I hiked around Death Valley some in the 1970s and worked as a horse wrangler at Furnace Creek Ranch one winter and was thankful to my uncle J.D. for teaching me about horses and mules. Never thought I'd get a job out of it. Took tourists out on horse rides for half day trips, 3/4 day on weekends, no trips on Mondays. That was when I learned I did not like working with/for large groups of people, there were always some unpleasant folks. We had a specialist/guide who came along and explained a lot of the history and geology and was usually a retired science teacher. You would have made a great guide Shawn. One lady we had was a retired geology teacher from a small SoCal community college called Cerritos College and she was one of the best guides ever as she knew the Death Valley geology and history very well.
And driving to DV from the west in particular you go up steep mountains then go back down them a couple times before you get to DV. There used to be stations every few miles on the climbs so people could replenish water from their radiators, but modern cars have better cooling systems and the engines waste less heat so those problems were more common in the 70's and earlier.
I enjoy the new livestream explainer format, BUT nothing compares to your live tours. My eyes need to see these wonders! Thanks for more great content!
Thanks for putting the time to put these together Shawn. Lots of great information. I recently did a 4 day motorcycling trip around and through DV and was amazed at the variety and ruggedness of the Black and Panamint ranges. You helped fill in some of the gaps on how they all formed. Thanks.
I am finishing my Phd in sequence stratigraphy here in Brazil. And I´ve been working with strictly continental basins since 2012. You guys are the luckiest geologist with these plain sight outcrops. You guys can't imagine what is to decipher outcrops with tropical weathering and Amazonian and Rainforest above it. It is nice to see things that here in Brazil we can only sugest that we've seen LOL. Cheers from Brazil!
You really break down geology, which is incredibly intimidating, into a form which I can actually understand. I live near ice age flood alluvial deposits and seeing them in their desert form is really helpful. Without the vegetation and erosion.
Fantastic explanation. Been going there for years but never took the time to understand what I am looking at. You do a great job in a short period of time highlighting what is going on.
Perfect time of year to go to Death Valley. It's lovely there in February and March too. It seems like the air is wonderful there at that time of year in my opinion. My lungs felt like I was getting massive oxygen there. Maybe it was just all in my head.
Have you been over to the West side by the racetrack? Just Northwest of there. There's a large slot Slot, Canyon, you might be interested in. It's on the map. I have walked all the way across from bad water to the other side just as I'm coming back. It was fun coming back. Cottonwood canyon has a nice geology in it
I was there January 22 and hiked a couple slot canyons. I really want to go back to see how different things are after the flooding in the summer. I have always been interested in hydrology (before I knew the name of it) and erosion. I started boating as a teen in the American River in 96. Then Jan 1st 97 it flooded crazy. It was really interesting in 97 learning how to run the river alongside guides that have been on that section for 20+ years, but we're all rookies this year.
Standard procedure: 1. Video from Shawn comes in 2. Open it and identify where he is standing 3. Open Google Maps and zoom into the region 4. Watch video. 5. Click Like button.
Good question. I always assumed the mud mixed with the salty brine when water occupies the basin and dries was the answer. In looking a bit further, it seems there isn't a clear consensus. Here's a deep dive presentation: ua-cam.com/video/vNJk6AdsOoI/v-deo.html
Now you are in my state…lol Look up China Ranch Date Farm. Lots of this type of land as you drive down into it. The parking lot at Calico Ghost Town has beautiful examples of layers of time. Also north of Barstow visit Owl Canyon/Rainbow Basin. Thanks for all your great videos.
Thanks Shawn! Great set of videos. Only thing missing is the Google Earth pinpointing these spots. But we can explore that ourselves. What you went to Death Valley and didn't show us the Sailing Stones? LOL
When you’re on the salt flats, there are these dark colored, around 6 inch tall “ridges” all over. Are those other materials precipitated from the water that collects, or are those formed by some other means?
Great presentation! During my hikes up those slot canyons I observed and climbed over huge dark purple solid rock formations. Some very tall. Any idea how those were formed? The material they are made from? Appeared to be quartz to this untrained eye. But they stood out to the rest of the material around.
@@shawnwillsey they crossed the slot canyon in Badwater. Just thought I'd ask. Enjoyed learned much viewing Blue gill too...thanks for your work and effort!
Your geologic commentary is always quite insightful and enjoyable. However, as a retired geologist/geophysicist I have one pet peeve that you trigger: Sierra Nevada is already plural so saying Sierra Nevadas feels to me like saying, I saw a bunch of deers. Sierra is Spanish for mountain range not mountain. Having taught California geology for years that mistake rankles me. Call me pedantic. You would probably be right. Keep up the terrific work.
Re: all of your Death Valley videos. What type vehicle is necessary to access your points of discussion? I remember the canyons requiring 4x4 which I had, but don't now. 🤔 Your videos inspire exploration! 😁👍🏼
I think I had my truck on this trip, but don't think I needed 4wd. Most places are accessed by hiking or gravel roads (like Titus, Mosaic, and Natural Bridge canyon). You should be good.
Shawn next time ur in that area, you should talk with this guy...his mining town/ hotel is up in those hills and those flash floods keep destroying his road: ua-cam.com/video/zy4-kPmoUIA/v-deo.html
My problem is I get it is alluvial but the fact the none of the stones in the deposit are rounded would argue against a repeated flash floods, would it not?
My ignorant suggestion would be erosion without water (heat, cold, wind over time and later, probably with climate change, flash floods cutting through.) I've seen the results of flash floods happening seasonally in the wadis of Israel and the stones are all rounded.
Depends on how hard the sediment is that is being transported. Harder material will take more transport distance (or energy via clast collision) to become rounded. Softer material will round much quicker or over a shorter distance. You are correct too that the temperature extremes would also cause clasts to fracture and break over time, creating more angular particles. In short, the alluvium on fans in DV is typically angular to subangular due to hardness of rocks and short distance of transport.
I hiked around Death Valley some in the 1970s and worked as a horse wrangler at Furnace Creek Ranch one winter and was thankful to my uncle J.D. for teaching me about horses and mules. Never thought I'd get a job out of it. Took tourists out on horse rides for half day trips, 3/4 day on weekends, no trips on Mondays. That was when I learned I did not like working with/for large groups of people, there were always some unpleasant folks.
We had a specialist/guide who came along and explained a lot of the history and geology and was usually a retired science teacher. You would have made a great guide Shawn. One lady we had was a retired geology teacher from a small SoCal community college called Cerritos College and she was one of the best guides ever as she knew the Death Valley geology and history very well.
Sir, thank you for all these amazing guided tours through place I will likely never visit. Best wishes from Poland.
Great showing by your football team at the World Cup. Cheers.
I’m not the only one up early, thank you!
Spectacular geology / geomorphology in Death Valley! I had no idea what an incredible place it is. A great video Shawn. Much appreciated.
The discussion on the varying sizes of the alluvial fans was very interesting. Amazing place, great to see it with you.
Fact: those mountains all look much bigger without a wide-angel lens. Shockingly big to be there in person.
And thank you for this series.
And driving to DV from the west in particular you go up steep mountains then go back down them a couple times before you get to DV. There used to be stations every few miles on the climbs so people could replenish water from their radiators, but modern cars have better cooling systems and the engines waste less heat so those problems were more common in the 70's and earlier.
I enjoy the new livestream explainer format, BUT nothing compares to your live tours. My eyes need to see these wonders! Thanks for more great content!
Thanks for putting the time to put these together Shawn. Lots of great information. I recently did a 4 day motorcycling trip around and through DV and was amazed at the variety and ruggedness of the Black and Panamint ranges. You helped fill in some of the gaps on how they all formed.
Thanks.
I am finishing my Phd in sequence stratigraphy here in Brazil. And I´ve been working with strictly continental basins since 2012. You guys are the luckiest geologist with these plain sight outcrops. You guys can't imagine what is to decipher outcrops with tropical weathering and Amazonian and Rainforest above it. It is nice to see things that here in Brazil we can only sugest that we've seen LOL. Cheers from Brazil!
Yeah, dry climates are a dream for a geologist. I can't imagine working in central Brazil and trying to figure things out. Best of luck!
One of the best geology road trips I ever took was Death Valley at Christmas about 20 years ago. Spectacular!
You really break down geology, which is incredibly intimidating, into a form which I can actually understand. I live near ice age flood alluvial deposits and seeing them in their desert form is really helpful. Without the vegetation and erosion.
Thanks for your kind comment. I love explaining geology to any audience. Glad you enjoyed this.
that drawing helped, thanks.
Fantastic explanation. Been going there for years but never took the time to understand what I am looking at. You do a great job in a short period of time highlighting what is going on.
Awesome, thank you!
Perfect time of year to go to Death Valley. It's lovely there in February and March too. It seems like the air is wonderful there at that time of year in my opinion. My lungs felt like I was getting massive oxygen there. Maybe it was just all in my head.
Have you been over to the West side by the racetrack? Just Northwest of there. There's a large slot Slot, Canyon, you might be interested in.
It's on the map. I have walked all the way across from bad water to the other side just as I'm coming back.
It was fun coming back. Cottonwood canyon has a nice geology in it
I was there January 22 and hiked a couple slot canyons. I really want to go back to see how different things are after the flooding in the summer.
I have always been interested in hydrology (before I knew the name of it) and erosion. I started boating as a teen in the American River in 96. Then Jan 1st 97 it flooded crazy. It was really interesting in 97 learning how to run the river alongside guides that have been on that section for 20+ years, but we're all rookies this year.
Standard procedure:
1. Video from Shawn comes in
2. Open it and identify where he is standing
3. Open Google Maps and zoom into the region
4. Watch video.
5. Click Like button.
Smart, good idea!
I like this and think it's a good idea to get context and understand the area much better. Thanks!
GREAT INFO" Cheers from 2f Winchester, Id.
Death Valley is such an awesome area to visit! Been there a few times, would like to go back!!
The various western mountain ranges and how they trapped gold is very interesting. Cant find the video right now though.
From Lake Chelan Wa.
Awesome video thank you! I love death valley and this was so insightful in aiding my understanding of the place
Great info, appreciate all your work and time you put into these vids, watching from Eastern KY
“I gots to know…”. Any thoughts on why the polygons on Badwater Basin? The normal drying process of a salt slurry? Great field reporting! Thanks.
Good question. I always assumed the mud mixed with the salty brine when water occupies the basin and dries was the answer. In looking a bit further, it seems there isn't a clear consensus. Here's a deep dive presentation: ua-cam.com/video/vNJk6AdsOoI/v-deo.html
Now you are in my state…lol
Look up China Ranch Date Farm. Lots of this type of land as you drive down into it.
The parking lot at Calico Ghost Town has beautiful examples of layers of time.
Also north of Barstow visit Owl Canyon/Rainbow Basin.
Thanks for all your great videos.
I'll be back in the Mojave next fall.
@@shawnwillsey nice time to be here for sure.
Magnificent doesn't describe Death Valley.
The flash flood that damaged Scotty’s Castle was pretty bad but great example of what happens there
Thanks Shawn! Great set of videos. Only thing missing is the Google Earth pinpointing these spots. But we can explore that ourselves. What you went to Death Valley and didn't show us the Sailing Stones? LOL
@shawnwillsey Could you do a video about the hot springs in Midway, Utah?
When you’re on the salt flats, there are these dark colored, around 6 inch tall “ridges” all over. Are those other materials precipitated from the water that collects, or are those formed by some other means?
What kind of rocks are the mountain ranges made of?
Mostly quartz and gold, but no mining ok ?
Wow, depends on which mtn range in Death Valley you are talking about. The Black Mountains east of Badwater?
Would you please identify the slot canyon in which you filmed the 'slot canyon' segment?
Great presentation! During my hikes up those slot canyons I observed and climbed over huge dark purple solid rock formations. Some very tall. Any idea how those were formed? The material they are made from? Appeared to be quartz to this untrained eye. But they stood out to the rest of the material around.
Hmm. Not sure. Would need to see the rock.
@@shawnwillsey they crossed the slot canyon in Badwater. Just thought I'd ask. Enjoyed learned much viewing Blue gill too...thanks for your work and effort!
Wouldn't the near by canyon floor be lower than the desert ? Or were you on higher ground ?
Your geologic commentary is always quite insightful and enjoyable. However, as a retired geologist/geophysicist I have one pet peeve that you trigger: Sierra Nevada is already plural so saying Sierra Nevadas feels to me like saying, I saw a bunch of deers. Sierra is Spanish for mountain range not mountain. Having taught California geology for years that mistake rankles me. Call me pedantic. You would probably be right. Keep up the terrific work.
Re: all of your Death Valley videos. What type vehicle is necessary to access your points of discussion? I remember the canyons requiring 4x4 which I had, but don't now. 🤔 Your videos inspire exploration! 😁👍🏼
I think I had my truck on this trip, but don't think I needed 4wd. Most places are accessed by hiking or gravel roads (like Titus, Mosaic, and Natural Bridge canyon). You should be good.
Death Valley, headquarters of Dark Vader 🤗
Forget Himalayan pink salt! We've got Death Valley salt!
Breccia in the making?
You betcha (or breccia).
❤❤
Thanks! Gas money
Appreciated as always.
❤
Man I'd be worried about rattlers and scorpions nasty spiders I don't believe I'd care to enter those.
Constricted areas be careful
Shawn next time ur in that area, you should talk with this guy...his mining town/ hotel is up in those hills and those flash floods keep destroying his road: ua-cam.com/video/zy4-kPmoUIA/v-deo.html
My problem is I get it is alluvial but the fact the none of the stones in the deposit are rounded would argue against a repeated flash floods, would it not?
My ignorant suggestion would be erosion without water (heat, cold, wind over time and later, probably with climate change, flash floods cutting through.)
I've seen the results of flash floods happening seasonally in the wadis of Israel and the stones are all rounded.
Depends on how hard the sediment is that is being transported. Harder material will take more transport distance (or energy via clast collision) to become rounded. Softer material will round much quicker or over a shorter distance. You are correct too that the temperature extremes would also cause clasts to fracture and break over time, creating more angular particles. In short, the alluvium on fans in DV is typically angular to subangular due to hardness of rocks and short distance of transport.