CWU's Nick Zentner presents 'Exotic Terranes of the Pacific Northwest' - the 20th talk in his ongoing Downtown Geology Lecture Series. Recorded at Hal Holmes Center on February 21, 2018 in Ellensburg, Washington, USA. www.nickzentner.com
I wish I'd had more teachers like you. I used to think rocks were boring. I was wrong! Thank you for expanding my knowledge and understanding of where I live.
Nick, you piss me off!... I have been content in my old age and thought my life full.. then a few years ago I saw one of your lectures... now I watch all I can get and wish I was a young man again.. I would be a geologist for sure.. you make geology fascinating, fun and very very compelling... I am going to spend this summer driving to the areas in Washington that you speak of (I live in vancouver wa.) and look with new eyes at all the beauty you have taught me... Unfortunately I will not be able to climb and hills nor walk a long way but I can certainly see some of the road side sites you have mentioned.. This is going to be a fun summer.. thanks my friend for lighting a fire in an old man! Maybe I can find you there and tell you to your face thank you!
Agree wholeheartedly @tinkmarshino. I developed an interest in geology about 7 or 8 years ago, and then stumbled on Nick's lectures while researching the Cascadia Subduction Zone. I was hooked. I've learned more from Nick than anyplace else I've thumbed through online. Superb instructor and I hope his students appreciate what Nick brings to the game.
It is amazing his ability to teach.. He just draws you in.. I am gonna go visit the lad this summer..I think he would be aqn amazing fella to talk to..
Indeed. I don't know that I'll ever get a chance to meet him because I don't get to go east of the Cascades very much. But next time he's in Portland/Vancouver I'll try to look him up -- get an autograph -- shake his hand ("I'll never wash this hand again") -- ok that's a bit much. But anyway, we all get smarter by hanging around smart people. And Nick is certainly that. Enough rambling, back to the show....
I remember being told back in 1984 that we simply did not understand the west coast the way we understand the Appalachians. It's wonderful to see how much progress we've made.
It is amazing to see how the science has advanced in the past thirty or so years that I've been following it. I'm really glad to see that we are learning so much about the US and Canadian West Coast.
Quite frankly it’s probably understood better than the Appalachians at this point. I live in them, I bet you they were bigger than Everest. Sucks though, the gold is 200 million years deep as opposed to 50 max LOL
Given how old they are it’s much harder to understand; for instance I can only infer they were that large. They could’ve been even greater, maybe smaller. It’s undoubtedly certain they’re more than 50% completely eroded, that leaves a lot of clues. Geological history that no longer exists to tell the stories. What I can tell you is think about how flat the land East of the mountains are, they’re completely built from the sediments of the mountain. There’s 0 volcanic/tectonic traces anywhere near the coasts yet the lands above sea. Delawares over 100 miles away from the mountains. Also, look up Boulder field PA. It’s probably the most underrated geological feature in America.
You the man Nick. I live in NH and look to move to the Tacoma area. As a child I would look at mountains and wonder how they got there. They still fascinate me at 57. I love the views of the volcanoes on my approach to Sea-Tac. Thank you for the knowledge.
Now in the time the virus concerns and shutdowns of schools, it would be time to share this bunch of videos with parents of the kids looking for something to do.... Good for the parents too.
I'm currently watching these videos for a second time after a couple of month; I even bought a book on geology in my country thanks to these. Thank you Mr. Zentner and CWU for putting these up, these videos are real gems!
Thank you for this wonderful presentation. I graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1961 in NYC with a Commercial course, no Earth Science classes back then. It's so enjoyable for my brain to learn new stuff and you present it so that I can understand it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Damn, you are great! This is all so fascinating, i've been binging your videos for a few days now in between work!!! Please never lose your love for teaching for everyone's sake!! Love from Tasmania, Australia
Also i wanted to add that Tasmania has a connection to North West America. Which i thought you might be interested in, if you didn't already know. I only registered it through watching your lectures! "The island's oldest rocks seem to have originated when that part of the island was attached to western North America. Analysis of monazite and zircon in rocks of the ancient Rocky Cape Group in north-west Tasmania found that they are between 1.45 billion and 1.33 billion years old. These minerals, strongly resemble those found in Montana, Idaho and southern British Columbia."
Adding one more. I’m Dutch (nothing but very young stuff here, Holocene and Pleistocene sands) and i’m currently binge-watching your lectures and contemplating coming out there just for the geology.
I received my degree in geology in the late 1970’s. So much has changed since then. My professors were more interested in stratigraphic record - so plate tectonics were covered - but you could tell they were not excited about it. So I am enjoying this. Spent my career in the oil/environmental industry.
Nick, I've watched a LOT of your lectures - not quite all yet, but I'm getting there - and this one was the most dramatic, by far. I'm casually - only casually - familiar with some of the geology you talk about ... BUT this was brand new to me. Holy cow! Mexico in Washington state. It is a superb challenge to wrap my mind around this kind of movement with such convincing evidence. Thank you!
Wish I knew what I've learned in one day of watching your lectures when I lived in Washington. But now I also recognize the basalt formations here in Ct. Always heard my hometown of Meriden, ct was an ancient caldera. The basalt columns surrounding the city confirm it.
Love ya, Nick! I've always been interested in geology, but I didn't know how complex the geology of the Pacific Northwest truly is. I lived in Washington State for 3 years in the 80s and have been back here for almost two years. Since I am now retired , I have the time to peruse online things like Nick Zentner's lectures. And because I'm currently in the Pacific northwest (out on the Kitsap), I decided it was time I learned about the geology of the area. I found Nick Zentner's videos recommended to me because of my browsing on RU-vid. I am so glad I checked him out! I really enjoy his various lectures. Some geology professors have been known to make me fall asleep, but not Professor Zentner. As tinkmarshono below has noted, he makes geology fun and interesting. If I had been able to take one college-level geology course, Nick Zentner is precisely the type of professor I would want to be teaching the course! This video is one of his best. I've long known that the West Coast of North America is a collection of 200 or so exotic terranes, but now I've learned that part of the Washington's crust used to be Mexican crust. I'd never even remotely considered that. I love to learn new things, and I've learned a lot from these lectures. Rock on, Nick Zentner!
I found you looking at Cascadia Earthquake information and fell into the binge rabbit hole of watching everything you have out. Great work! I'm a Whidbey Island transplant from Arizona and it's nice knowing what I'm looking at traveling around.
Super interesting lecture Nick. I was going to email you to see when you were going to put out some of this years lectures. Thank you and love all of your lectures
I have been viewing the other You Tube talks that Nick Zentner has given over the past years. This one is yet one more that I gave a hour to watch. Very important to know the topics, and he really is a student of this land mass of N. America and the state of Washington seems to be a great classroom of earth changes. Thank you Nick.
Thanks CWU & professor Nick for posting this great series. I studied geology at Illinois State off and on from '78 to '87 and only had field camp to finish but life goes on... I am continually amazed by how much I remember and can infer, this series is a joy to listen to!
Thanks Nick. You make what you talk about so interesting. I just discovered you on RU-vid a week ago. I will watch all the videos you produce. Thanks Nick.
Just found these lectures about a week ago, and I've watched almost all of them now. What am I going to do with my life when I'm done? You've got me fascinated with geology, and now I'm wondering how to find out the geological stories of my own part of the country, in Alabama. Suddenly, I just have to know! My house backs up to an area of old iron mines from around the early 20th century. Of course they're all grown over now but when and how was that iron deposited in that rock? Oh, also there's a big cut in Red Mountain that goes through layers and layers of different type of rocks. How do I find out more information? All of your videos are about the Pacific Northwest, which is a very interesting place, but are there similar cool stories about the geologic past of other parts of the country and the world? How did the big earthquake in South Carolina happen, and what's the story there? What's the future risk? My nuclear plants (I'm an engineer) are in Georgia and southern Alabama and I'm interested in the history and future risk of those places, too. How did I never realize geology was so fascinating before? Thanks so much for your lectures. Please make more!
Hello from the Northwest! Glad that you've enjoyed the lectures. All of my stuff is at nickzentner.com There's a reason I live here....tough to beat it for geology. Best wishes to you.
I really enjoy this lecture series and am thrilled we finally have worked our way to the many scraps of exotic terranes. I’m not a Geologist or even really that knowledgeable on Geology but I did study Geology at Whatcom Community College (I’m originally from Ellensburg so put the pitchforks down villagers) and one of our field trip was to Sucia Island which is a fascinating place with a lot of interesting features to study Geology on to include a very old piece of exotic terrane accreted and grafted onto the island itself.
Sir, I don't know how many times I have seen this presentation before, but in every one of them, I learn something new and exciting, enough to stimulate my tiny brain! Thank you Sir, very much indeed, for the zeal you present your material. It's riveting to say the least. And, Sir, thank you also, very much, for your hard work in presenting these instructional events. Oscar
Great lecture series! How about one on the Olympic Peninsula? Origin, features, etc. I know that you've touched upon it in several lectures already but it would be nice to see a more geographically focused lecture. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
What a teacher ... Explaining complex things in an understandable manner ... With his gestures, enthousasm and knowledge ... I sometimes think he must be a descendant of Fred Flintstone ... ;) Great Job !!!
Having watched all of your videos and been totally inspired by them one can only wish that it would be incredible if there were a thousand cloned Nick Zentners located in all of the very interesting geologic regions of the world and explaining their geology in a similar fashion to what you do about the Pacific North West. The Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps come to mind and so many other fascinating places around the world. However we will persevere and just enjoy the fact that there is one Nick Zentner who teaches in the most beautiful, interesting and informative fashion of just one spectacular region on the planet. And also greetings from Australia. Please keep up the brilliant work. I can see that it is most appreciated.
I like this theory a lot Nick and you do a nice job of explaining it and providing evidence. I have played this for a couple of my courses so they can get a local flavor for PNW origins. I worked on the Table Mountain Formation east of San Diego which likely tapped into the old Poway system to obtain green metavolcanics. Thus I especially like the notion of using zircons and stream systems that are now disconnected as piercing points. Looking forward to more videos.. you provide a valuable educational service here. Many thanks!
Fascinating. There is serpentine rock in the Illinois River, Josephine County to Curry County Oregon. Serpentine along Bear Camp road, Gold Beach along the Rogue River. Bear Camp road between Gold Beach and Grants Pass Oregon. Wild Rogue Canyon and the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
Thank-you so much for new lectures! So interesting to see how the BC theory is playing out. After your first youtube lecture about Mt. Stuart and the magnetic positioning of the whole batholith, I've been mulling over how the granites could have traveled so far north plowing up a path to Washington! But yeah, you make it make sense. Also, seems that this type of activity of the terranes may explain the opening of rifts deep in the crust to create the conditions for the basaltic ruckus 18 ma. (while holding hands with the Yellowstone hot spot). My one complaint (other than the audio) is that I would love to see reading references listed in your description (please?).
I live in Arizona, where I was born. I want to tell you about Squaw Peak, a granitic mountain in the Central Highlands of Arizona. I used to hike up there and I found 100s of old core samples and saw that it was a grey granite. Northwest of that is Jerome, an old copper mining town. The interior of western north America is full of copper deposits. The copper at Jerome is from black smokers at a spreading center, and the granite is from a batholith under a volcano, from a back arc volcano at a subduction zone. More puzzles.
Great series ,I got caught up in your series looking for info. on wire gold .That led me to your Liberty Gold series and all the rest.Here in Central Alberta its all about the Fossils and Moraine very little " chocolate cake" left after the Ice Age.The Wife and I enjoy checking out the rocks while fishing on the Red Deer.Petrified wood ,dino. teeth and bone fragments ever time out.If you and your family get up into Alberta you must check out Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park and Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. As for a RU-vid channel, the Royal Tryrrell Museum of Palaeontology has Guest Series Speakers on Fossils from around the World ,as well as behind the scenes look of the museum.For all those looking for great info. on the cutting edge on the world of fossils there is none better on the net.
Good Work Nick been waiting for another lecture. When you've had enough of the geology of Washington would love to see one on my WA Western Australia !
I am currently reading “Ancient Landscapes of Western North America” and found your lecture to be a wonderful supplement. You visually explain what is some ponderous reading of the same information. I will finish your whole series and wait impatiently for new videos. Thank you.
Yellowstone hotspot: The Yellowstone hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the United States responsible for large scale volcanism in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming as the North American tectonic plate moved over it. It formed the eastern Snake River Plain through a succession of caldera-forming eruptions. The resulting calderas include the Island Park Caldera, the Henry's Fork Caldera, and the Bruneau-Jarbidge caldera. The hotspot currently lies under the Yellowstone Caldera.[1] The hotspot's most recent caldera-forming supereruption, known as the Lava Creek eruption, took place 640,000 years ago and created the Lava Creek Tuff, and the most recent Yellowstone Caldera. The Yellowstone hotspot is one of a few volcanic hotspots underlying the North American tectonic plate; others include the Anahim and Raton hotspots. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_hotspot
Snake River Plain: The Snake River Plain is a geologic feature located primarily within the U.S. state of Idaho. It stretches about 400 miles (640 km) westward from northwest of the state of Wyoming to the Idaho-Oregon border. The plain is a wide, flat bow-shaped depression and covers about a quarter of Idaho. Three major volcanic buttes dot the plain east of Arco, the largest being Big Southern Butte. Most of Idaho's major cities are in the Snake River Plain, as is much of its agricultural land. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_River_Plain
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a U.S. national monument and national preserve in the Snake River Plain in central Idaho. It is along US 20 (concurrent with US 93 and US 26), between the small towns of Arco and Carey, at an average elevation of 5,900 feet (1,800 m) above sea level. The protected area's features are volcanic and represent one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas in the continental United States. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craters_of_the_Moon_National_Monument_and_Preserve
Click for map of Snake River Plain/Yellowstone Hot Spot Trail, with dates of past eruptions in millions of years ago (mya). The dash in the age indicates a range. ie, 2-0.6 = between 2 and .6 million years ago (.6 million = 600,000 years). lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ftv_XibP3FO_nUgjsqW3wDIF7bHsn0E-sQmjiT6ng4Xs8SJvHQ1fuGnXZVcGdLNiaGsyl2Kfk7EwdR2JKtTipar3amUqxHgA5kwaMVFeAGfcyOz36nVPiEkFSTHM83UEowYi8QOoOSplqtoEko8ZmuzFaL27qCeJmBGFuZXC encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWDWWvYN2j7ZgUQ3oSwQ_Ac8R6AK8O_5crnm7QdgCS2FeZihy6&s
There are also lots of terrains almost 500 million years old West of Mt. Shasta. I hiked through there; lots of schists, chert, and serpentenite surrounding a granite pluton. Very cool place!
Hallelujah !!! Thank you! This is EXACTLY ALL of what I have been saying for all our conversations for these years. And massive land bridge portions of Central America have broken off, continue to break off, and have been moving north. Same for the San Francisco to Los Angeles/San Andreas fault land, and the Baja peninsula (a later split off) ....
What wasn't mentioned, is what I call the "Mojave Triangle." This is the land (geological triangle of the NA plate) that intrudes across the San Andreas fault, between Bakersfield and just north of Los Angeles. This is easily seen in google maps. www.google.com/maps/@34.0201613,-118.6919267,670295m/data=!3m1!1e3 This makes the Los Angeles to Baja peninsula a separated (and locked) sub-plate, attempting to move north, but stopped by the Triangle. ONLY WHEN that geological triangle is (finally) disrupted or broken, will that portion of land move northward. Anybody can recognize that the Baja tip fits perfectly back into the Puerto Vallarta bayshore, while Los Angeles fits into its own slot below the US-Mexican border. It is only the greater portion of the CA Grapevine north of the triangle up to Vancouver Island that can move (slow slip). Because the bottom edge of the San Andreas is still attached to the Mojave Triangle and the small connective portion to the LA-Baja sub-plate, the only movement north would be natural daily planetary crustal movement via solar/lunar gravitational forces that uplift and drop the lands east to west, north to south. There is no great push from LA-Baja pushing this area northward. And did I mention the further findings from the PNWSN tremor maps of the greater issue of a super-multiple magma chamber in the Grant's Pass, OR to Redding, CA area. 40-50 miles wide x 110 miles long. If Yellowstone is 17 volumes of the Grand Canyon, then Yellowstone is a pimple on a flea's a** compared to this - and any tectonic, volcanic eruption magnitudes that could happen. Just the one super magma chanber nearby dwarfs the singular volcanic geology of Mt Shasta or Mt Lassen. The PNWSN site has (seemingly) disabled the Interactive Tremor Map date range and density plotting of the tremors. That used to show this function, and there are 5 (FIVE) volcanic throats, seismic pipes, of active boiling, sitting across 4-5 super magma chambers in that area. I do have a print out copy of that display as proof for analysis and understanding. The same consideration should be reviewed for the Vancouver Island with density tremor plotting and what is really underneath that area of concern. I do believe that there is an active hot spot on the fault line, like this Grant's Pass-Redding area. And all of this is in the coastal mountains, not the Cascades or Rockies/Sierra, where one would assume the Ring of Fire to be conventionally active. I have more concerns about the West Pacific trenches snapping upward and uplifting their 16,000 - 36,000 foot depths of seawater, causing a massive 1500+ foot tsunami across the entire region, than the lesser Cascadia fault slip and a 100 foot tsunami. Again, these trenches are cold - not hot, and amazingly not EQ active. Seemingly also - not submerging under the Asian plate as the Pacific Ocean is gradually growing in size (ocean spreading) versus staying the same size and plate recycling of the cold ocean bottom of the asthenosphere. These trenches are east of the actual Ring of Fire along the Siberian-Japanese-Asian-South Pacific-AUS-NZ line of EQs, where they are the actual hotspots and EQ zones.
The wedge-shaped Mojave Block is bounded on the southwest by the San Andreas Fault and on the north by the Garlock Fault, a left hand strike-slip fault, like most east-west strike slip faults in California, and unlike the San Andreas and other north-south strike-slips. The San Andreas is in the midst of its Great Bend here, which creates the stress that builds the Transverse Ranges, so it goes more east-west than in other parts. The Garlock meets the San Andreas right about at Gorman and Tejon Pass.
@@johnlord8337 nothing to do with WA or the Pacific NW. Might make for an interesting lecture somewhere but Nick focuses on mostly WA & surrounding PNW area.
@@MrKmanthie you have been really missing Nick's presentations, as he definitely DOES talk PNW, and the ancient supervolcano line across N CA/S OR, ID, and has even mentioned the exotic terraines of this SW OR group, and it is part of the geological turning of the PNW geology of the batholith in E OR, and that of the Siskyou/Klamath Mountains.
Nick, everyone gives you respect (and rightly so) for your knowledge and enthusiasm about geology, and your ability to convey those to your audience. But this also needs to be said: You have MAD chalkboard skills! And you're pretty good with a hand-held microphone, too! Top marks all around, except for one little thing: you pronounce "etc" as "EK-settera." It should be pronounced "ET-settera." Other than that, you're perfect!
@@eggprantful What a silly question! Clearly, I do. Lots of other people do, too. But thanks for your opinion, Johnny Chain. You don't care that I pronounced that wrong, do you?
I really wish that map of yours included Canada, especially being based in Washington, I'd love to see the connection to B.C. I'm biased of course, being a hoser, but the point stands.
B.C. Isn't it funny that the geology on either side of that line knows to stop dead at that 49th parallel??? :)) How does it do that?? Doing geology research northeast of Metaline Falls 3 miles south of the international border and a mile west of the Idaho border, that artificial line used to drive me just crazy trying to get maps and professional research papers!! Funny how the rocks themselves can be so wonderfully inclusive and integrated, but the human politics can't. Must be the rocks are more intelligent. FYI, many of my students were from BC and I was invited to do my Ph.D. at UBC on old volcanoes east of Bella Coola. People tell me I still speak with a soft Canadian accent. :)) I do hope so, eh!!
Nick, I've been watching your videos from 4 years ago. Now it's great to see something from you that's less than a month old. Great stuff. BTW, when you were looking at samples from the Cretaceous Period did you happen to come across my old Nehru jacket?
I love learning about geology. But I’m a complete amateur. Seriously amateur. I grew up in Medford OR and got an Engineering Physics degree from Oregon State in 1980. You are one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard...and seen. And I’ve spent a lot of times in classrooms including medical school at USC after OSU. I absolutely love driving from Medford through Klamath Falls. Especially between Klamath Falls going through Lakeview OR on to Denio in Nevada and down the highway in Western Nevada through Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Austin, Tonapah and on through Las Vegas. On the way to my current home in Amarillo TX. I love the terrain. All of it. But I wish I had your eye for geology. I promise I won’t shoulder role out of the car when you start talking geology! I’d really like to know the geology of 3 main sections. Tonapah down to Las Vegas to the West mainly, Lakeview Or to Denio, NV and Medford to Klamath Falls OR. Of course I’d love to know about Las Vegas to Kingman AZ and I40 through AZ and NM all the way to the Eastern NM border. I’ve studied the Texas Panhandle where I live but I’m always open to new suggestions. The most interesting to me are Lakeview OR to Denio NV. Just out of Denio NV to the SSW is a swimmable hot springs on the top of a lava flow Mesa.. And Tonapah to N Las Vegas (just East of Death Valley). The land looks like it’s been uplifted, folded and flipped over like an egg on a fry cook’s grill. Any suggestions on books, research papers, documentaries, home movies, vacation slides, etc., would be truly welcome. I’m sorry if that sounds greedy. But it is. I will hold any recommendations from you in the highest regard. I promise. If you don’t have the time to respond, I understand. Perhaps you could look into the geology and history of Palo Duro Canyon. About 30 minutes SSW of Amarillo TX. The 2nd largest Canyon in America. Great geology but also picturesque and great American history. Nobody has ever heard of the 2 guys (and many others) they sent out, like Lewis and Clark, up the Red River hoping to find the source near Santa Fe in the mountains. Lewis and Alexander. I think. That didn’t work out. Just a vague river origin on the Llano Estacado, staked plain.Stakes either for navigation or to tie horses to. Nobody knows for sure. That’s where I live. Amarillo (yellow) TX. They failed to get to Santa Fe. So no history books or colleges named after them. Oh. One more thing. Why is the only place to find opals in The US in NW Nevada? Is that where the Southern end of the Flood Basalts is. Leaving the right conditions for opal formation? www.sfgate.com/connectlocal/nevada/article/Search-for-opals-in-northern-Nevada-s-Virgin-5445950.php And the Doherty Slide. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doherty_Slide Thanks for any info you can suggest. More important. Hanks for these vide RU-vid knowledge gems.
Thanks much. Plenty busy here in Washington. There are now good Roadside Geology books for most of the western states....second editions with much more detail, maps, and photos than the first editions 30 years ago.
Nick Zentner Thanks for responding. That means a lot in this internet era. I’ll do some more homework about those areas that I drive through. Stop by and we’ll visit Palo Duro Canyon South of Amarillo if you ever pass through on I40. Great geology at the 2nd largest canyon in the USA. Nearly everyone does “pass through” Amarillo on I-40 at some point in their life. Avoid the buried Cadillacs.
Mr Zenter, I love your lecture series! Makes me want to break out my rock hammer and climb some volcanoes! I would love to come out and see one of your lectures. -Corey from MN
It did occur to me that even though a super eruption would spread out on all directions, in 3-D there would be a heavy upward column that would be blown by wind slightly before it would collapse, thus it would still be a teardrop shape that would make it to eastern Nebraska!
