From 2011: "Central Rocks" - a geology talk show hosted by Nick Zentner. Central Washington University geology professor Robert D. Bentley (1933 - 2021) is featured. Recorded by Rick Spencer and Chris Smart at KCWU-TV studios.
WOW he was 78 years young in 2011 and as spry as can be. Brilliant mind. thank you, Professor Zentner always in lightening and entertaining. stay safe ALL
I was introduced to “Doc Bentley” through a mutual friend that lived in Todos Santos. I didn’t get to know him well…largely because I didn’t have an interest in rocks back then. 😱. I was eventually able to connect the dots between “Doc Bentley” and Doctor Bob Bentley in one of your videos during the lockdown. What a coincidence! A real Baja to BC story!!! Great to see this video! Thanks Nick.
It was lovely to watch this interview and circle back to the beginning of Nick and his interaction with the public and teaching an accessible form of geology. Professor Bentley must have been an excellent teacher. I enjoyed the picture that he painted of the landscape at the time of the flood basalts. This is something I have been struggling to picture here in the Wenatchee area where the Grand Ronde basalt flows of Jumpoff Ridge tower above me and the Eocene sandstones lie directly next to them. This interview also once more illustrates the critical importance of field work for geology students as well. Nothing can take the place of boots on the ground, and eyes on the rocks - fun interview!
Sweet Old Bob, it would have been a privilege to meet him. The mega storm idea of the formation of the sedimentary layers between the basalt flows is one I haven't heard of. It's intriguing!
The OWL as a focus, love it! Dr. Bentley, As a Southern Baja resident and knowledgeable of the local terranes and the EPR, is the Baja Rift a confirmation that mantle upwelling continues as it’s over-ridden by terrestrial Terranes such as the Guerrero? Does the process readily influence the “Continental Crust” with divergent activity and can its activity continue for tens of millions of years? I’m referencing the NM Rift Zone. Thank you Nick!
Dr. Bentley passed away in his hand built rock-walled motel in Baja, MX. Oct. 4th, 2021 at the age of 88. I now have added his motel as a must-see and possible stay to my bucket list.
Was Dr Bentley's end comment the genesis of Prof Zenter's pop up geology field trips? Sounds like the prompting. Wish I wasn't so dang old to be trapsing about. Since the pandemic he's fired me up to geology and now I can't get enough of it.
Many geologists see a clear connection between the Yellowstone hotspot and the Steens basalts and CRB. The magmas obviously took on a different chemistry as they flowed north from the hotspot but it's not a big leap to imagine a long series of conduits that formed from Yellowstone when it was located under the Idaho/Oregon/Nevada borders. I'm sure Basin & Range extension had much to do with these conduits forming in the first place, and I also find it more than ironic that nearly all those fissures formed along the west side of the WISZ.
@@briane173 Thanks Brian, does the time align with the lava floods, between 15 million to 5 million years ago? What about plate geo physics, have those been done, and if yes, what do they indicate? I might be repeating questions that Nick and other geologist already addressed. I would love to know your prespective and analysis.
@@lucyj1261 The time line aligns with the genesis of the Steens fissures and the CRB fissures soon after. It appears the CRB fissures re-erupted over a period of a few million years and so I don't know if the Yellowstone mantle plume provided ALL the magma for the system; but each successive eruption after the Grand Ronde got progressively smaller and smaller as the continent continued to drift westward. I'm not sure I know what you mean by plate geo physics where it concerns the CRB; can you elaborate?
