California's Gibraltar: Morro Rock

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 21 жов 2024
  • The quiet town of Morro Bay's main landmark is an extinct volcano!
    +++ Like what I do? Please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!
    ko-fi.com/bett...
    Morro Bay is a quiet fishing and vacation town on the California coast. It is situated near some of California's most spectacular coastline, wineries, and historic sites. It is dominated by a huge rock - Morro Rock - which makes Morro Bay a memorable spot. Morro Rock is an extinct volcano: part of one, at least. 22-25 million years ago, a string of volcanoes began erupting from modern day San Luis Obispo to Morro Rock. The Nine Sisters, as they're known now, are the intrusive roots of those long-dead volcanoes which now tower above the landscape. These are the hardened plugs of magma which solidified inside and below the body of the volcano, and the landscape slowly eroded away to leave these roots standing above all else.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 67

  • @joraiders8o594
    @joraiders8o594 Рік тому +5

    My people the Salinan tribe hike up the Morro Rock every Summer and Winter Solstice. You should come by this winter.

  • @stevep5736
    @stevep5736 6 місяців тому +3

    Outstanding video!
    I love that area.

  • @WindDancer435
    @WindDancer435 11 місяців тому +1

    This is the first I have heard of this and came here to get more info because it is being turned into a sanctuary. Thank you for this.

  • @donnacreamer4123
    @donnacreamer4123 Рік тому +1

    My uncle Bruce was the last person to climb Morro Rock before it was fenced off. He was actually the catalyst for the fence being erected. He had climbed up just passing the halfway point when he slipped and fell all the way down. It almost killed him and the authorities didn’t want anyone else making that same mistake.
    I loved living in Morro Bay as a child. It’s time to visit again soon.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому

      Wow, that’s incredible. Glad he ended up OK.

  • @WLK1965
    @WLK1965 Рік тому +2

    Every time I see a unique geological structure, I always research it. Great job explaining the origin of Morro Rock. I will have to see what other videos you have posted. Keep up the good work!

  • @larry8lo
    @larry8lo Рік тому +1

    Geologically Speaking sent me here. Glad to find a California geology channel! Cheers!

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому

      I’m based out of Oregon so most of my videos are up here, but every time I make it south I make a few videos.

    • @larry8lo
      @larry8lo Рік тому +1

      @@BetterGeology Even better yet! Need more Oregon geology too.

  • @TheAncientAmbassador
    @TheAncientAmbassador 2 місяці тому +1

    Very informative video, thank you!

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  2 місяці тому +1

      @@TheAncientAmbassador Glad you liked it!

  • @jankijan8004
    @jankijan8004 Рік тому +1

    Very nice documentary Andrew. Thank you for introducing us to the Morro Rock, I'm visiting there tomorrow with family. Appreciate the time you took to explain the origins and significance of the Morro Rock. Wishing you the best my friend!

  • @jstwntmusic
    @jstwntmusic Рік тому +1

    Thank you !!

  • @geologicallyspeaking
    @geologicallyspeaking Рік тому +3

    Well done! Great presentation! Love the visuals.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому

      Thanks! Took a lot of time to make this video work.

  • @1234j
    @1234j Рік тому +1

    Great information, great graphics and great presentation! Thank you from England.

  • @deborahriley1166
    @deborahriley1166 Рік тому +1

    Very cool! Thanks, I’ve wondered over the years ab that rock.🥰
    Fascinating planet!!!🙏☯️🙏

  • @phsieh4250
    @phsieh4250 Рік тому +1

    Bravo. Well done. Thanks.

  • @Duhfectz
    @Duhfectz Рік тому

    Thanks Andrew! Appreciate the informative videos.

  • @danielsmith9814
    @danielsmith9814 7 місяців тому

    Thank you for the informative post!

  • @ericazubris
    @ericazubris Рік тому

    As a creator who did everything BUT UA-cam and is still working on building a following on here, AND as a California native, you did an awesome job and I can tell how much effort went into your animation and visual choices. This would have been so helpful in my Marine Ecology class in highschooL! You earned a follow from me!

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому

      Thank you! I love making these and hearing from other creators.

  • @AlexsMemeDump
    @AlexsMemeDump Рік тому +6

    I can tell a ton of time, and heart went into this. Even the small detail like using background footage and ambient noise for the UA-cam title cards after your outro. Some channels with 500x the subscribers don't bother to consider that. Cheers man

  • @billmcmillan7735
    @billmcmillan7735 Рік тому +1

    Very enlightening thank you!

  • @DeathValleyDazed
    @DeathValleyDazed Рік тому +1

    Andrew Dunning with tectonic hair that is stunning. 💇‍♂️Loving your concise and informative productions.

  • @memymomoo
    @memymomoo Рік тому +1

    very cool!

  • @xuthuschannel5061
    @xuthuschannel5061 Рік тому +1

    well said.

  • @raylivengood8040
    @raylivengood8040 Рік тому

    I looked to see if you’ve been to Leslie Gulch Oregon. Maybe you can take a look into that ? Pretty cool looking area.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому +1

      Haven’t made it out there yet. It’s about 8 hours from where I live, so it’s tough to find the time to go out there and see what I want to see in a single trip.

    • @raylivengood8040
      @raylivengood8040 Рік тому

      @@BetterGeology okay thanks !
      I rewatched your Alvord Desert video with the intention to visit sometime soon. I appreciate the landscape/ geology details you provide. Quite fascinating.

  • @TheodoreJudah
    @TheodoreJudah Рік тому

    Fun fact: One of the early pieces of concept art Ralph McQuarrie did for the original Star Wars featured and early version of R2 and C-3PO in the desert in front of a huge rock formation. That rock is Morro rock. Check it out.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому

      No way? That’s awesome! I’ve been to many SW ‘77 locations in Death Valley, mostly incidentally, but had no idea there was a connection here.

  • @jeremy9876543
    @jeremy9876543 Рік тому +1

    Could you do an episode about Shell Beach? My Geology 101 course took a field trip there and I remember being absolutely floored that they built a nuclear power plant in such a geologically unstable location.

    • @jeremy9876543
      @jeremy9876543 Рік тому

      Also Franciscan formation

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому +1

      The Franciscan Complex is definitely a worthy topic - next time I'm in the Bay Area I want to hit the Marin Headlands and dive in to that.
      Diablo Canyon, like every other nuclear plant in the West, is a safe and modern building in a slightly less desirable spot. Nuclear power stations probably face the most rigorous siting and engineering requirements of any buildings ever built in this country, and this one is no different. There's a reason they put it where they did, and it was the best location based on the information they had at the time. We've learned more since then, and the power plant has been modified accordingly to remain as safe as possible in basically any conceivable situation. The way they design the containment domes requires that an earthquake rupture through the dome to release appreciable radiation. It's a very common talking point in the California anti-nuclear lobby, that because we sometimes have earthquakes our power plants are accidents waiting to happen, but that rhetoric is a slap in the face of the thousands of geologists and engineers who spend their lives figuring out how to design for any possible circumstance. If the handful of active faults found near the plant posed a realistic hazard, the plant would have been shuttered long ago.

    • @jeremy9876543
      @jeremy9876543 Рік тому

      @@BetterGeology Diablo Canyon was designed and sited in the early 1960s when plate tectonics was just beginning to be accepted. Lord knows if the geologists doing that work even had any training on the subject, let alone the detailed studies needed to understand the movement of local microplates.
      Once there is a corporate push to do any project there is usually very little in terms of new facts which are likely to change their minds.
      Pacific Gas and Electric have demonstrated a complete inability to manage the maintenance of power lines. I do not trust them with responsible foresight required to perform all maintenance, let alone change operations in response to newer geologic findings.
      There is an incongruous pillow basalt microplate directly next to the front gate of the power plant and uneroded wave bench features several hundred feet up the hillside there.
      Fukashima was sited using a very similar level of engineering and geologic technology.
      Several Ukraine power plants have been threatened by the war
      I do not trust human beings with the foresight required for a fission plant. Predicting a once in 500 year geologic even, storm event, tsunami, civil unrest, or war is just beyond the ability of most humans. Add to that the financial politics of corporations where a CEO will definitely be fired for "wasting money on an unlikely event's and there is no reason to trust these people at all.
      Human beings are not stable.

  • @hiker1658
    @hiker1658 Рік тому +2

    Love your presentations!
    What's the leading theory on the origin of the 9 sisters volcanoes? Are they examples of near-trench magmas? If that's the case, why would they be intermediate and not mafic? Is there an age progression?

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому +2

      These volcanoes postdate near-trench volcanism. Not a lot of petrological work has been done on them, so I don’t know the magmatic source. My best guess would be decompression melting during the major change in tectonic strains in the late Oligocene.

    • @octavianpopa871
      @octavianpopa871 Рік тому +1

      Leading theory is: Window slab volcanism due to the subduction of the oceanic divergent boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Gorda Plate. There is very little age difference between the morros. They are all around 28 myo. By the way, the video contains an error on the age of the Franciscan formation. It is about 50 MY older than the morros. If you want a better explanation, check out this: ua-cam.com/video/SvKcWXit9ng/v-deo.html

  • @lohphat
    @lohphat Рік тому +1

    "Mixed" is a better translation of "mélange" than yet another French word "ménagerie" which refers to an assortment of living creatures.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому +1

      Thanks for bringing that up! I noticed it when editing but couldn’t think of a way to fix it at that stage. Mixed is much better!

  • @joraiders8o594
    @joraiders8o594 Рік тому

    I learned alot from this video, but You forgot to mention that the Morro Rock "LESAMO" started with the Salinan Tribe. We are the only ones that now can ascend the rock.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  10 місяців тому

      I did not know that, thank you!

  • @sparkyofsocal
    @sparkyofsocal Рік тому +1

    All these years I thought it was just a big rock that girls always wanted to see on a date.

  • @gruweldaad
    @gruweldaad Рік тому

    Central coast realness

  • @RTD3
    @RTD3 3 місяці тому

    Anybody ever seen the canyon carved by the Mt. St. Helens eruption?

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  3 місяці тому

      Yes, it’s pretty dramatic. Amazing how quickly things can erode when they’re very soft and loose - it was as if the area was buried with sawdust.

  • @xmo552
    @xmo552 7 місяців тому

    That's a French word meaning another French word basically.

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  7 місяців тому

      Not my best ever comparison. I went 2 years before anyone mentioned it, haha

    • @xmo552
      @xmo552 7 місяців тому

      @@BetterGeology
      👍😂

  • @elpuerco6059
    @elpuerco6059 Рік тому

    Gibraltar of the Pacific? Honestly, you've gone too far!

    • @BetterGeology
      @BetterGeology  Рік тому

      Hah, not my words! Locals have been calling it that for decades. It’s definitely a stretch.