 is the best way to see it.
Ooo! I didn't get to look at any Jurassic rocks, thanks for the heads up! I will definitely put that on my list of places to visit for next time I am out there! AZ geology is incredible, isn't it? I am just amazed every time I go out there!! :D
Oh that is awesome! I hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy getting to not only see this amazing canyon but also understand what it represents in terms of geologic time! I always find when I go to places that I've learned the geology of, I have a greater appreciation for the visit :D
Wow, Rachel, you are perfect narrator for the National Geographic channel ! And I adore your videos filmed in the field 👍👍 Especially on such beautiful location 🤠 Btw what strange names of the layers - Brahma shist, Vishnu shist. Geologists definitely like Indian mythology 😌
In '81 I was a 🏴 geology student travelling the States after a teaching job at Summer camp. Also had that 'Just One Day' at The Canyon and managed to get to Plateau Point and back to the top in 6 hours. 2 hours less than the recommended. A mind boggling experience. Wish that I had had you along for a guide.
This happens to be a location where I map soils. Soil scientists would not call snow "rocks" unless flakes were more than 2 mm diameter. Snow would be part of the soil. (Dihydrogen oxide in it's solid form!) The Kaibab Formation is a Dolomite/Limestone. Here is an interesting aside about why soils should be important to geology. The Kaibab Formation sits on top of both the South Rim and the North Rim. The North Rim (soil scientists call the Kaibab Plateau) receives much more precipitation than the South Rim (soil scientists would call the Coconino Plateau). Also, the Kaibab Plateau being higher in elevation there is much more potential for erosion. Yet the Kaibab Plateau is resisting weathering much better than the Coconino Plateau. That's because the Kaibab Plateau has formed resistant clays that are very deep and can harbor aquifers that add to clay weathering. Kaibab Plateau soils are very deep even on summits. The semi-arid Coconino Plateau has only moderately deep soils with intermediate clay formation. If you were to venture into the arid Cataract canyon (a tributary canyon to the southwest ) you would see shallow soils formed from the same Kaibab Formation, with little vegetation, and little clay formation in arid climates. Thanks for the great geology take on the canyon. I love all your posts.
The whole Arizona plateau with its oxbows and meadering mass wastings, leaving dead and dry highland river valley bottoms and pinnacles ... are all older erosion process than the current river system. The Arizona plateau (with New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah basins) were all part of the Pacific plate under-sliding and uplifting the whole mass, even the Rockies up to 4-5 miles into elevation, of which more than 3+ miles have eroded back down (!). Here in 40 MYA the greater of the erosional processes of uplift and erosion with mass wasting was done to the current time. As such, look at the (said above) dry highland river valley bottoms and pinnacles BEFORE 40 MYA, and all such lowlands are 40 MYA to present. There isn't any either/or extreme condition. It is both in stepped time phases.
Snow referred to as rocks, so cool. I’m now thinking that the powder I skied the other day was rock powder that reached its melting point under the massive friction produced by my gnarly decent. Thanks, I feel so much more rad now. Always interesting and informative.
The most awesomeness place on earth. Thanks for talking about it. I've been there like 10 times in my life, and that's not nearly enough. Maybe when you have the time you could visit Marble Canyon northeast of there. Love to hear your thoughts on that as well. Plus, I really liked the yellow jacket. Then i was thinking, when you are out in the field and you are pointing at something in the distance, wouldn't it be cool to have a camera ring? The camera would be right there on your finger. Lol 😆 🤣 😂 Peace
Interesting that the red rock you were at was actually white limestone. This is different than the 'red rock' up in Colorado which is some form of sandstone. Looks on the surface to be similar, but clearly not the same sort of thing.
As a geologist, you might like that there's a song called *Vishnu Schist* (unfortunately with only a tiny bit of geology in it) by the *North Sea Radio Orchestra* ua-cam.com/video/771mc4eFiaQ/v-deo.html If you like it, you'll be pleased to know it's the tip of an iceberg - a secret garden gate into the orbit of *Cardiacs* - something you have to join the Illuminati to be allowed knowledge of. And if you don't like it, you'll at least know it's the tip of an iceberg, so try to sail any Titanic you might have around, rather than over it. (Cardiacs, themselves, might be a bit of a noisy part of the garden - with happy bees that don't sting, but buzz around a lot, and places where you encounter little ten year old boys charging round on bicycle. Never mind if you require more peace. There are also things like Sea Nymphs in that world. And orchestral covers that turn it all into something more Vivaldiac.)
There is an episode of the flintstones where they go to visit the Grand Canyon and it’s nothing more than a tiny crack with water running through it. Vilma makes the comment “it doesn’t seem to Grand to me” where Fred responds back “it’s suppose to be great in a few million years”! Must see.
Haha! Oh my gosh, I love that, I will have to look it up! :D
ua-cam.com/video/i09ohsfC_W0/v-deo.html
NOTE: I wasn't able to talk about every single layer that makes up the Grand Canyon in this video, but you can go check out the interactive geologic map (linked in the description) to read about the other layers! :D
Also, please know this explanation was very simplified and there is so much that could be covered about this incredible canyon! So, I apologize for the over-simplifiication of much of this discussion. I hope to make more in-depth videos on specific aspects of this discussion in the future! Reply to this comment if you want to request a specific topic for a future grand canyon related video! ;D Thanks!
Interactive Map??? THAT'S AWESOMEEEE!!!!!!!
This is great. I'm new to geology and you and Nick Zentner are the best at communicating these things. I'd love to see you 2 collab for a video or something in the future
@ Oh my gosh, you and me both! Hopefully someday we will be able to collab on something! :D
Psst. Put a pin in it. 😉
I'd love a deeper dive into this? any plans on checking out the Schnebly Hill formation near Sedona?
Memory lane for me. I took my girlfriend there thirty years ago, a wonderful trip, we hiked into Indian gardens half way down, and back out the same day. I bought several geological maps of the Grande canyon but they got lost in our last move. Our kids are grown now, and she died years ago. My recent history is not even a dusting layer relative to the epochs displayed. This was a fantastic review of what I used to know, and some solace - thank you.
I'm sorry for your loss. Life feels like a dusting sometimes when compared to geologic time but to experience the grandness and intimacies of living... for me that feels enough. Seeing a billion years of history exposed in the canyon was good enough to make adolescent me love geology as a hobby and decades on, I still enjoy visiting the Grand Canyon whenever I can.
Love this video!
Back in the late in the late '90's, I travelled there with a uni student tour. Three busloads of students disgorged onto one of the lookouts, to much amazement and awe. Of the 140 or so of us, there were only half a dozen that were studying earth sciences (geology myself). After half an hour or so, the rest were getting pretty bored, except for us, we were trying to explain and convey the sheer magnitude of what was visible and what it represented. It was fantastic.
Thanks for the video and explanation. It brings back a lot of good memories.
As someone who first hiked the Canyon in '65, it always makes my heart sing to see someone experience it for the first time. Nicely presented! (Also, "Vishnu Schist" would make a great name for a band. 🎶)
Awesome that so much of Earth’s history is preserved and visible in one place. I’ve been wanting to head out to the Grand Canyon for years and I really need to go.
Go, don't delay life is short if you can get reservations for this year at the North rim lodge Grand Canyon you won't regret it
I've only see the Grand Canyon from the air. These shots of you on the edge seem so not real. Amazing and beautiful. Thank you for the science behind this amazing piece of nature.
Thanks for another great video, GeoGirl! At the risk of sounding silly your boundless enthusiasm and love of science is so needed in this time of cynical attacks on science, culture and the very rule of law. It's good to know there are still people that love this world enough to try to understand it. 🥰🙏🌏
No, that's not silly! That is so reassuring actually! I was a bit concerned that it was silly of me to post such uplifting and carefree content like this with all that's going on right now, especially this war against science, but it is really nice to hear that it has had an positive impact during this time :) Thank you
Love the views and especially the outtakes. You are doing a wonderful job - thank you... 👍👍❤❤
Fun fact #1 translated for mere mortals - the volume of the canyon is ~1000 cubic miles (or 4170 km^3) which puts it somewhere between lakes Huron and Michigan.
I loved this field trip style presentation!!
I recommend walking the Trail of Time on the South Rim. Along the trail, the National Park Service has placed large rocks from each of the layers, going from oldest to youngest (or vice versa, if walked in the reverse direction). Really easy way to see and feel the different layers.
Excellent and informative video! I had once requested that you begin making some field geology videos just like this one, but I really had my concerns about that. Recording in the field is MUCH harder and complex than a classroom-like lecture. Field conditions, travel, sound issues all add to the difficulty. (Plus, if you miss something, it's not easy to go back to the Grand Canyon!) But you've pulled this off expertly! You have good production, clear sound, a variety of camera angles, and informative graphics - all put together with well-presented information. FANTASTICALLY DONE!!!
Absolutely amazing video.
I've only been able to visit the Grand Canyon once but the memory is burned in. It's impossible to get your head around the sheer scale until you see it for yourself. The best description was by one of the guides who said it's like someone took a range like the Blue Ridge Mountains and flipped it down instead of up.
Dope! Please do more of these, they're great
Thanks for the video, I always wonder about the processes that formed the canyon. I've been there a few times and it is really unfathomable to imagine a river that wide or deep. Maybe I'm thinking about it the wrong way though. I'd love to see an illustration that helps to understand these concepts. When you stand at the edge of the canyon it all just seems so enormous.
A very simplistic explanation, but realize that the river doesn't have to be the whole width. Erosion from weather and gravity makes the sides fall in and widen the upper part. Note along all the walls of the canyon you see sloped areas. Think of it as an inversed mountainside. Also keep in mind what is at the top was originally also buried and erosion has uncovered it as the area lifted up, so the original "top" of the area maybe before the river started through it was up even more feet (hundreds or a thousand?)
Well the river (or rivers) that carved the canyon were never that wide or deep. Try to imagine it when it was 80% shallower (so before 80% of those deeper layers were cut into). This is likely how it began. A small, narrow canyon carved by a regular size river. Now, imagine this river system continues to cut down this canyon, slowly over millions of years. Over this course of time, the river didn't necessarily change width or depth, but the canyon became deeper and deeper, and eventually it got to be the way it is today. I hope that helps a little bit (albiet without visuals). :)
Ooooo! A new geo vid! Thank you! 50 years ago I was a geology major. Got to see some amazing places in all those years but never the Grand Canyon. I really appreciate your work!
I love watching your video every time and your explanation is much better than my university professor 😂😂
Ahh the peace of understanding geological time. Nothing we do matters. None of our problems are consequential. Beautiful.
Thank you so much for making these videos. They're a huge public service.
My goodness, I still remember my trip to the Grand Canyon in 2021 and it is still one of the most magnificent sights my eyes have ever beheld!! I really hope to visit it again someday.
Great Video! Everything and anything Grand Canyon is cool.
This is one of your BEST videos! Thank you! 🙂
Thank you so much!! ;D
@@GEOGIRL YW 🙂
Instant subscribe. So much science, so well presented, thank you.
Thank you so much! :D
1) There are marine fossil trails on the south rim, where the Park Service spread gravel to make the trail. Look closely at a handful of gravel and it is mostly shell fossils.
2) The trip from rim to river and back can be done in less than about an hour by some park workers who use a shorter but steeper route. They jog the trail with their legs of steel.
3) Wording on a t-shirt: Where were you when the vishnu schist hit the alluvial fan.
Spent Christmas Vacation of 1975 hiking to the bottom of the canyon, spending 5 days at the bottom and then hiking back up. Been back to many parts of the rim in the years since. Always produces the same sense of awe and peace when you let the view soak in. Love your work.
So much to love about this video I wouldn`t know where to start, or end. I`ll have to watch it again maybe a few times to absorb more of the info presented. It`s a cake too big to eat in one sitting. You are the best Prof. Rachel. Cheers!
I dig the Myron Cook style of video. I hope we get to see more of these.
I love Myron Cook's videos. I'm glad he takes the time to make them and doesn't just rush them out. It's worth the three weeks wait.
Fantastic new format and great presentation
Fun fact: the continental divide used to run north south without most of the canyon not eroded away. The eastern part of the colorado river emptied into the carribean's predecessor. The western part of the colorado river emptied into the gulf of california. Side streams connect to a river in something of a fan shape. Look at the side streams connections online users see from the little little colorado river to the east. It is obvious that at one time some of the colorado flowed east.
That was kewl Doc. Made me homesick for my ASU geomorphology courses. Thanks for a picturesque and always educational presentation. Peace and be well
Loved this!
Field trip! I love this area of the world because of all of the geology. Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, etc, just blows my mind of the time and forces that have created the beauty we get to witness.
Have you ever looked into the super slides that happened in and around Southern Utah? That may be a good video to cover some time. (Just a suggestion)
Literally next on my wish list after the ones I have planned this spring is Zion and the rest of Utah! I love it out there and hope to go back soon! :D
Thanks for a trip down memory lane. It was on a raft trip on the Colorado River through the Canyon many years ago that I learned about the great unconformity, sparking my passion for learning more about earth's history. You’ve done a great job in recapitulating the wonder I felt.
Wow, isn't this the perfect place to study all the major extinctions of the last 2 billion years? Great work, Rachel 🌺 Greetings from the Rhine valley in Germany 👋
What a great way to present geology!! And of course you could do this just about anywhere.
Not too far from the Flagstaff, AZ area. I just learned that area was volcanically active like 800 years ago! So many cool calderas around there!
Thank you for delivering knowledge to my brain. Stay warm.
Nicely done Rachel! My wife and I hiked down to the river and back two years ago. It was very hot and I don’t think my wife was too happy about my continuously stopping, breaking out my hand lens and in deep thought about each formation we passed through. I was like a kid in a candy store!!
Haha that was also me, Don! Iwas constantly stopping to examine the rocks! It was such an incredible experience! :D
Your timing is perfect! I’m going over this in my Historical Geology class as we speak.
Oh perfect!! :D
It is remarkable that rocks can hold such information. One day I will visit the Grand Canyon Thank you!
As vast and spectacular as the Grand Canyon is, it is a mere ditch compared to the Great Rift Valley in Africa, which is itself the size of one of the tributaries of Valles Marineris on Mars, the largest known canyon structure in our solar system.
Cool stuff
I'm loving these outdoor videos!
You should extend this to explain the staircase all the way up to the top of Bryce Canyon.
Wonderful Doc. Your students and colleges are verry lucky to have your knowledge and enthusiasm. So nice to see you this Sunday morning. I look forward to meeting you someday at a GSA event my old bones can carry me to. LOL!!!
Great tour, love the little factoids. My wife and I were there several years ago an amazing place.
You are such an awesome teacher. Than you for sharing so much knowledge with all of us!!!
Interesting stuff!
Hello Rachel 🏜️! Great video. 🙏.
I was there once. I couldn't believe how big it is. You look nice in those beanies and the yellow puffy jacket.
👏👏👏👏
No way! I was just reading about the Vishnu Basement Rocks. Great video. Thanks for the wonderful channel.
That's awesome! No problem! Thanks for the comment and kind words :D
This was great! Thank you for continuing to get out to location shooting. The quality to the storytelling and crafting an interesting video goes up so much when you are on location. I love all your videos, but these ones are next level. Keep growing as an educator and pushing yourself creatively. It is paying off.
Thank you so much! :D I am so glad to hear this! I really want to continue making more of these :)
Thanks a lot for this Grand Canyon feature! It reminded me how an old school and sports buddy of mine, who also became a geologist and paleontologist, once visited that place. While working and studying at the Salt Institute in La Jolla, nearly 40 years ago, he took lots of (analogue) photos of that hike and turned them into a magnificent private slideshow for his German friends at home - nice memories. 🙂
14:13 Graupel; flakes that have frozen/risen-melted/refrozen/etc and become tiny balls that are denser than snowflakes but not as heavy as ice chunks we would call hail. Graupel commonly range up to the size up to a BB or a small ball bearing. They can be intermixed with rain or snow. They can feel painful against skin. Thank you, GEO GIRL, I always learn from you.
I love that the basement rocks groups were named after Indian deities.
I love looking at sedimentary deposits. I've never been to the Grand Canyon but Southern Utah and Mesa Verde have outstanding rocks. Great presentation Geo Girl.
I had the good fortune to raft all the way through the canyon when I was 18. I still vividly recall the boatmen talking about how we were going back in time the deeper we went. They were basically live narrators for a spectacular 10 day geological history lesson. It was an incredibly thrilling experience.
Great presentation!
Thanks!
Thank you so much! :D
"This snow is actually a rock." Spoken like a true geologist! A field trip with my favorite instructor is always a treat. Thank you for bringing us along. I still can't imagine a river carving the Grand Canyon. Was the Colorado River super wide at some point? Or was there flooding from ice age glacier dams (like the Missoula Floods out west)? Or did erosion continue to widen what the river cut?
There are multiple hypotheses about how the canyon was cut, and researchers still aren't sure! Near the end of the video, I talk about the hypotheses, but the most likely scenario at least from what I read seems to be that multiple river systems began carving the canyon in different regions tens of millions of years ago and later merged to form the colorado river. And yes, there was periods during which these rivers and the colorado river were much wider due to periods of higher sea level and changes in regional climate, which would've greatly increased the rate of erosion at those times as well as the width of the canyon. :)
Speak like an astrophysicist instead - it's metal!
@@GEOGIRL Thanks, GeoGirl! I rewatched the part of the video where you went over the old canyon hypothesis. For some reason it didn't stick in my mind the first time. The story that's been ingrained in me is that the Colorado River cut the canyon over millions of years. I'm glad to think it's not as simple as that. It's more satisfying to believe it was carved by a network of ancient rivers and flooding, and not only by the tiny river that now flows at its bottom (keep in mind 8k to 20k cubic feet of water passes through the Grand Canyon per second, which is unimpressive compared to the 265k cfs running through the Columbia Gorge).
Only one day at the grand canyon!? Edit: also great audio quality for on site. Must have been a gorgeous day.
It was great seeing you in the field. I liked it and would definitely would watch more like it.
Our family has been to grand canyon three times in rhe past five years. I recommend the north side rather than the south side. The north side has far fewer tourists and far more trees.
Thanks for the recommendation! I wanted to visit the north side in addition to the south side, but most of those paths were closed due to winter weather. Hopefully though I'll be able to go there the next time I visit! :D
Absolutely love this format. Hop you are able to do more videos like this.
More coming soon! We did a whole AZ-NM-TX trip, so get ready for more in that region over the next several weeks :)
You can get to the bottom and back to the top in one day, but they don't recommend it unless you are an experienced and fit hiker. You start at first light and get back up late in the evening. The Bright Angel trail on the South Rim is only about 16 miles or so to the river and back. I've done it twice myself. Be prepared, and hydrate well if you do it in summer, and go in a group. The hike back up takes 2/3 to 3/4 of the total time. But honestly, I would have preferred to camp at the bottom and have more time to explore and see the sights and the incredible geology. An hour for lunch just is not near enough.
There is a sign at the top of Bright Angel Trail mentioning that it is not uncommon to have to be rescued, or even die of dehydration/overhydration/heat exposure/etc. in the attempt to make it in one day. Definitely not something to be approached casually.
Great video, thanks!
nice hammer! very beautiful vistas, and interesting lecture as always. thank you
PS: I've loved the "impromptu fun-fact" at 14:00 ;)
You could take the volcanic activity of the eons for part of the carving with sulfuric acids from rains which could also account for some layers disappearing. There were also super volcanoes that worked west to east currently at Yellow Stone. You know, yellow as in sulfur deposits from sulfur rich volcanic activity.
I am so in love with AZ. I've been here 23 years. Last weekend, I was at a place called Red Valley, not too far from Shiprock.
The geology is so interesting. Shiprock is a volcanic neck, and between Red Valley and Lukachuckai there is some Jurassic rocks that are so amazing. Indian Route 13 is the best way to see it.
Ooo! I didn't get to look at any Jurassic rocks, thanks for the heads up! I will definitely put that on my list of places to visit for next time I am out there!
AZ geology is incredible, isn't it? I am just amazed every time I go out there!! :D
I greatly appreciate your video! I am planning to see Grand Canyon this spring and excited to share your knowledge with my family ✨
Oh that is awesome! I hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy getting to not only see this amazing canyon but also understand what it represents in terms of geologic time! I always find when I go to places that I've learned the geology of, I have a greater appreciation for the visit :D
This is a lovely and informative video. Thank you.
Very cool!
Wow, Rachel, you are perfect narrator for the National Geographic channel ! And I adore your videos filmed in the field 👍👍 Especially on such beautiful location 🤠
Btw what strange names of the layers - Brahma shist, Vishnu shist. Geologists definitely like Indian mythology 😌
In '81 I was a 🏴 geology student travelling the States after a teaching job at Summer camp.
Also had that 'Just One Day' at The Canyon and managed to get to Plateau Point and back to the top in 6 hours.
2 hours less than the recommended.
A mind boggling experience.
Wish that I had had you along for a guide.
This was fun,you are awesome and amazing. ❤😊
Thank you. I used to visit every two or three years, but not in the last 15 years. I hope to take in those sweeping views again come September.
Fantastic!
More of this please, when you are able.
This happens to be a location where I map soils. Soil scientists would not call snow "rocks" unless flakes were more than 2 mm diameter. Snow would be part of the soil. (Dihydrogen oxide in it's solid form!) The Kaibab Formation is a Dolomite/Limestone. Here is an interesting aside about why soils should be important to geology. The Kaibab Formation sits on top of both the South Rim and the North Rim. The North Rim (soil scientists call the Kaibab Plateau) receives much more precipitation than the South Rim (soil scientists would call the Coconino Plateau). Also, the Kaibab Plateau being higher in elevation there is much more potential for erosion. Yet the Kaibab Plateau is resisting weathering much better than the Coconino Plateau. That's because the Kaibab Plateau has formed resistant clays that are very deep and can harbor aquifers that add to clay weathering. Kaibab Plateau soils are very deep even on summits. The semi-arid Coconino Plateau has only moderately deep soils with intermediate clay formation. If you were to venture into the arid Cataract canyon (a tributary canyon to the southwest ) you would see shallow soils formed from the same Kaibab Formation, with little vegetation, and little clay formation in arid climates.
Thanks for the great geology take on the canyon. I love all your posts.
Remember, you’re in a National Park! Don’t let the rangers see you breaking off pieces of red wall limestone.😉
The whole Arizona plateau with its oxbows and meadering mass wastings, leaving dead and dry highland river valley bottoms and pinnacles ... are all older erosion process than the current river system. The Arizona plateau (with New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah basins) were all part of the Pacific plate under-sliding and uplifting the whole mass, even the Rockies up to 4-5 miles into elevation, of which more than 3+ miles have eroded back down (!). Here in 40 MYA the greater of the erosional processes of uplift and erosion with mass wasting was done to the current time. As such, look at the (said above) dry highland river valley bottoms and pinnacles BEFORE 40 MYA, and all such lowlands are 40 MYA to present. There isn't any either/or extreme condition. It is both in stepped time phases.
The sound quality is amazing. So clear.
Thank you so much! Shoutout to my good friend and fellow creator, @groovygeologist for the recommendation on my new field mics! :D
Rafted the Grand Canyon with my father in 2016. Can highly recommend going the whole way!
Wow GG, you really are going in depth about earth history.
👍👍👍
Your last fun fact using 24 hours to show how "new" the canyon actually is was very Sagan-like. :)
What an incredible compliment! Thank you :D I will do fun facts like that ;)
I thoroughly enjoyed this video ,🤙
Snow referred to as rocks, so cool. I’m now thinking that the powder I skied the other day was rock powder that reached its melting point under the massive friction produced by my gnarly decent. Thanks, I feel so much more rad now.
Always interesting and informative.
Nice video! Thank you.
Merging of new and old canyon formation makes sense given how rivers behave and are constantly changing, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly.
Now you will have to do the African Rift Valley.
Well I must be here from Shawn Wilsey's channel somehow.
Fun fact; the deepest canyon in North America is in Idaho, hells canyon 🤔
I hope you visit Palo Duro Canyon and the Wichita Mountains and Arbuckle Mountains in the future. Bring your snake chaps!
Oh my gosh! Yes! I love all these places and hope to do videos on them in the future! :D
Good video. You would probably be a fun person to have on a trip to the Grand Canyon or any interesting geological place.
Very nice Video!🖖
The most awesomeness place on earth. Thanks for talking about it. I've been there like 10 times in my life, and that's not nearly enough. Maybe when you have the time you could visit Marble Canyon northeast of there. Love to hear your thoughts on that as well. Plus, I really liked the yellow jacket. Then i was thinking, when you are out in the field and you are pointing at something in the distance, wouldn't it be cool to have a camera ring? The camera would be right there on your finger.
Lol 😆 🤣 😂
Peace
Well done to the cameraman!
❤
Interesting that the red rock you were at was actually white limestone. This is different than the 'red rock' up in Colorado which is some form of sandstone. Looks on the surface to be similar, but clearly not the same sort of thing.
The sun sets there and rises in the underworld. It's breathtakingly beautiful.
As a geologist, you might like that there's a song called *Vishnu Schist* (unfortunately with only a tiny bit of geology in it) by the *North Sea Radio Orchestra* ua-cam.com/video/771mc4eFiaQ/v-deo.html
If you like it, you'll be pleased to know it's the tip of an iceberg - a secret garden gate into the orbit of *Cardiacs* - something you have to join the Illuminati to be allowed knowledge of. And if you don't like it, you'll at least know it's the tip of an iceberg, so try to sail any Titanic you might have around, rather than over it.
(Cardiacs, themselves, might be a bit of a noisy part of the garden - with happy bees that don't sting, but buzz around a lot, and places where you encounter little ten year old boys charging round on bicycle. Never mind if you require more peace. There are also things like Sea Nymphs in that world. And orchestral covers that turn it all into something more Vivaldiac.)