How Did Mount Rushmore End Up Different Than Intended? Geology Played A Role 

I've always been fascinated with Glacial Lake Missoula, the initial event and the scoffed at discovery.

I'm amazed at how small it is. Until you said that it's about 18 metres tall, I was under the impression that it was closer to 60 or 75 metres, and that it was created at least a century earlier than the 1930's. Live and learn. The geology by far the most interesting aspect of the monument though. Thanks Shawn.

@@RWBHere Quick history lesson. By 1830 the westward expansion of the US had just started to cross the Mississippi River (1826 was the 50th anniversary of "We Hold These Truths...") 1876 the 100th annv. was when Custer got a haircut not too far from Rushmore. George Washington (1732-1799) was the first and only president to die in the 18th century. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) the 3rd President doubled the size of the Union with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Which was the lands along the Mississippi river watershed including the Dakota territories. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th President, Civil war and all that. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) 26th President, created the National Parks service to set aside regions of exceptional natural beauty. The reason each is up there is due to their service to the Union, George started it, Tom doubled it, Abe protected it, and Teddy preserved it. John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, the sculptor (1867-1941) used steam powered jack hammers and explosives to get within 6 inches (15cm) of where he wanted it to be. The Crash of 1929 lead to the public works programs of the 1930's, designed to get American back on their feet which produced dams, roads, bridges and Rushmore. By the late 1930's military defense was the main goal of the workforce. So it was made at the only time it could have been made, when technology was advanced enough to make it possible and before other concerns put an end to frivolous things. The largest sculpture is Stone Mountain Park in Georgia opened 4/14/1965 (100 years to the day after Lincoln's assassination.) There is a larger one under construction in the Black Hills near Rushmore (16 miles), Korczak Ziolkowski started a massive sculpture of Crazy Horse in 1948 it's still under construction by his son, and uses the same techniques of drill and blast.

@@RWBHere The head of George Washington is 60 feet (18.3 m) tall with a nose that is 21 feet (6.4 m) tall. The Great Sphinx is 66 feet high, the entire Sphinx is six feet taller than one face. Just the face, not the lapels and chest. Each head in the group was carved to the scale of a man 465 feet tall. Many factors ended the project, Borglum dying and Pearl Harbor in 1941 were big parts of it, obviously geology slowed progress and changed the idea. The off cuts were never removed and the pile or rocks would grow to obscure the sculpture before it reached their belts. Also "National Treasure" is pure fiction.

As far as I’m aware, the Crazy Horse memorial is basically just a giant grift by a con man that has no interest in ever finishing the project. The vast majority of donations go straight into his pocket, never to be seen again.

​@@lurpnuts7817 " is basically just a giant grift " - if you look into the history of Mt. Rushmore, as the sculpture and park, it went through quite a sideways journey which might be called an official grift.

Nick Zentner did make a series out of one of his 101 classes a few years ago, might check his channel. Though it's heavily focused on Washington/Pac NW geology in terms of examples he uses to demonstrate basic geological principles. You might want to check it out.

Great recommendation by Shawn…I have been “auditing” Nicks 101 class (access and notes available through his website), and have learned so much. (He also has a 300 level course)

Shawn has many videos that cover the different types of rock and examples and he has Random Road Cuts where he goes various places like he did here and talk about the geology. He also does updates on Iceland every few days or sooner if something unique occurred.

Earth and Space Sciences X, Nick Zentner, Myron Cook, Rachel Phillips (Geo Girl), to name a few. I think most of these channels are run by Geology professors. I know I've missed a few. I started out with the "Earth and Space Sciences X" lecture series. Both the lecture series and presentation were excellent and gave a really good overview. My favorite is Myron Cook. He is a particularly good presenter. Good pacing to his lectures.

My GEOL 101 lecture videos are in the works. Look for them soon.

I wondered if anyone would comment about "waist down"

Oops. Very different indeed.

Another reason they stopped where they did was because the tailings were almost up to where they were going to stop originally. So we can go X feet down but the rock pile will grow by Y feet.

A video about Crazy Horse would be awesome.

Borglum was the first sculptor engaged for the Confederate memorial carving on Stone Mountain, but it is not accurate to say he “did the sculpture” there today. He began work on that project in 1923, but financial conflicts between him and the organization sponsoring the project resulted in his firing in 1925. By that time, he had only partially completed the face of Robert E. Lee. The sponsoring organization hired Augustus Lukeman to take over as the lead sculptor, and he completely revised plans for the design; he even blasted Borglum’s partial face of Lee off the mountain in 1928. But disagreements among those involved with the project became so rancorous that work stopped later that year. Work did not resume on the Stone Mountain carvings until 1964, under the supervision of Walker Hancock, who simplified Lukeman’s design. It was finally completed in 1972, by which time Roy Faulkner had taken taken over as the chief carver. So, Borglum was initially involved with the Stone Mountain project, but the carving there today is not his work, in either design or execution.

Yikes. Bad mistake on my part.

They used high 💥and got to within 6 inches of where they wanted, that is why I'm not a fan of the cement mixer 💥 on Mythbusters, they pulled a Tootsie Pop Owl on that one.

Yes indeed. Unintended slip up.

Oops. That is very different indeed.

I think he meant 'from the neck down', sad though it is to leave Presidential waists out of it.

@@shawnwillsey no worries mate, you continue to produce great content in an interesting and understanding manner. Keep up the good work!

And in part stopped it, they didn't take the rocks away that were blasted off they just built up at the base and got quite tall.

We did visit there but could not get close enough to record a video.

Shawn will know infinitely more than me on this, but in the case of plutons (only) I think you are probably right. A granite pluton is a large area and thickness of low-density rock, producing an easily-measurable low gravity anomaly and therefore an appreciable buoyancy effect, ie an uplift. And if that uplift is bounded by faulting rather than arching or tilting, there are your earthquakes. Certainly that is the case in the UK, for the North and Mid Pennines for instance.

The Netherlands are well known for making perfect use of every square meter 🌷

A Dutch geologist told me that a lot of people there become geologists so they can work abroad in places with more interesting geology! 😊

He was possibly trying to be discrete, as other people were around.

It was early morning and very quiet. There were a few folks around so I tuned my voice down a bit.

1000 years? The faces will still be there, though certainly some parts will have fallen off.

@@nothanks3236 I think I heard that one of the noses is already in trouble.

Dig deeper as the Lakota stole the land from the tribes who lived there before them..Warfare on neighbors was common..

@@marksinger3067 Rationalizations of imperialists.. such a ridiculous reply.

Yikes! Bad mistake.