Glacial Lake Missoula 

He is exactly the kind of educator that can effectively motivate the next generation of scientist.

Superb geology educator. A wonderful series. To bad there aren't ten of him!

RIP Tom Foster 1959 - 2020

It just doesn't get any better than this! Thank you sir for sharing your knowledge and experiences!

This is such a wonderful series. I've lived all my life in the Pacific Northwest and your stories as to how it was created over millions of years is fascinating and rich with details, speculation, answers and questions. Thank you!

No better way to spend a Friday evening inside whilst covid runs rampant, than to enjoyably explore geology with the venerable Nick Zentner 🙂

Absolutely fascinating. It’s utterly amazing that we are able to figure all the stuff out. Thank you for your hard work and for making mankind just a little smarter. Actually a whole lot smarter. I live in upstate New York I understand we have a fascinating geologic history in this area. I wish we had someone like you here in Central New York with a passion for geology as great as yours. If you haven’t done so you have to visit the finger Lakes you will not be disappointed. Thank you again.

great presentation. i first learned about this in college as a Geology Major in the late 80s and wanted to refresh my memory. My instructor at that time had just visited the area on a trip so had a great presentation of his own at that time.

This is such a geologically active part of the world and Nick does a great job explaining the complexities of it. I learned about the great Missoula flood years ago. But when Nick said it didn’t happen once, but rather, several or even a hundred times, I sat stunned. I had never heard that before - or even dreamed to be possible. It amazes me that the glacier could create the dam and then fail repeatedly to create such a massive and devastating floods. Nature is crazy. Imagine being close enough to witness one of those floods and survive to tell the tale. No one can comprehend 1,000 feet of water flowing through a breech like that.

I love this guy... he tells it like it is... just the facts and the best guesses... no inflated ego, no crazy aliens did it crap.... he is what a thinking man should be....

Dr. Zentner reminds me very much of my own profs at Western, ca. 1980 CE. His videos are simultaneously highly informative and very nostalgic. Thanks, Dr. Z!

Six years since a video upload. I hope you're still with us. We don't need an other video, just a sign you're still alive.

While living in Idaho, I became fascinated by the flood results and spent several summers driving/walking them. Camas Prairie ripples and water levels at Missoula are almost unbelievable to see. Great video. J Harlen Bretz deserves a monument.

I live in Eastern Washington. You don't have rub many brain cells together when you drive through the middle of the state to realise that something violent had happened. It can't be overstated. House sized boulders scattered across farm lands, like tombstones of the disaster. It's hard to visualise the power and amazing earth shaking craziness that obviously happened.

Your enthusiasm and care for the topic is infectious. Great educational video

That scenery at the start of the video is absolutely beautiful. Must be a wonderful campus too!

You do an absolutely fantastic job of making this information accessible to anyone willing to listen. Thank you so much.

7 YEAR AGO ! Man we miss you, keep posting your research and enlighten us with it please.

The Ice Age Floods was a cool geological story to learn about. When I moved to Seattle in 2002, the scablands along the highway caught my eye. Looking for information about them was my introduction to the floods. My first road trip long weekend out of Seattle a few months later took me to Missoula and the Camas Prairie, and I visited a number of flood related sites across the region over the years before I finally moved away. Just discovered your series of related videos and have started working my way through them. I appreciate your videos and your explanations.

Love these videos. You've inspired me to take a trip to the Erratic Rock site here in Oregon this summer. It is amazing the history you drive by your whole life without even thinking about it.

Thank-you for taking the time to make these videos. They help me conceptualize all that happened around here (Washington). I run an excavator occasionally and do some hiking your videos help me know what I'm looking at when were out and about. I've seen that tusk that was donated to the Burke by the developer, it's still in a room covered in plaster drying out.

I am always blown away of the power these floods had. I live in Willamette Valley. I have seen the evidence of these floods here.

This also came to mind, I was once digging up on flattop mountain and a about 2 or 3 feet under ground was solid sandstone, I had been digging up many trees ,for a pasture, that night I camped out on the mountain, so I could save my motel money, the moon was Farley bright, later on that night I got up to stoke the fire, and as I looked Across where I had been working, the ground was glowing, I went over and on the ground, roots were glowing , some of them were as big as your arm, I picked one up, and bent over to where the moon was behind me, it was bright enough to maybe read a newspaper with, so I picked up a few of them, and put some in a paper sack, and one big one

Finally, information about the layers seen from I-90 near Nine Mile Road!! i go past here on vacations/trips at least once a year and haven’t been able to find much out about them. And so, so cool to see the varves-not visible from the Interstate, especially at Interstate speeds.

It's interesting to note that without these catastrophic events from the past, we wouldn't have modern highways. Not because they carved easy paths, in some cases, but because they created the raw materials we use to create highways. If you have a gravel pit near you, you now know why. This stuff fascinates me.

Thank you so much for these videos Tom and Nick! You guys are presenting the fascinating geologic history of the area in a highly entertaining manner.

I have recently moved to Hayden, Idaho for retirement. I have a life long interest in geology so I have begun reading about the region . I am now reading Bjornstad's book on the Glacial Floods, with two or three others in the bedside pile to read. Your video is a great visualization of what happened on the deep water end (vice the scabland end) of the floods and is quite illuminating. We drove north from San Diego to our new home, and west across I-90 just six weeks ago and I really wish I had seen the video before hand to appreciate the road cuts along the way. Great video- well done!

Wow !!Can only imagine the sight and sound of the drainings !

Not only a fine geologist but an excellent story teller!

This is excellent. Has all the stuff History channel missed in their ice age flood doc.

Enjoyed the narration and graphics, thank you.

He is easily becoming my go-to educator for questions I get in my learning about all these amazing geological events. So interesting. And he’s still presenting. Has his own channel now. Great stuff!

You are a local state treasure sir. Love your content. Really helps me grasp this concept.

I will be sharing this every place I can, I can watch these over and over, I am sure others will too. The long and short compliment each other.

The most interesting 19 minutes of content I have watched in a long time!

This is one of the best shows on RU-vid, thanks for all the effort you put into these vids I don't know a thing about geology barely got taught it in school so it's interesting to learn all these things - cheers again Tom & Nick :)

Excellent report, very informative indeed. Thank you Mr. Zentner, for your hard work in producing these types of videos.

This is indeed a very nice video. I live in far eastern and I am still fascinated by the story of Lake Missoula.

I found it very interesting and very informative. Thank you for putting this together and thanks for sharing it. When I worked in Hawthorne, NV, I was amazed at the expanse of ancient Lake Lahontan; its strandlines were visible almost everywhere, from Hawthorne north to Fallon and from Hawthorne west and then north into Reno the "back way" up Hwy 95.

great watch. much better quality than most tv shows. you deserve a raise!

These are absolutely brilliant. Hope we get more one day.

Great job of putting this vid together. We are getting ready to go see it next month.

i was just wondering yesterday when you'd be uploading a new video. Excellent!

RIP Tom, you are missed!

Outstanding, thank you. I would love to see a video with Nick and Randall Carlson.

This guys is the greatest. Thanks for all the amazing videos!!

Just stumbled upon your videos today, you truly have a gift for teaching . :) Thank you for releasing these!

thank you, Mr. Zentner. you are a great teacher

This never ceases to amaze.

Dear Nick: I live in South Georgia. Albany is just 60 miles north of Florida. Thanks for the videos. I have learned quite a bit.

I am really glad I watched,awesome job sir! I have been fascinated by the thought of these floods for several decades. Your take is spot on I think. Excellent presentation thank you for sharing your expertise and knowledge! Jim

I've been enjoying your videos since I stumbled upon them recently. Living on the Palouse and being an amateur history buff I've traveled, read about, and explored many of the great floods signatures left to us as Dr. Bretz first realized. Unlike some other geological events that have occurred, these abrasions on the landscape are relatively recent and are quite apparent in the scablands of Washington. Keep up the fantastic work Nick, and Thank you!

I've been looking at the lake level lines, since a little kid. I remember telling dad that there must have been a really big lake before Flathead Lake. Interesting video.

Love your enthusiasm for the subject, and how you point out how little we can be certain about

Bravo. Sensational clarity and super-dedication to an event so long ago misunderstood. Excellent video.

Another outstanding video on one of my favorite geological features in the Great Pacific Northwest. I have actually stood where you have at the National Bison Refuge, both in my own quest to understand the size and scale of Lake Missoula and to appreciate the buffaloes (and other wildlife) that dominate the refuge. I knew then, there were a few places I had missed, which you showed in this video, Your video did nicely to fill in some of those gaps. Thank you for sharing. Do have a bibliography for this video? I am always looking for new articles on Missoula and the floods.

Just so cool. Fascinating. Who says geology is boring?

Wonderful! Ice age geology is amazing. Plenty of it here in Northern England where i live.

These videos are fantastic. Thanks for making them!

This is super informative and very well made. Thank you!

We're the ice melts themselves episodic? Sun cycles, earth tilt, etc. One of the best of his fantastic videos.

thanks again nick a nice break from my petrology

I came to love geology due to my geology teacher, the legendary Richard Kennedy.

Such awesome work. Thank you so much

I Love this video- brings back great memories of a geology trip we did to the Columbia Plateau.

Thank you Nick. You do the best delivery and have just the right amount of enthusiasm...you're the best. (Have you done any studies/lectures on the Olympic Peninsula? I'd love to know more abt it and no one better than you to tell it).

So much time, so much change, it’s overwhelming.

Who’s I’ve been watching you for years praying you’d get visual. Yeah. Wonderful video.

Watched your videos with much interest. There is a lot of information packed into them and some I think I'll be able to remember. I am always interested in the geologic history of my familiar living area and its geologic makeup. It's amazing to me that this data can be brought out with careful and painstaking study. Thank you for putting these videos together.

This Geology is so fascinating!! I think I missed my life's calling but its a great retirement hobby to study : )

Just west of Missoula along I 90 near french town there is a road cut with obvious layers of lake bottom sediments

I stood at the ice dam marker last year and imagined it filled with Lake Missoula, your picture at :54 is what I "saw". I stood there in awe wanting to know more. Then you create this video, thank you very much for all the effort you put forth to share this information.

Thanks to RU-vid for surfacing your channel in my recommendations. You are such a clear lecturer and presenter of data. Outstanding overview of Glacial Lake Missoula and recent geological history.

Thank you for another fascinating lesson.

Loved this video : SO interesting ! 😊. So clearly explained : even a comparitive newcomer to the whole fascinating subject of Geology is drawn in , wanting to learn more. The "Prof'" says, "I love you, and goodbye". I would bet most viewers love you too, Professor. Your friendly, direct style is very appealing, like a friend telling you interesting news.🙂. Wish all teachers could have your amiable personality : education levels would soar ! 😊⛏️. 🇬🇧💕🇺🇲⛏️🌎😊⛏️🇺🇲

when next vídeo? i love all of them. hopping to watch another one soon. great job!

Wow, Mr. Zentner is an amazing professor. Great video.

this guy would have been a great geology teacher wish we had him back in school in my days

The other thinking for highest-oldest lowest-youngest being the rule from strand lines ... each time the ice sheet grew back to block the escape route into Idaho, the ice was less solid and easier to bust through than the previous time.

Nick is THE voice of NW geology on RU-vid. Dude's on like 5 channels.

I don’t know what happened to you or if you still check here. I’ve worked on top of a hill removing river rock hundreds of feet above the Willamette River outside of Eugene, OR. I would love to see you do a video out here and get your opinion on how this happened. I was young at the time, but even then it stumped me on how all this River rock got on top of this hill. Thank you

I really wish you were down here in Southeastern Arizona to look at some of the structures and things here,

These videos are great. keep it up!

Super easy to understand. Thanks

Someone saw this. I try to imagine the force and violence it took to hydraulically drill those holes in the bedrock. Nick is one of my heroes.

Have you ever considered looking at the behavior of the Perito Merano Glacier in Patagonia ? Every year or two they have a 'rupture' where the upper lake flows into Lake Argentina. If nothing else you would get a visual of the powers that are involved and then be able to scale it up to the Missoula volumes. And it would be a good field trip - the steak there is awesome !

One thing I am trying to find is something on the dynamics of the massive potholes further down the flood path. I did see one piece once but am finding it again difficult. You could do 20 minutes on this alone. If you want to illustrate the power of the flood, showing how the vortexes of water drilled these potholes will do it. If you have seen one up close, they are massive and the force of the water drilled these holes in solid rock over short periods. Essentially, in the midst of the flow, the speed of the water hitting some kind of obstacle would set up a "whirlpool" type of vortex within the column of water... Think a vortex the size of a house in terms of width/depth in a cross section. So, as the water flows, this vortex is stretched out over a distance of like football fields within the flow of the water... If you have watched a small clear stream flow, you occasionally will see similar things on a small scale with the end of the "vortex" dancing in the flow for a moment as whatever barrier breaks surface bringing air into the flow, bubbles... As these vortexes twist stretching out the length of football fields in the 65 mph flow, they end up focusing at the end and that part is hitting the rock on the bottom like a drill. The water column has "stuff" in it ranging from small rocks to larger ones and wood and silt etc., and has air as part of the process so the "drill" end has the materials to cut into the rock. So, depending upon the stability of the conditions and barriers causing the vortex, these can continue for a period of time, long enough to drill holes in rock fifty feet deep and wide... Now that is the power of mother nature and standing in one of those pot holes imagining the forces that created it should make you feel very small and insignificant.

Another great video, very interesting, thanks.

Tom and Nick. As a geographer, I really love this video. Have you guys looked at the video on You Tube showing the draining after the breaching of the Condit Dam in Washington in 2011? Look up "Condit Draindown". It is 12:59 long. it shows the effect of the rapid release of water from a lake and what the new high energy flow does to the silt that has accumulated during the low energy time it was a lake. I think it might have some bearing on what happened at Glacial Lake Missoula. Small scale compared to GLM, but larger than a classroom model.

As a transplant geologist from Kentucky to Spokane, the geologic history that has unfolded in Washington is utterly fascinating. I can't get enough! Now, to find a geology job so I can study the amazing geology of the Pacific and Inland Northwest... Keep up the great work!

I thought it was the Bull River I fished in at Noxon. I guess I was wrong. I loved my time there. 350 degrees and 100% humidity at home. I had to wear a flannel shirt in Noxon in June. It got cold at night.

Beautiful campus. Lonely looking.

Fascinating history..thx

Excellent presentation!

great video..never even been to Montana ,but stumbled upon this...very interesting..... wish we had film from the past 5 billion years of earth

This is such fantastic content.

Great vid....👍👍Any updates?🤔🤔

So sad he stopped uploading :(

Love your enthusiasm and humility in admitting you don't know everything. I'd love to see your interpretation of the area occupied by Lake Bonneville in Utah. We have large beds of river rock and ancient sand dunes.

It must have been an incredible and terrifying sight. Can you imagine being a native living on the shore of Lake Mazola then waking up one day and seeing it had gone.A body of water that had been in place longer than your grandfather's grandfather could remember, gone, pretty much over night.