Thanks Nick for the bit of free advertising at 2:35 for my Ice Age Floods guidebooks. Honored that you’re still using that bookmark I gave you over 10 years ago. Bruce
thank you professor I love watching your videos I find your teaching enjoyable and humorous at times so thank you. you even are able to make things understandable for a old guy who never has been to smart
For just a moment, I am imagining the land under water, Siletzia Pillows forming in front of me. Takes the current, crazy-world stress right out of me! Thanks.
Every time Nick puts up a new video, I find myself cracking open Google Earth to see if I can find where he is when recording. Can't help it. My need for spatial and geographic context is apparently uncontrollable. Thank you for all you do for us Nick.
On a clear day from Mary’s Peak, you can see seven snow-covered volcanic peaks and the Pacific Ocean. That combined with the pillow rock tells the story of scraping the top of the ocean plate while the lower layers dive under to form volcanos. Not just Cascade volcanos but hundreds of small ones on the floor of the Willamette Valley and into the Coast Range.
It's amazing the missoula floods almost went that far up. The Kalapuyans (Native Americans of that area) have a story about Marys Peak and a big flood, perhaps the last Missoula Flood.
Wow. Love the splitting in those pillows. Asterish. Thanks for more Siletzia insights. The view from the top was great! Thanks Nick and Marli for another fun hike!
I've seen outcrops formations similar to these in a cave on the Mediterranean island of Malta also the outer surface texture of these rock outcroppings resemble the texture of massive blocks on Megalithic wall courses of peru. Thank you for sharing
Morning from Los Angeles!, I went to college at OSU and coyboy camped overnight night once there. We woke up to a see a sea of clouds covering the view about 300ft below us. The coast range is an amazing source of water with the amount of precipitation it gets. Also it used to grow the biggest Doug firs before we logged them all
I love these videos so much, amazing pillow basalt and even more amazing view at the end, thanks for doing this, showing places as someone like me back East will prolly never see in person
Thanks again for this great video! Yrs ago, as an OSU student (Class 77) Ive been up on Marys Peak, but never as one interested in geology as I am now. I was “wiped-out” to learn of these PILLOW BASALTS up on Marys Peak. -who’d have known!? I was totally amazed about this-though, I maybe should not have been, since I’ve managed a rudimentary understanding of causes for mountain formation. Thank you again for the great lesson I’ve learned today.
Oh Nick, thank you for coming to our area! We live just north of Mary’s Peak in Blodgett. We need to take another trip to the peak now that we’re “geologists”. When our kids were young, they liked to slide down that grassy hill on pieces of cardboard. Or just roll down.😂 It’s such a beautiful place, isn’t it?
My dad was a Radio/TV engineer in Eugene in the 1960's. I was under 10 at the time. I got to go with him to Kezi TV channel 9 on top of Coburg Hills, NE of Eugene. And many other places. I was fasinated by geology then and still to this day. I have a load of places I've been since I the early 2000's. I miss exploring the Cascades and the Coast Ridge mountains. Coast as well. Noticing places like near Yahates, Oregon where you can find more Siletzia accretion. Basalt columns road cut off n Hwy 101! Thank you again for your hard work and your supporters from all over! I look forward to perhaps another video from Portland, Oregon convention center geology meeting in October this year? Thanks Nick Your friend, Kenny 😎👍
Dang this is an old hunting ground and picnic area I used to go to all the time back in the 70's I never knew anything about geology then.. It is good to go back now and see with different eyes the places I am so familiar with.. Thanks Nick.. I doubt I will every get back to mary's peak in person again.. it is good to see her one more time..
I visited that outcrop during my very first class in geology. I was so confused by all the crazy terms - accretion, Siletzia, aphanitic, zeolite - but what a great hike!
I have seen pillow lava on the hillside just east of the old townsite of Blewett. It struck me as odd when I found it 20 years ago. I thought it was an ancient stream channel when I found it. I will go back and get GPS coordinates!
Hi Kirk, we have to drive down our road a bit to see the peak. We love to see it. The old folks around here used to say you couldn’t plant until the snow was off the peak. Don’t know if that’s true anymore.
Just now getting a chance to catch up! Wow! Amazing broken pillow basalts to see how they developed! Several layers on some. A moment of ancient history captured!
I have camped in the exact spot that you were standing when starting the video. This is so cool to learn about a area I love and have always wanted to know information about it from someone who understands geology really well. Thank you for this video. I loved doing photography from that spot on Mary's peak. I enjoy it more than the peak. Personally.
Happy RU-vid suggested this video to me, would not have known the internet’s best lecturer had his own channel…. Nick, you could probably teach on ANY subject and I’d be happy to learn…
Glad you found this place Nick. A real gem and geologic window. I know this place well and have always found it a haven of peace and mystery. Tell the story well my friend!
Another very welcome entry in the sporadic "Nick in Oregon" series! Geologically, of course, most of Oregon is part of the same story that formed most of Washington's geologic history, so the lion's share of Zentner's content is very applicable to Oregon. But it's always really fun to have Nick visiting and highlighting some of the local features we can explore and think about right here at home.
Great to see these Siletzia pillow basalts! I really appreciate learning how old they are…. Nice to have some still rounded and others broken so we can see inside. Great views from the top. Thanks Nick! 😄👍🌻🌻🌻
Thank you for all your amazing field trips. Beautiful scenery, great company, and learning something new. Only thing better would to be there in person. Thank you.
Thank you Professor ! It is quite exciting to look at the pillow lavas - above the water level ! Thank you for moving the recording device slowly, so that your fans are able to mentally process all that visual beauty of geology.
13:30 Behold, Siletzia! You’re looking into Western Benton (OSU) and Lincoln Counties (Newport,) home of the Yaquina River estuary. All of what you see was inhabited by the Siletz Native Americans. Siletzia was named in honor of that tribe who lived in its very center. I’ve lived here my entire life and I still can’t get enough of that Coast Range green.
Morning from Peridot AZ. Learning soo much from this Channel and on my own here below the Natanes plateau! Thank you. I can't go hiking without wondering then researching!!!@
What a very interesting area. This Summer I’m going to try and go to the places in your videos and see some of the areas you have discussed. Great videos Nick and always learn a ton from you. If I was closer to Ellensburg I would definitely take your Geology Courses.
Down on the highway below the Peak is a lava flow that occurred after the highway was cut into the side of the mountain. It is not very wide, and if driving too fast you can miss it. Shows some minor recent activity in the area.
What a view! Neat video, Nick; thank you. The fractured little pillows look like prehistoric organic fossils...really pretty. I can imagine Marli (and all?) finding this spot, and taking photos. 👍🌿❤🌱
Wow, basalt pillows, never heard of such things and quite amazing the radiating columns inside them, I would have thought they had hollow cores or an object more like a concretion. I kept glimpsing something that could have been iron concretion or meteorite where you were closely looking at the broken pillows, it was certainly out of place from the basalt. What an amazing location yet again and the view from up high always impresses me.
If you find yourself near wilsonville Oregon there is the summit apartments that has an small hillside with old volcanic tuff in it. It tumbles out in small to softball sized pieces. Might be up any geologist’s alley. Or rock hounds.
So when you mention it as the result of underwater vulcanism, I am playing back many instances of films of underwater volcanoes I have watched in the past, and the "snake" pyrotechnic devices oregon children play with on 4th of July as an alternative to the proscribed firecrackers. A disk that when lit, produces coils of ash as part of the chemistry of burning whatever the compound is that the snake is made out of. Interesting to see what it looks like after it cools (and millions of years of existence). I have been to the top of Mary's Peak - even landed a helicopter there - but did not know of this geologic detail.
Thank you Nick for reveling Mary's Peak and other areas in Oregon and Washington as Siletzia accretion. Looks like your doing your homework for Baja/BC series this fall! Judkins Point East Eugene, Skinner Butte downtown Eugene I believe are Basalt formations. Spencer Butte South Eugene a forearc volcano? I sent pics of I-5 Siskiyou Pass to your Facebook page awhile ago. Klamath Basin uplift?? More Baja/ BC story?? I'm from Eugene Oregon. I am a truck driver. Up and down I-5, US 97 central Oregon now these days. I appreciated your visit to Obsidian Crater of n Newberry Crater last year! Keep up the great work Nick! And your tribute to Nat King Cole, for Liz too! 👍🪨🍩☕
Love the NICK on Oregon Rocks! Stunning absolutely stunning! This pillow basalt! That’s Moss & lichen on it…every where here in Oregon. I am a Spokane olde time girl in Coos Bay. O my look at that view from Mary’s Peak! Thank you Nick!
Love your flood talks, lived in hope Idaho in the 80s, always saw the roadside info board, never could fathom it, then drove back home to oregon a few times and it dawned on me. Willamette valley owes eastern WA some gratitude for all the great soil. The grass seed area of Salem foothills is hundreds of ft thick of this soil. Butted up against silver falls incredible activity which is a whole other story. I live in Roseburg, s. Of Eugene where pillow basalt 8s essentially all there is on the s. Umpqua in the middle of 3 zones, west is Callahan ridge, a huge Silesia plug. Roseburg , the floor, oak savanna , then east going up north. Umpqua is multiple zones. I'm a mere enthusiast but if u ever need a guide/driver , soo much area that is off the radar. Buy u are correct, most of the basalt is unremarkable. The coast & central oregon very remarkable for rock hounds , I just love all the different processes
Thanks. Even having grown up in Eugene I know Mary's peak on as a silhouette on the horizon as seen fro I-5. The radial fractures in the pillows are impressive. Given the rapid cooling of being extruded into ocean water the small crystal size makes sense to me.
Hello, Nick, You're in my stomping grounds. I wanted to tell you there is some exposed columnal basalt ( I believe ) you can spot to the left of highway 126 just after crossing the Willamette River just before you get into downtown Eugene. There is what appears to be a small quarry there, have never tried to find the way there, unfortunately. It would be easy to find, should only be a few blocks after highway ends into surface streets. Located @ the West end at the base of Skinner Butte, if you're interested. Skinner Butte Park also has fantastic views of the city of Eugene. You can actually see the flat spot on the West side of the butte looking at Google Maps. Wish I could shake your hand and thank you in person for all the wonderful hours of entertainment and learning. From one of your biggest fans ( I'm a total Zentnerd :) Enjoy your family time, Sir!!
Such nice structures! You find some more cenozoic pillow basalts as peperite (mixture of pillow basalts and oceanic sediments) on the Scheibenberg in the ore mountains/ Saxony/ Germany. On the coast of Fuerteventura the peperite ist to find north of Ajuy with strong color contrasts.
QUICK UPDATE to my previous comment; I zoomed in farther on Google Maps on Skinner Butte Park and that area I have only seen from highway 126 on my way to work is called " The Columns " I'm curious what basalt flow this came from ( as are others in this area, I'm sure ).The road runs right at the base of this area.
As someone who is "aware" of geology I learned a lot, 1) good hike for the sake of hiking, 2) Siletzia and its history 3) checking basalt for "crystals" and even though I live on the other coast, all actionable items. I believe Bermuda is a hot spot with pillow basalt although people think of it as some sort of coral reef. Anyway, 15 minutes of internet wandering and learned a few things, thanks.
I'm always fascinated by the way flood basalts cool and crack into columns. In these pillow basalts it's obvious that they also cool and crack, with what I will call "rays" from the center of the pillow.
Thanks for doing this Nick, what a great gift this is to the community. This camera work was much better, and I hate to be critical since you're doing so much already but I hope it's helpful, you still could slow down on the camera work, spend about twice as long on each spot as you did here and it would be perfect. If I lived out there I'd volunteer to work on it with you 8)
"My" RU-vid algorithm is feeding me geology videos and because I have watched Nick's (Dr. Z's) classroom videos I am fed this one just a day after it was uploaded. This stuff is fascinating and if I had a chance to do it all again, and had a prof like Nick, I would have certainly been a geologist. One downside is that I tend to collect stuff and my house, basement, and garden would be full of rocks and minerals.
I’m heading to Vancouver Island next month to find some Siletzia pillow lava. Apparently on the southern tip of the island. I imagine it will look a lot like this.
Just a note: Just read a magazine article entitled " Washington's Olympic Mountains; Hiking a Seafloor above the Clouds " From EARTH MAGAZINE... Vol 3, No. 3 *** 1994 ****. Not much geology in the article...however...no mention of Siletzia. A simple trail travel log that is a beautiful tour/hike.
