Trucks, Trains, Terns & Tractors; An Ordinary Rock & Its Amazing Value 

Viewer stevenstart8728 has made me aware of the the Great Artesian Basin of Australia which has a much larger aquifer than the Ogallala! One of the benefits of doing these videos is learning from my viewers. Thank you, Steven.

There is gold here. The gold is the guy with the hat and the whiteboard 😊. These videos absolutely sparkle. Thanks Myron!

It’s not a complete episode without the famous whiteboard! Thank you Myron.

Myron is a great story teller and shower - and fisherman. He brings in all separate and seemingly disparate items all together, puts the bait on the hook, throws it out, and then hooks and reels in the viewer to the reality of what is the amazing geology of the Wyoming, Rockies, and western Midwest areas.

Well, Dr. Cook, we're pleased you're kind enough to be with us.

Granite is the "forever stone" for a reason. We use it to build! We don't need it for the gold. It's amazing for itself. IMHO. Our continental crusts have granite, so we're not sunk! And it holds my favorite mineral: Quartz! (Please talk about quartz. Everyone says it's boring but it isn't! I promise!)

Again Myron, for someone used to seeing about ten miles max from the ground here in England ( and most of it covered in plants) it's absolutely amazing to view your magnificent country and even more amazing how far little bits of the Rockies will travel left to their own devices for a few million years.

Great video, the first time I drove into the Majove desert from Baker, I stopped and stared for an hour at the black tops of mountains poking out of the ancient alluvial deposits. My first geology trip to the USA, and I have to say a sight which bettered the Grand Canyon, I like to be different. Thanks for a great trip down geology memory lane.

That is an awesome story you have told! You know how to get people's interest and open their minds and eyes to what is out there. The story is much grander than any one of us know, or will ever know. Thanks! 🙂

I am from far west Nebraska and have been watching your videos for a while now. I was hoping you were going to do something here. There are so many wonderful geological things to see around western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming. I would love to show you some interesting things around here some day!

Myron, you make my day every time you put up a new video! Thank you so much! I wish i had been fortunate enough to have a grandfather or uncle like you when I was a kid.

Another wonderful and informative video. Thank you Byron, for sharing your knowledge and helping us take a geological journey.

Thanks for appreciating the subtle beauty and amazing landscape of the Plains. I learned more about my home state of Nebraska than I could have imagined. So many people shoot through on Interstate 80, and all they remember is that it was flat and boring. The state has a quiet beauty, and its soil and water resources must be protected.

Oh why could I not have heard this lecture when I lived in Laramie? My grandfather was born in a sod house in the sand hills. I always wondered why they were so named. As always, I am deeply grateful for your imparted knowledge. Very well done.

Back in the 70s, when I first started college at Colorado School of Mines. We took field trips nearby, and similar units of clasts are present at the surface there. The older (deeper) you looked, the bigger the clasts. For me it was an exciting discovery - the bigger chunks came from the earlier uplifts. Gradually the chunks get smaller until they’re essentially sands. I love geology even though I ultimately chose electrical engineering as a career. Thanks for this delightful video!

I have always been fascinated by geology and have learned so much more watching your videos out in the field, much more than in any classroom, especially the landslide video. Now, when I'm out and about, I can't help but see the landscape from a different perspective. Thank you for making learning fun.

Hello Myron , watching your video has took me back to my childhood. Around the early 1960’s my Mom and I would travel by train, from Penn Station in NYC to Union Station in CA. What and amazing way to see our beautiful Country. We would take the first leg from NYC to Chicago. Then we would switch over to the Santa Fe line, which had sleeper cars and glass domed cars. We played a lot card games, but I was around 6 years old and well being a kid who was used to running around and playing. So I would usually meet other kids and we would play hide and seek. Of course we would never damage anything or be rude when as asked by a Pullman attendant. They were mostly men back then and I was always taught to respect elders or grown ups. They realized that we were just kids who were not damaging anything, we were just play tag or hide and seek. The diner cars were wonderful. We would have several stops, maybe they were electric diesel engines, not sure, my first trip of the 3 journeys Xcountry was a 3 day fun ride. Stopping off at Flagstaff AZ. Another was Albuquerque NM. I should really check the full route and stops of the Santa Fe line, from Chicago to California. When I was in Southern California me and my cousins were always out riding our bicycles, but my Aunt and Uncle loved to explore. So we would all pile in one of those old wood side station wagons. But sometimes it was just my cousins and my Uncle going out to the Mojave Desert or sometimes family trips to see Mona Lake at the top of the High Sierras, trips to Mexico were fun seeing Bullfights, yes the bull was professionally butchered and sold to the local people. I never hunted for sport, learn to skin and tan rabbits, we all need to respect our animals and Nature, otherwise there will be nothing for our generations ahead !!! Thanks Myron for bringing new information and childhood memories 🙂

The more of your videos I watch, the more I enjoy them. Love to learn new things and you explain them very well. Thank you for posting this and look forward to your next one!

I have been rock climbing on these rocks! We lived in Laramie for three years in 1968-1971, and rock climbing was a cheap, and fun activity for my husband and me, while he was in grad school.

I learn so much from each & every one of Your videos. You are a Great Teacher !! 🤔🤠🤓 Can't thank You enough, Myron. 💜

Just another great video Myron! Not only did you bring in the wonderful story that the earth has to tell, but you managed to tie it seamlessly to our lives in the modern era. (My only regret is that I will probably never have the opportunity for fly an airplane over that country.) Thanks much!

I’m a Michigan gal, born and bred, and have always had a fascination for our Great Lakes and the rocks and fossils they’ve produced. We have a lot of granite here in the NW lower peninsula, and a lot of dolomite and limestone on the northern side of Lake Michigan on the eastern side, as well as the ‘top of the mitt’ . The last 10 years, I’ve become enamored with the fossils Lakes Michigan and Huron have produced. It blows my mind, to think that millions (billions?) of years ago, these were salt waters, teaming with ocean life!😂

As I recall we drove north from Kansas and picked up Interstate 80 at Grand Island, Nebraska in the summer of 1967, so the stretch from there, east was open then. Maybe I-80 was opened in Wyoming in 1969. I really appreciate the breadth of knowledge possessed by geologists. I got my degree in chemistry, and the elements of the periodic table were enough to learn. One's having to know all the various minerals that are made up of these elements would be a monumental challenge.

Thank you Myron for another very good presentation with on the spot examples and graphics to give the viewer an easy to understand geology lesson. Please keep the wonderful geology stories coming as I'm learning a lot and now hooked on your videos. Robert

I grew up right in this area, just a few miles from here. So this hits “home” a bit more than usual. Fantastic video as always 👍

Grand Master Myron, thank you very much for this wonderful geology class!! Through US geology, I learn how to analyze the landscapes and formations of my country, Brazil!! Thank you very much and once again congratulations!!!!

Really enjoyed your excellent seminar! Learned a lot! Thank you for your scholarship and great effort!

Thank you so much Dr. Cook. You're a time traveler that brings rocks to life!

Greatly enjoyed this posting. Have driven through this region before and had little knowledge of the water source. Thanks.

As an East coast lady, I can honestly say I’ve never been more interested in Wyoming and Nebraska in my life! Wow! Thank you 😊. You have a new subscriber in me ❤️

Myron, you always amaze me…. Such clarity in your explanations, kindness, positive phrasing. All the while, your pauses give me time to ponder, or absorb the information, before moving on to the next piece of information! Thank you! ☺️

Grew up in the Sandhills of Nebraska. One of my favorite places. The wildlife is amazing. You can go from near desert to wetlands in very short distances. A very unique ecosystem. Thanks for the geology lesson.

Our Father sure planned ahead. Love his Earth and love your videos! Thank you, Myron, for your time and efforts. Great information!

You may want to talk about the impact of Texas laws called "right of capture". Basically, a landowner can pump as much water as they want. There have been some commercial entities looking to take advantage of the laws to do a massive amount of pumping to sell that water to other people or cities So, a lot of people worry about the Ogallala in the Texas area being overcommitted and causing the wells of people to go dry.

Thanks once again, Mr. Cook for an informative and entertaining episode. I always look forward to learning from you!

Thanks for the video discussing the my home area, the Nebraska Panhandle. At 21:00 you start discussing the fluctuations in the Ogallala Aquifer. Along the Platte River, the increases are all due to irrigation. There are several areas that are depleted, some enough that streams no longer run. As you point out, there are areas that the aquifer is rising. I believe this is due to improve recharge with the improving stabilization of the sand hills. Thirty years ago i would talk with old timers at brandings who were born in the roaring twenties. They would all tell two stories. First, that as boys, they would challenge each other as to who could jump from one clump of grass to another.. Tne second is that they could remember the hills "hairing" over., or becoming covered with grass. I can pour water on the bare sand in the corral, which it bead up and run off, not soak in. Bare sand can thirty or more degrees hotter than the air, so evaporation is tremendous. To recharge, it has to be coverd with grass and litter. Turns our that the transpiration rate of plants not producing seed, is generally less than the evaporation rate of an open pan or bare soil. The areas of rising water table are all in areas that have benefitted from improving range management.

Thank you for this video, Myron - you put together a continental puzzle that's been millions of years in the making, while you're taking a walk. Makes clear to me why geology is worth learning more about, so I've subscribed just now.

This explained a ton of things - I remember going south into central NE (the North/East) side of the sandhills and almost every year the ditches were full of water, even though they had no winter precipitation of note, and it killed almost all of the cotton wood tree groves, circa 2000 give/take (and those were old groves/trees!). That water was clear too, perfection.

Very interesting information. Your videos offer a picture of our beautiful country... Thanks!

Thoroughly enjoyed this video Myron my dude. I wish every day could start with a new video from you. Thank you!😊

Dr. Cook, thank you so much for the incredible lectures and teachings while on location. Each one is so fascinating and interesting - the amount of time devoted to each episode must be immense and I think all of us appreciate all you're doing. Wish you all the best... and safe travels! Keep rock'n brother!

Thanks Myron, enlightened as always . The pinkish outcropping you were standing near looked very similar to ones in The Lone Ranger . Yes cemosaby. High o silver and away. Not meaning to diminish your wonderful lesson. Thank you for the hard work and dedication to your viewers. It is greatly appreciated. And I'm sure it's earnings are far below your worth.

I have traveled across much of the area discussed many times by both car and airplane. Thank you for the knowledge sharing of formation, composition, and history. Greatly appreciated.

I’ve gotta say, these are my favorite videos and channel on RU-vid. Love your passion and love for geology sir! Thank you!

Myron, thanks for the great videos. My wife and I drove between Ogalalla and Scottsbluff a few years ago. What a wonderful drive especially Chimney Rock. What a momentous drive through history. Thank You

As always, great information and the backgrounds in yours videos are so beautiful, just in awe of them.

Thank you, Dr. Cook, for another beautiful video about our Earth. I really want to go to visit that whole area of southeastern Wyoming and neighboring Nebraska. I am fascinated by the geology. Those stable dunes look like the result of an enormous flood as the drone footage indicated from high above. Sometimes things happen in an instant to change the face of the planet. God bless!

Myron, you are the man. Keep these video's coming. I love the way you teach this subject.

I traveled up and down the High Plains, Great Plains, and Rockies for many years during the course of my work and been to the areas in your video. Surprised the wind wasn't blowing more, lol. Thanks for another great lesson!

Oh that Ogallala. It's the bane of our western Kansas Bridge design existence. Trying to guess where bridge pile foundations stop in the randomly cemented units can be a challenge sometimes. There are lots of Sandy silts and clays in part of it here. It has this unique pale salmon color, which helps distinguish it from recent alluvial sediments.

Very enjoyable! I learn something new with every video. ❤❤

Nice show,,,,thanks for clearing some perceptions ..

Thank you Myron. This is the first video of yours that I've seen and I definitely learned something. I live in the Puget Sound area and never really thought of Nebraska as a destination, but now I'd like to visit the Sand Hills and other places you highlighted. It's easy to get interested in geology that's a result of spectacular processes like the floods from Lake Missoula, volcanoes and the like, but slower processes like the formation of these deposits are also important to understand. I'm glad that you pointed out how the Ogallala aquifer is being depleted. Thanks again.

Amazing work here. Thank you for your contribution.

Myron your videos have gone from good to amazing. I have allays wondered about the Ogallala Aquifer and had no Idea that the Gang Plank was tied into it. These two features have had so much influence on my youth. Sooo interesting.

Myron, another great episode/lesson. I learned about the Ogallala aquifer in Geology 101 when I was a freshman at UNL but now I have a much better understanding of the system than I ever had before! Thank you!

Thanks for your time and great information

Like all of your videos, I really enjoyed and learned. Thanks!!

Thank you, Myron. My ancestors homesteaded in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Many are still there. My branch moved on to Washington and Oregon in the second half of the 1870s during a hard drought. My grandfather grew up in Nebraska and died in Yakima, Washington. Thanks for sharing the Ogallala geology. I have driven through there and wondered at the birds but had no idea of the geology. It's amazing.

Hanging on every word... again! Thank you Dr. Cook.

What a wonderful show. THANK YOU!

@MyronCook Thank you for a most interesting episode. Great content, I learned so much. I had no idea there was such a large aquifer beneath eight states! I RoccoMend you and your channel.

Beautiful quality video and sound! Geological content is enhanced by the production team.. one of the best geo channels on YT. Thank you.

Myron is the kind of teacher that is priceless, if I had a class with him, I might well have become a geologist! Making science interesting.

I am learning more every time I catch one of your Videos! thank you Mr. Cook...I ❤Rocks just can't seem to ever put them down, I carry them with me 🤷‍♂.

This is so fascinating and you explain it so well thank you! We absolutely love your videos and information!!

Amazing intricacies of nature! Thanks for sharing!

I just found Myron's channel and have been VERY impressed. This episode is fascinating as it goes a long ways explaining the part of the country where my relatives have lived (and still live). The information about the formation of the Ogallala aquifer was particularly interesting. I'm a new long term fan!

I certainly did enjoy this video. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of the area.

Great video as usual. A good portion of it was in my old stomping grounds. I used to live in Laramie when I was at Wyotech. We used to explore the areas to the east and west quite often. There is a lot of interesting stuff (not just geologic in nature) near Vedauwoo.

Blown away by your knowledge and joy in sharing it. Thanks Myron.

You bring this into perspective for me. Thank you !

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I really enjoyed listening.

Always a pleasure Mr. Cook. Thank you for an awesome video and lesson

Enjoyed YES! very enlightening thank you. good job stay safe ALL

I love your work! THANK YOU!!!

The way you used the drone to go backward and show the whole area was one of the best examples of showing people what you’re talking about that I’ve ever seen. Beautifully done Myron

Myron, I am always smarter after one of you videos, I only wish that when I was doing my undergraduate studies in Earth Sciences my professors had used more “ real world” examples of our geological landscapes and how they impact our daily lives, like you do! Thank you so very much for bringing me back into my passion of geology; I’m 73 years old by the way.

Another day and another thing learned. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Thanks for the context on the Ogallala I've known about it but not the details related to how it formed, fascinating how lose porous sedimentary rock from the mountains helps build a large aquifer I imagine something similar must be in the process of forming near the Himalayas and the Andes as the two highest active ranges around.

Thank you Myron for this wonderful look at this part of the country. I have always wondered about what created the sandhills, and how they were created. You have not only answered that question, but also explained a bit more about the aquafer from which we get our water. I'd have never have guessed this came all the way from Wyoming, and into Laramie. Regarding Ogallala, Nebraska, and N.H.Darton, You're kind of right, but there's a little more to it. The name of the tribe in question is Oglala, not Ogallala. People coming west wanted to know the name of the tribe. The tribe pulled a bit of a prank on them and told them it was Ogallala instead of Oglala. Ogallala means something a little different which isn't really suitable for a family channel like this. In this Lakota dialect, Og-la-la means "scattered people". O-gal-la-la is still talking about scattering, but the "gal" means something entirely different. Don't tell people from the Oglala tribe that their tribe name is "Ogallala" or they will be very upset. Rocks are a story. A fascinating story which has been written over millions of years. It is just a pleasure to hear and watch you reading this story to us, and teaching us how to read it. Every time I watch your videos, I find myself looking up lots of terms and types of rocks, and learning more. For me, learning is the spice of life. The day I stop learning will be the day I am functionally dead. I have a couple of questions. Is that same Ogallala formation the one which formed Chimney Rock, Courthouse Rock, and Jailhouse Rock in western Nebraska? Also, do the agate fossil beds predate this, or was it laid down after? I don't know which is on top there, since all that is exposed is the agate bearing stratum. The fossilized corkscrew burrows of ancient animals there sure are interesting. One other question I have is, the only exposed rock for many miles around where I live is a bit of Pennsylvanian sandstone. Is that earlier or later than the rock laid down which eventually held the Oglala Aquafer? I know that at one time this whole area was a shallow inland sea inhabited by plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and other shallow water critters of the time. I'm guessing that existed before the Laramie mountains. That probably had nothing to do with Ogallala aquafer or the Sandhills. It was just another interesting part of the stratigraphy. In more recent times (a mere 12 million years ago), Nebraska was buried under ash which spread here from volcanoes as far away as Oregon. The carnage was great and we'd sue, but I think the statute of limitations has run out. At any rate, as a result of all that ash being sent here from Oregon, and even sometimes from Yellowstone in Wyoming, we have a really fascinating site in Eastern Nebraska called "Ashfall Fossil Beds". I guess the state has fossils for bookends. They formed for entirely different reasons though. Ashfall is a site where twelve million years ago there was a pond or lake which drew animals in great numbers. When a volcano further west blew its top, the ash fell over Nebraska, suffocating the animals which were at the pond, and killing them all where they stood. The ash settled on them, and buried them whole. There are rhinoceros, camels, cranes, antelope, equines, and other animals from the time all fully articulated and undisturbed, in entire herds, with babies and even pregnant females. It is the only place I know of where you can see a whole assemblage of animals from a single instant of time in prehistory, not to mention of that age. There are other mass deposits of bones, such as the la Brea Tar Pits, and the assemblage at Dinosaur National Monument, but nowhere are the animals completely articulated and right where they stood when the sky darkened, and the ash killed and buried them. No predation on the dead carcasses occurred because all the animals which predated on the herbivores or scavenged the dead were killed too. Ashfall Fossil Beds are part of the Ash Hollow formation, which is capped by the Long Pine formation, and has directly below it the Valentine formation, a formation which runs almost the entire length of the state. It seems that Nebraska gets dumped on by everybody to the west. If you live here in a time when no one is actively dumping on us, it is possible to make a great living from having been dumped on. The aquafer is a great example of this. If you live here when the dumping is ongoing, things can get rather difficult, as the Ashfall Fossil Beds illustrate. Nebraska may not have Dinosaurs, but we're bookended by Agate Fossil Beds in the north western part of the state, and Ashfall in the northeast. In my youth, when I would go kayaking on the many sandy bottomed rivers in the state, I would often find the teeth of mammoth and mastodon in the river, and the bones of bison eroding out of the banks. Usually they were the bones of the bison we know today, but every now and then you'd come across the giant bone of one of the extinct giant long horned bison which were the common species living here when the Paleo-Indians were first here, hunting with spears tipped with masterfully made fluted points and atlatl. None of the bones I found ever showed any signs of having been butchered, and I'm sure far more bison and other target species died of natural causes than were ever taken down by human hunters. The story goes on, rocks and fossils, and often just rocks, but it is all a fascinating glimpse back into time back before H. Sapiens "mastered" (?) the planet. Sometimes I'm not sure whether we mastered the planet, or we just brutalized it. But that's a whole other story.

Mr , Myron . I had just found your channel . You have a pleasant teaching style and voice . Thank you so much for sharing . I've subscribed and looking forward to your co tent . Have an awesome day and stray safe . All The Best Terry

You did not overdo it this time (your words). Fascinating. Thank you.

This guy's great: comes up with all my thoughts for me! Even when I hadn't thought it & wasn't about to.

Great video, thanks for sharing. Have a great day.

Hi Myron, happy Easter 2024, We just discovered your geology videos a couple weeks ago and are truly enjoying them. I particularly like your relaxed pace of discussion and obvious enthusiasm for the subject. My wife is just enthralled by your channel. When I bring one up its "oh boy it's Dr. Myron, goodie. What's he got this time". Thanks so much for the info. Particular thanks to whomever does your drone photography, spectacular shots. Looking forward to the next ones.

Myron, once again , many thanks. Just appreciate you putting so much effort into your explanations of geology in your area. In the UK we are supposed to have more different rock assortments than any other country in the world. Have to love geology!

Wonderful addit I on to my way of seeing NA. Thank you soo much.

Excellent work, thank you!

Thanke you for sharing and educating. Much appreciated. Merry Christmas and happy new year 🎉

Beautiful and so interesting!! Thank you!!

Myron: as always, your presentation is spectacular.... I always watch with a degree of awe and can't help but feel when viewing the immense time, (almost incomprehensible), what forces deposit that which is absolutely necessary for the support of life. Makes me, at least, believe in "the Grand Design".

An interesting topic and your presentation was spot on. Thank you.

Excellent episode, I still don't miss your videos, thank you for being so generous in sharing knowledge. Greetings from Mendoza, Argentina.🙋‍♀

I can say that I learned something from you today, and thank you for your time. Very interesting.

Thank you for educating your viewers.

An absolute joy to watch and listen. Now the video matches the narration: buttery smooth, and easy on the eye. Thank you, Myron. I can't wait to see what you've got in store for us in 2024.

Tyvm for the education !

I always enjoyed hearing about the geology of of our planet from my father. He was an armature geologist, just enjoying and loving the land! Thank you for this entertaining and amazing informational. You have a very easily understood way of storytelling. Thank you so much! Great job!

Thank you for your passion and instruction style