CWU's Nick Zentner presents 'Supercontinents and the Pacific Northwest' - the 24th talk in his ongoing Downtown Geology Lecture Series. Recorded at Morgan Auditorium on April 3, 2019 in Ellensburg, Washington, USA. www.nickzentner.com
Not just a master class on geology, but a master class on lecturing, presentations, handling visuals and an audience. Nick, you need to do a lecture on how to lecture.
I had a math teacher in high school that brought this kind of dynamic enthusiasm. She was buck-toothed, Southern accent, winged glasses, skinny but with a pot-belly. Passion for your subject is contagious!
@@Sushi33312 you’re wrong it was a Lead Belly! You weren’t at the eulogy so don’t try to argue with people when you weren’t there and you don’t know what happened that day! We came out to watch him play and we watched him run away! So don’t be Jell-O about it! So selfish that you don’t understand what a cover song is It’s three little pigs time! My way or the highway Chris Cornell You’re just a jealous little fan that doesn’t like your sweet Maynard James Keenan didn’t write that music 😂😂😂😂
Yet another GREAT Nick Zentner presentation! I'm an amateur geology, volcanology, and seismology buff. I've been studying up on this over the years, but every time I've watched one of your presentations, Nick, I have learned something new. For example I knew that part of the Pacific Northwest is rotating, but your presentations really helped me to understand and to visualize the process. Until I watched this presentation, I never knew that Australia (or at least part of it) was once attached to the Pacific Northwest.. I find the supercontinent cycle fascinating--it certainly explains why Australia was formerly attached to North America--or vice versa, depending upon one's'point of view. What I like most about your presentations is that you make geological concepts and facts easy to understand. After watching your presentations, I have a a much clearer view of Pacific Northwest geology. I also like that you make learning fun. I believe that if learning something is fun, people will retain what they've learned better than if learning is boring. Please keep up the good work!
I know you made this comment a few years ago, but I just recently discovered Nick’s videos. I’m starting to become an amateur geology buff - I’m kind of a beginner though! I find his content so fascinating! I have a notebook and watch his Geology 101 classes as if I’m really attending them and take notes. I’ve even printed out some of the Yellow Book pages. I’m enjoying it! And all this because I clicked on the how the Rocky Mountains formed video since we’re traveling out that way this June!
@@jodiuhron1979 It's beautiful and geologically interesting for sure, It's my understanding that there were 27 volcanoes in the Colorado section of the Rockies erupting at the same time in the distant past, as per John McPhee There is a volcano called Dotsero that last erupted about 4200 years ago, thus considered active. It's near the town of Dotsero, CO. Have a happy and safe trip!
I'm no academic either and l also enjoy his lectures. I am an avid Rockhound. These lectures are how I can stand waiting for the weekend so I can go out again. This man is great! I would love to take him out rock hunting on my property in SW Utah! Lots of cool rocks and fossils everywhere.
I have a great affinity for the belt series. One summer, between college semesters in the late 60's, I worked for Bear Creek Mining. My job was to assist a lady working on her doctorate degree. Her focus was on the Saint Regis formation. I made like a sponge and soaked up as much information as possible. Marked of thousands of feet of section, collected what seemed like tons of samples, took strike and dips and created four large composite maps taking in Idaho and Montana, using many USGS reports. I really enjoyed your presentation and how far the subject had come. I have spent several days watching your presentations. Great job. Keep up the great work.
His method of teaching is very personal, humorous and effective. He also uses a good mix of tools. If all of my professors shared as much enthusiasm for a subject as he shares with us, I might have given the Valedictorian speech during graduation.
The view count here on these 14 lectures speaks volumes. With a bit of manipulation this momentum could be used to create something really special for CWU. I wouldn't have recognized CWU a month ago, but I've mentioned these lectures to several people and I'm half a country away. Many comments here are from others even further abroad. If this public outreach program was expanded, along with an expanded academic program there is a lot of room to grow IMO. Nick is a gem.
Nick Zentner, we are both from Madison Wisconsin! Although back in June of 1986, I had just been through basic training and A.I.T. with the U.S. Army and was sent to live in South Korea for a year! I love the energy you bring to every one of your lectures! (In my opinion) You're the best Geology professor on RU-vid! Thanks for all of your uploads!
At age 67 I still feel a day where I don't learn anything new is a waste of time. As soon as I spot one of your talks online, I know it will be a very good day indeed. Greetings from the former coastal town of Spokane. :-)
Watching with great interest in Wichita Ks. Former shallow sea with a west coast beach in Denver Co. Everything in geology is on such a grand scale it is hard to wrap your head around it all. I took two semesters of geology in the 80’s and Pangea was about as much as we understood. So much knowledge has been accumulated since then. I never want to stop learning. Thank you Nick and CWU.
Wow Nick! If I wasn't already retired and on my last legs, I'd move to CWU for your courses and field work. You and other lecturers, John Cook (CA geoL) and Andrew Kindon (Anthro), at CA's West Valley College have given great gifts of knowledge. Others have too, of course, but you two (or three or so) bring so much joy to learning - - I have to say WOW!
This man's lectures are literally enthralling. Who would ever have thought a geology lecture could be so interesting , dynamic and entertaining. Thank you Nick !
I've watched 3-4 of these lectures and even as a layman, this info is mind blowing and think that it has opened up a whole new different science to myself and I have no words for the appreciation, thank you...
I watched an arial. View of the Grand Canyon. I am looking at all the layers washed away by floods and flow. I can now see the layers and understand the meaning of the lines and different layer materials thanks to these CWU geology lectures. Thank you. My view is expanded in these last few weeks.
G'day from Australia Nick, I've watched all of your lectures on youtube and I must say you are very engaging to watch, Thanks for the many hours of great content Regards
A big HI from Washington State! He's a great teacher, isn't he? You have a fascinating continent and I love watching anything about Australia--the geology, the history, and the people. I've always regretted not being able to visit your wonderful country.
Love these lectures! I noticed the audience seems compromised of mostly older folks! Tho nice to see such intrest from them, it seems a shame there is so little intrest from High School students or college folk.
I love this guy. I haven't seen any new lectures lately and was fearing he wasn't gonna do any more. But here he is and I am loving what he does and is talking about!
You're great, Nick. My dad was a geologist and I traveled though this area with him when I was 10-11 back in the early 1970's. We were Australians living in Canada. I didn't understand so well, or listen so carefully, you might understand - my dad just went nuts in BC, Washington and Oregon. Thanks for helping me reconnect with the old man. I so much better understand his enthusiasm. Most of Australia is millions of years old, weathered like an old sailor and therefore a bit harder to be certain about some things. Correct me in a lecture if I'm wrong there!
Truly an excellent presentation. Thanks for compiling. Funny how one "discovers" geology in such surroundings as Glacier National Park, or in my case, Big Bend National Park of Texas. I'm a few years Nick's senior but that sense of wonder and intellectual curiosity of the science gave me a great career from which I am now retired... but, still of sufficient scientific interest to enjoy this presentation with a few "pauses" and rewinds to consider it all. Bravo!
Oh Nick, when you teased us about 'Continent X' I was thinking its gotta be Africa...When you said 'Australia', it absolutely blew my mind! I'd been eagerly anticipating your next lecture and when I logged on tonight and your lecture link was there, my geological drug had returned! You certainly didn't disappoint!
Another superb lecture, sir! (and a brilliantly played "kill the cell phone ringers" reference woven into the lecture as though it was pre-written) In the past year I've had a look at some of Scotese's work on RU-vid; very compelling and yes, hard to get my arms around -- the length of time involved and the dances of the continents over all that time. Hard to fathom. I must say, there are worse futures to ponder than the Cascades becoming another Sierra Nevada; because I have yet to see another area of the world as beautiful and chock-full of geology, geography, volcanism, paleo volcanism, climate, rich history, flora and fauna as I've found in the Eastern Sierra. The Sierra is what turned me on to geology, which turned me on to you and your lectures. Great stuff, Nick, thank you.
As a gold prospector with strong pattern recognition ability I can agree that much of the gold deposition in Australia is a match for the Washington cascades. Based on what I have seen shared by other prospectors. I have also read old reports that suggest there are also matches in the coastal range. while that may not quite jive with the current theory the deposits match.
I love Nick's lecture series. My only complaint is there are not enough of them. I'm talking the one hour chalkboard/video lectures. Moreover, I'd love this same layout for other parts of North America and eventually the world. I wish someone with deep pockets could coerce Nick to leave the classroom and take it on to the tune of one or two per month. Maybe someone like Nova, Nat Geo, or Discovery. I'd love to see one on Florida, the Appalachians, the Mississippi valley, the Great Basin, the East Coast, etc. I just don't know if Nick has the bandwidth or desire even if the money were right. I'm sure that given the time and energy I could research these topics, but I don't have enough of either and really love the way Nick presents things. Oh well, just my 2 cents.
Very interesting series of lectures. Growing up in the Yakima Valley in the (19, of course) 40s and 50s, I was not interested in geology, but now I find it fascinating - especially the geology of Washington State. I had moved to Northern California before 1980, so I missed that event.
Nick, YES, I'M BLOWNAWAY!!!! This is the best ever of your presentations, and they are all way way above average*** (***nod to Garrison K. Prairie Home Companion) Powerfully relate-able, the way you teach. Thank you sir for your enthusiasm and sparkle. You do it well. I'm a Wisconsin boomer, living 30 min. from Madison. Mt. Vernon
32 years since I last studied geology at school and I've finally got my Geology mojo back. Always had an interest in Geology, but this guy really brings it to life. I wish he was my teacher back then. Sorry Mr Finn....
Greetings from Down Under - or more specifically the SE corner of New South Wales, Australia :-) Yet another outstanding lecture from the inimitable Professor Nick Z. I've enjoyed all the previous lectures, and looking forward to many more.
Loooong post warning. Great addition to the series, Nick. My mother, bless her soul, was a rock hound and geology hobbyist, from my earliest memories. I grew up in the Madison/Gallatin Valley area of southwest Montana, and I remember once when I was abt 4 yrs old,our family took a day trip up Shell Creek Canyon on the upper Madison. I do know we came out with buckets of fossil shells (how the creek got its name TBH), but my personal memories of the trip was crawling up the creek on my hands and knees, the sun glinting off the bright thin layer of water flowing over the bedrock. Years later, in junior high in Bozeman, I decided my science fair project would revolve around those fossil shells. My initial adviser for that project was a geology prof at Montana State in Bozeman, whose name I knew at the time, because my older bro had taken a couple of classes from him (I've forgotten h is name now, but we're talking early to mid-60s). Blew his mind. He kept insisting they'd come from the Musselshell out on the plains, and I said, no, it was the Madison. So he got out a USGS map of the area and I showed him the creek on that map. According to my older bro, Dr. Whatshisname later not only went up Shell creek on his own, but took several student field trips up there. He apparently had no idea there was such a feature that close to the university campus. However, if he'd ever looked over the geology of the Madison Valley itself, with its multiple benches, he'd have gotten a clue....... On the subject of Australia, now I have a link to the opals in southern Idaho that my late Aunt Silvia's hubby Chuck (they lived in Pocatello) took us to back in the early 90s. (we also saw tracks of Puma Concolor, but the opals are what we went there for). It was some creek can't remember the name of south of Arco, Idaho, but maybe some of your old colleagues at ISU might know.
I wish I could of been there to see this lecture. I revel in learning about geology and love how you're able to tie in WA history into everything you teach. It's great to see how many people, from locals to those far away, are fascinated with geology. The way you present information is what makes it so fun to learn about how the Earth was made to what it is today. Nick is so relatable in his enthusiasm for geology that it transfers to me and I want to learn more. I love it!
I always come back to these lectures. Nick is one of my favorite people in the world. They should clone him and make him teach everything. I really think the world would be a better place.
Mind Blown! Continental drift was still a controversial theory (and evolution) at my rural high school in the late 70's. I went on to get a Geology degree from Oregon State. I am more of a rockhound than a rock professional now, and, I really appreciate Nick's efforts to keep me up to date on the latest big-picture theories about the PNW. Thanks! I do have a question: If the pacific rise gets pushed under the western USA, wouldn't that lead to basalt lavas trying to rise from the depths?
THANK YOU, Nick, for posting these lectures! I stumbled across them & was immediately hooked. I am 72 & living in Missouri now, but I grew up (my teens, 20's & 30's) combing the Mojave desert mountains for rocks. Too old for that now, but your lectures brought back a lot of great memories of dragging trunk loads of rocks home from everywhere. I'm not near finished watching. THANKS again!!
I'm new to your wonderful lectures, enjoyed this very much. Would love to see something about geological evolution over the next 500 million years. Again, thanks so much!
I have to tell you all that I am the penultimate Professor judger! I got OCD checking out instructors and professors to choose my classes. When I found myself being lectured by a lame professor...I questioned and made visits to his office to discuss. These lame instructors were then motivated to redo their entire curriculum, synopses...I was PAYING the money he was paying his bills with! My job. I have never expected to be FED knowledge. I would not care what Nick Zentner was teaching, I would fight to get into his classes. That is how good he is from someone who put herself through EIGHT years of college all by her little self. I had no idea that kids EXPECTED mom and dad to BUY their education, a car, an apartment a home...none. I thought when we turned 18 we were on our own and parents should have prepared us kids to be able to be on our own at 18 years of age! And these kids are milking their parents who think that is what they should be doing, out of guilt? I was lucky to expect being on my own. Worked out for me. Just saying that Nick is worth GOLD for anyone that lives in Central Washington...or near Ellensburg!
You know what’s sad? I visited Glacier National Park in 2007 and 2009. The sum total of the geology information in the visitor centers at that time was basically ‘glaciers carved what you see’ and not much else. I learned more about the geology of the park from the short time Nick spent on it in this lecture than I did from anything presented to me when I was actually there.
This is a great video! Very engaging and explained in a way I understand having just started studying Washington’s geology. Going to watch “last years video” tomorrow.
I've learned so much from you in just a few days.! I've shared these videos and hope they inspire others to watch them all... You're a wonderful teacher... I might even say THE BEST... Thank-you!!
I did my Masters and PhD at Washington State in the mid 1980s trying to track the original cratonic margin in western Idaho and SE Washington under the flood basalt. I am very much enjoying your lecture series and hope you keep it up.
Nick thank you my son and me have Learned So much from you. I think he now knows more than his teacher now. And at 13 you made this fun and easy for him to understand! Thank you!
There are spots near Bisbee, AZ where you can see the old fossils from the seabed on the sides of cliffs. Living in Arizona as a kid made me fascinated with geology. Learning about the Caldera that was part of Arizona set me on the path of seismology and volcanology. Staring at the sky at night in Tucson made me fascinated with astronomy and astrophysics (it helped that the Shoemaker-Levy comets hit Jupiter and were tracked from the UofA in Tucson; it’s almost impossible not to catch the space sciences and geology bugs when you grow up in that area, not that I’m complaining).
Yessss! Thinking there won't be a lecture until the end of April, and being a resident of the Spokane area, I'm pleasantly surprised! Thank you Mr. Zentner!
Been thinking of the story line of "Seattle Superstorm" starring Randy Quaid as Dr. Nick Zentner ... (standard movie storyline) Nick notices numerous anomalies in sea temps, earthquake and tremor events running around trying to wake up experts and the public to his theories and measurements, he's laugh'd off until ... huge low pressure cell enters the area in the early evening due to global warming delivering a wallop of a rain and wind event knocking out the power in the greater Seattle area, a little before midnight tremors begin on Mount Rainier, offshore there also tremors ... while the scientist and geologists lead by team leader Dr. Zentner search for possible solutions to stop these events , suddenly Mt Rainier explodes , a 8.7 earthquake occurs offshore, ash mixing with rain creating cement tombs.... the horror, the terror, the action, but in the end a new day. The team predicts a 150 ft. tsunami entering the Strait of Juan de Fuca ... from there the special effect boys can take over. Possible solutions to stop the wave and cap Rainier could be the use of nuclear weapons from the Bangor Trident base, to bring the weather under control something from the HAARP people. Fast forward to close of the movie would have Dr. Nick Zentner 30 years later giving a lecture on "The Great Seattle Superstorm"
Nick's truely a genius - or at least has a photographic memory - probably both. He's not using notes, he's talking pretty much off the cuff, yet he didn't know about these supercontinents 10 days before the lecture. Amazing lecture-and lecturer.
@@SeanHummer, gracefully. But she tested him again when, later in the lecture as we were discussing the uplift of the Himalaya, she asked, "What's the point of climbing Everest if it's only getting higher?"
Nick, thank you for the incredible lectures presented here on RU-vid. I think I've watched them all, and now have a question. Since I'm from NW Arkansas, and grew up with the constant threat of the New Madrid fault and the horrific damage that it will do. What's the explanation behind this? What with the North American plate boundary not in that immediate area, what gives?
I recently started watching your lectures and i have learned so much about the NW. So much that the wife and I are driving to the NW and spending time looking at the beauty you have taught me! Thanks! I only wish i could find someone to do these type of things in the SE where i live.
I've wondered about your maintenance costs Andy and realised that being a forth generation dairy farming family with a full vertical integrated business you've worked out a successful estimating/budgeting system that takes care of regular equipment maintenance as well as unplanned repairs. Goodonya mate.👍👍👍👍👍
I remember reading about the other 2 theories. I sure don’t remember much about it, so I’m really interested in this presentation. He’s really a great lecturer. I’m listening and excited to hear and learn things all the time 😁
This one was cool. Over here in the appalachians, there's several different ranges that developed at different times. I live on a basalt ridge that was formed during rifting. but there are different parts of the ridge that formed at different times. Different rifting events, different basalt layers that have different ages, all right along a narrow region of central connecticut and massachussets.
Why is it only college teachers that bring this kind of enthusiasm and excitement to the class? When I was in high school, the teachers looked dead inside and would talk in near monotone.
It would seem that most of this is too old to have included Zealandia. Nor does it appear on any of the animations. Would be interesting though if there were any Zircon bearing sand from Zealandia to be studied and compared to the Belt sands. Great lecture!...
I've only watched a couple of these videos, but have thoroughly enjoyed them. I attended college from 1973 until 1978 when I graduated with a BS degree. During that time I was a lab assistant/student aid to the earth science professor who taught Astronomy and Meteorology, but I knew all the professors in the department and took a number of geology courses, as the geology professors encouraged me to sign up for their courses. I took a graduate course (mainly intended for teachers) and the subject was plate tectonics, which is common ordinary stuff nowdays, but back in 1977, it was "what in the world is plate tectonics?", as it was a relatively new theory at the time. The presentation of your subject matter is excellent and you do a good job of keeping the audience's attention (mine at least). I hope to work my way through more of these videos as time permits. Thanks.
Been waiting with bated breath for this! One thing I don't understand, though - what happened to the tectonic plates during these periods when we had supercontinents in place? Did they stop moving? I thought plate tectonics was an on-going thing, and everything kept moving...
