Unravel a Mysterious Outcrop of Rock with a Geologist. 

One of my very observant viewers noticed that I used the same photo for the two macro shots of sandstone at 2:15 and 3:08. This was an error on my part. I can assure you that the two sandstones are VERY similar when observing with a hand lens. The sandstone in the "tree" is very slightly darker stained on a freshly broken surface. I think it is awesome that I have people paying such close attention!! I'm sure other errors will be found in future videos. Thank you to foolishwatcher.

Living in Montana and formerly working for a gravel crushing company that travelled to remote locations,We've found many petrified forests in the prairies and the petrified wood always felt like glass. Some of these trees were agatized, and some looked like "living" wood! Great video,btw!

Production values continue to impress, Myron, but it's the tone of these videos that's most impressive. You are not speaking down to your audience....a rarity. Great job.

The fact that these aren't actually petrified trees is so much more unbelievably fascinating to me than if they actually were. All the things/unbelievable amounts of time that had to happen to make it look like that.. what an absolute wild phenomenon.. geography is so amazingly fascinating..

In my youth I lived near the Petrified Forest in Northern Arizona. While I am not a Geologist, I could tell at a glance these objects did not form the same way as the objects in the Petrified Forest of Northern Arizona. The objects in the video were long and round which, at a distance, looked like a tree trunk, but not so much when up close. In Arizona, the objects look like trees near and far. We could pick up a piece of these stone trees and it "looked" like you had a piece of wood in your hands. From what I remember learning, the downed trees where laying in water and absorbed minerals from the water that filled the cells of the tree. You could even see where large limbs came off the trunk. But then, what do I know, I'm not a Geologist. I do know this was a fantastic video, informative and easily understood by it's audience. Well done, sir, well done.

Myron Cook, the Bob Ross of Geology. Love your work. Always excited to see a new video pop up.

As a geology student, this is priceless. Love seeing the process of drawing conclusions from field observations explained so clearly. Thank you!

Incredible to think that at one time a large river flowed through this region, in a direction and way that's so far different than the present geography would suggest. It's fun to see how dramatically the surface of the earth can change over time, but it must be equally as fun to find these clues in the rock and soil to put together an accurate understanding of what that specific place once looked like millions of years ago.

I'm no archeologist, but I have to say, at first glance, the first thing that came to my mind when he took that drone shot of him walking.. those really look like giant petrified roots. Even the color of the rock from the bottom soil in that axial cut is different.

If you weren't a teacher you sure are now! It was quite enjoyable learning from you. I am looking forward to more of your videos. Thank you

I love seeing those badlands. Wyoming has it all. A fossil record that represents pretty much every time period that contained life. The prettiest Jade in my opinion. Even kimberlite fields. A rock hounds paradise. All of that and a great view of the nights sky. Thank you for the great video and helpful information.

I am 62 now, and I wish I had become a scientist, like a geologist or a biologist. Two very interesting fields of study. However, I became a tradesman instead. Anyway, I really loved this segment. I find the whole idea of something looking like one thing, but being something completely different. Also, in how the outcroppings were made, considering the vast amount of time it took for these to form, it is now easy to understand the process. Geology is fascinating, and I truly believe I would have been very good at it. Because of you and others in the many circles of science, I can still enjoy it all, especially when coming from nice people like you who love to teach others like me. *Thank you for this thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking video!* This is the first video of yours that I have watched, but I am now a subscriber with notifications - I want to see all of your videos! 😊

Having grown up in the bighorn basin area, I'm shocked I've never seen or even heard of these formations. But next time I go home, I am going to find these!! You are amazing! Your explanations were on a level anyone could understand and you were thorough! Thank you! I just can't get enough of your videos. Makes me want to go explore!!

I’m not even currently doing anything relating to geology I find your videos very relaxing, interesting and very easy to follow. Take care stay blessed

Your enthusiasm is contagious! Your video came up on auto-play and I found you so engaging that I forgot what I was doing and watched this whole video. Never knew how interesting geology was. You must be a teacher… thanks for what you do. I will check out your other videos!😊

I absolutely love your passion and enthusiasm about geology. You explained this fantastically and it was intriguing all the way through for someone who has no prior knowledge on any of this!

The bodies in your excellent video are perhaps the largest pseudofossils that one will ever run across. I used to volunteer in my town's tiny museum and I'd identify specimens for guests. One guest brought in a "dinosaur egg" that has been in his family for three generations. It was certainly the right size and shape to be a dinosaur egg and it did have a "shell" that had a small piece missing revealing the rounded insides (like a hard boiled egg). I had to point out that the "egg" was made of granodiorite and was "unlikely to be a fossil and that the egg-shape was due to exfoliation and spheroidal weathering common to granites." The answer was unsatisfying and the guy said that he will continue to believe it to be a dinosaur egg as did his father and grandfather. We parted with broad smiles.

Thanks for that Myron. I recently watched another film on RU-vid about A California Geologist who was also very entertaining. He was discussing why you get a long line of vegetation in remote parts of desert and he said this was where the tectonic plates rise above each other and you get natural springs form all along them. In 1993 I was on a family holiday in the state of California and the family decided to have a ride out. After looking at a place on the map called “Lone Pine” I said “that will do”. About an hour later, we were there. Well, it was what I would call an oasis. Just about a dozen Huge Palm trees in the middle of a Mojave style desert. Myself and my children walked into the middle of this oasis and I looked down at the sand at my feet. I started flicking the sand from side to side with my sandalled foot and the ground under my feet opened up and the more I did this the more it turned into water. After a short time there was a puddle and there appeared the smallest of fish, like what you would call “sticklebacks” in the UK. This incident really freaked me out. It was like I’d witnessed some sort of miracle.. it was alike the phenomenon of it raining frogs. What a wonderful thing Geology is.

Absolutely fascinating material. Your videos are truly gifts. Why Geology isn't a taught more rigorously in schools is beyond me. Who wouldn't benefit from a dose of Geologic time as opposed to ridiculous creation myths which are interpreted literally and defended as real? Ditto a previous commenter in saying I wish I had studied Geology more too. The Geology majors I knew in College were all smart, committed, outdoorsy and incredibly fun people. What a wonderful way to see and interpret our world. Many thanks! Your channel is a gem.

I love the laid back format of these videos. Puts me very in mind of the various documentary-centric channels before they were forced willy nilly to begin catering to shorter attention spans. I'm so happy that we seem to have come full circle and purely educational videos once again have an environment where they can thrive.

As someone who has lived his whole life within 30 miles of saltwater, I find this fascinating. Thank you.

I spent some time in the badlands of Wyoming fighting wildfire in the 90s and fell in love with the area. So remote and wild. I really appreciate your content, you are such a terrific teacher. Thank you for posting. ✌️🇺🇸👍

This is so interesting! I love how you educate me in the process to make this formation. I'm sitting here with a 300 million year old fossile of plants, locked in coal. Fine details and all. It's amazing! Thank you for this video!

Gosh Myron, this was so interesting!! Thank you for explaining it so clearly and simply ....for a rookie like me. Geology and archeology are two of the interests that I visit daily. Bom dias from Portugal ❤

It’s amazing to me how a geologist can look at features like these and work out an origin from so long ago! Thank you for sharing

I love rocks and their adventures so much and it's been a dream of mine to just go hiking with a geologist and ask all my questions and this video fulfills that so well, it felt like going hiking together and solving a mystery. What an absolute delight!!!

RU-vid has been recommending me quack "scientists" and I was afraid when I got recommended your video that this was another. Thank you for not talking about aliens or giants. Thank you so much.

With over 4K comments in the last one year I doubt I will be noticed, but I had to say I absolutely loved every second of your channel and watch videos repeatedly. You are my favourite geologist in the whole world.

Back when I was a kid my Mom took us to a petrified forest I think when we were playing a county fair in the area where we found some petrified wood pieces! One of the advantages of being raised in the carnival business is your Mom takes you around to see the historical sites

Fascinating! Old flood plain channels filled with sand and mud, buried and compressed to tubular stone geological artifacts. Thanks for solving this question and explaining it in great detail 😊👍👍

Just found your site!❤ If only my professor/teachers taught like you!!! You are so descriptive and enthusiastic, makes it such a pleasure to watch your videos. I’m obsessed 🤩

Thanks Myron! I learn new things with every video you make! Please keep making them!

Having seen petrified trees before, I was pretty sure that the formations were something else, because they didn't have the correct pattern on the end. I had no idea what else they could be though, since I had never heard of concretions. Very interesting.

Very good lesson. Geology is how time writes, and it's a fascinating book. I have been a fan since I first looked down and saw a colored rock. 65 years later and I am still learning. The exposed strata of a road cut never fail to draw my attention. My first clue the objects weren't trees was from the flattened shape. My second thought was maybe a lava tube, the color evoked Basalt - until you got to the close-up photos. Geology is a wonderful science that has told us a lot. Who doesn't love a good puzzle?

I always enjoy your videos, Myron. Great detective work. Solving mysteries with science.

I like how you walk through what you’re looking at with the person. Instead of just telling the person what it is so that you can make up each persons own mind.

I was going to say they were big scary prehistoric worms. It was fun watching the detective work. More videos please!

Oh please keep making your videos! We are really enjoying them! We are from Wyoming so this is even more special for us. You teach us like Nick Zentner does, I see he commented which made us both smile that he found you too!

I have always been interested in rocks and geology. You are the best for explaining the formation of different rock bodies. I learn so much every time. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise so clearly. I love it.

Fascinating. I often have wished I could go for a walk with a geologist who could explain to me what I am seeing. Loved this! 🥰💕❤️👍👍

Wow, this brings back memories of studying geology at Mines, Colorado (1998-2001). We went to Wyoming often for field trips, investigating Lewis Shale and the Green River Basin. Great explaination. You've earned a new subscriber, from Malaysia! 🙌👍

Great video! Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed your approach which models an investigative approach to understanding the geological features. I'm hoping you might consider doing a video on actual petrified trees (or castings of them) in the badlands. I was fascinated by giant stumps I saw in Theodore Roosevelt National Park a few years back and would love to learn more about them.

Thank you, these bodies were briefly referenced in a geomorphology course at Glasgow University. Now I understand more clearly the formation process.

Those structures looks melted. It makes me think of a pyrotechnic mud flow. I love this speculation. I see so much intriguing geology as I travel around. Thank you for sharing your adventures.

I appreciate you walking us through the steps of how you developed a hypothesis to explain these features. Geology never ceases to amaze. Thanks for the video!

I started years ago studying geology. And I never cease to be amazed at the things the USA has to be seen. I just took A 4000 mile trip from Missouri to Virginia to Maryland/ Delaware, to Pennsylvania, to New York, to VT & NH. Coming back through Ohio and Indiana. I stopped at outcrops/cuts and picked up samples. It varied so much that I do not have two samples alike. So these videos farther amaze me - thanks!

Great video and very, very informative. Geology and other naturally occurring phenomena are some of my favorite topics, and Wyoming is my home state, so having grown up there, as a kid I've had some of the most incredible finds! For example, I've found endless petrified wood, Indian beads in ant mounds and actual sea shells along the North Platte river even hundreds of feet from where the banks is currently. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Thanks Myron very good explanation of the mysterious outcrop. I worked hard to become a professional geologist but got side tracked. Still I had a good education and a challenging graduate school and learned a lot. I now am the go to geologist on our clubs Jeep adventures the travel the western USA and Canada. I get to analyze and explain and your presentation is a good model to follow.

I sat in the shade below the first site's sandstones for a few lunches. These well-cemented sandstones with dark color were fooling me during the first year of my PhD. It is so nice that you introduce these phenomena in a popular-science way. I am impressed. Thank you, Myron. Look forward to seeing more videos of yours!

Mysterious concretions...Hard to understand exactly how they start (developed).....well said. I liked your presentation. Thank you for showing us such a beautiful formation. A pleasure to watch.

lowkey one of the best geology channels around.

Had a great time learning from you , very interesting subject , love the way you explain everything .

You're a great teacher sir. What a good feeling it is as understanding coalesces and something originally mysterious and puzzling becomes clear! Thank you for your explanation, and your video.

I remember my brother talking about this- pretty sure it's the same area. He studied Geology at the U of U for years and would travel out to weird geological areas and share the weird ones with me. Great to finally have video of the "trees". I could see where people could think they're trees with the markings.

Thank you I loved this! I learned a ton - - you're very patient and clear in your explanations. I'm looking forward to more videos.

As an engineer with a geology minor.. i appreciate your methodology and am compelled to alogn with your conclusions. Xlnt work!

Wow, I love geology, I was thinking of studying it when I went back to school in my 40's, but wasn't sure how I would pay the bills. I chose human science instead and got my RN. But when I retire I'm going to go back to geology!! I have been watching Nick's videos for years now. So glad I saw yours today so I have another avenue for geology. I've been picking up rocks since I was a little kid. I have way too many rocks in the backyard. But can't wait till the next rock hunt!

Hi Myron, I just wanted to say your videos are amazing. The microscopy photos you captured where so telling. I’m eager to see more of your videos!

another accelent video byron, thank you for sharing

It's fascinating how nature forms branching structures no matter if it's through trees,fungus, rivers, or even lighting. So cool to see a fossilized river basically

That’s a great hypothesis. I’ve always had this crazy idea that it was once an ocean and something happened to displace the water and somehow all the life in the ocean was petrified and turned into different stones depending on the surrounding minerals and what the organisms were originally composed of. Just a cool thought on how we get those (whale rocks) and thing like that. Everyone always wants to jump to petrified wood but any living organisms can be petrified. This man did great work on this video

Thanks Myron! Just ran across your channel and plan on watching all the episodes. I’m a geology enthusiast. A rock pick and hand lens is in the truck at all times. Life is exploration. Great job on the video, please keep them coming.

The first clue that its not a tree is the oval shape...trees RARELY grow trunks that are that severely oval

I love how you let people down easily. Kind hearted

As a relatively new subscriber, just wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos. You have a natural way of explaining things and your enthusiasm is contagious . Cheers,

i have been interested in fossils since a child. I was born in Snowdonia, N Wales, UK, rich in glaciated valleys, they are huge and impressive even to a child. My father made dry-stone walls and he pointed out to me that these rural walls constantly kept changing according to terrain = geology! Thank you for your very interesting video and good memories of my father.

Watch you from Colorado Springs. I scratch my head in wonder on hike after hike. Thank you for uncovering the geology.

Fascinating, thank you Myron

I'm so glad RU-vid randomly decided to recommend this to me. My grandfather was an electronics engineer, but had a huge passion for geology and loved going out into the field and collecting samples. He used to take me to the gem and mineral shows and loved explaining how each piece would have formed. I miss him dearly and this reminded me of him.

Thank you Myron for the very understandable explanation. So now I understand how the “Cannonball” concretions formed in Theodore Roosevelt NP in ND. They were weird looking sticking out of the rock, and sometimes falling out.

Wow fascinating insight thank you for sharing ,....

Thank you Myron, very well explained ... a Sherlock Homes type investigation and we are all along for the ride. I'm way down in New Zealand ... Geology is infectious stuff with you and Nick ..much appreciated. Its enthused me to contact a New Zealand Geologist to fly him in my Cessna over our Southern Mountains to video the glacial, alpine fault and various rock we have here ...stand by. Geology dominates you tube. You and Nick started it and its world wide.

Had a feeling it wasn't trees the moment you observed those layers!

I scrolled & found ya! What a well advanced comprehensive & educational video detailed & broken down for anyone to understand I appreciate this geology study from a trained professional Geologist I look forward to being a student to your future teachings & demonstrations I am honored to be your newest subscriber! Cordially

THANK YOU MYRON COOK!!!!!!! YOU and your calm, polite explanations are a BREATH OF FRESH AIR!!!! I have liked and I have subscribed and I look forward to more, more, more, YES!!!!!....TM

The RU-vid algorithm led me to this captivating video. Myron has a gift for teaching, I hope he keeps it up.

Love your video ! Thank you for giving me free, interesting and provocative knowledge today !!!

What a great guy and an awesome break down of the process, loved it.

There was probably a cavern upstream of the concretions where calcite and similar minerals were leached out of some body of stone, then followed the river bed for a way before precipitating. That would be one way to get the mineral rich water, but also there can be some epithermal minerals being released from deep underground, displacing the host rock minerals (due to the acidity of the epithermal fluids) and being pushed up from below. If you can find the 'headwaters' of the mineral source, it would help a lot, because it would likely come up from underground, spreading out into the river bed, leaving a fissure/fault, you will likely find some sulfides and possibly some igneous or metamorphic traces as well. I have some of that super fine quartz stuff growing on my land, along the face of some chert, which all appear to have been the result of some epithermal deposits of sulfides a couple of hundred feet deeper into the country rock. Due to its width and abundance, mine strongly suggests a rapid, short lived formation while that which you are showing suggests [to me anyway] a slower, more sedate accretion, based on the fact that it more casually picked easier paths, and stacked up fairly high within those paths, rather than shooting out like a sheet which would require a strong uplifting of the land. Also, mine is all in shale and limestone, with hardened sandstone as a byproduct in certain areas with a Moh's hardness of about 7.5 - 8.9 and a crystal density just short of flint, bumped up against super tough chert with similar hardnesses, but without any verifiable cleavage. I'm hoping mine will lead to a valuable volume of metallic sulfides I can get to some day.

Myron, thank you for this video. I have always wanted someone to explain what they are seeing in different layers of rock and go through it systematically like this. I hope you do many more videos even if they aren't about oddly shaped rocks. Keep up the great videos! I subscribed!

Thanks for this! You explained an odd rock that I found some years ago (and is currently misplaced again). It’s a prime example of your concretion on with iron oxide, similar in shape to that outside formation #1… but only a half inch across and 7 inches long. I’d always wondered if it was a crayfish ‘hole’ that had filled in with sediment… but it matches your description to a tee. 🥰

What i like about this channel. It's as real as it gets. Talking about real stones, talking about real history, wears a cap of where he lives not some distant trendy sionist city.

That was delightful! In the thumbnail I thought maybe they were trees, but when I saw them life-sized I knew they weren't petrified trees. Still, I learned a lot from this video. I subscribed. And now I'm going to watch some more of your videos because this is indeed wonderful.

Fascinating! Im glad you enjoyed making it: I really enjoyed watching it. I really liked the format of following your process. Thank you!

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

So marvelous video, thank you Myron!!

This is my 1st time watching one of your videos. I've always loved rocks! This is a very informative video, especially for someone uneducated in geology. You explained everything so perfectly for me to understand! Exhibit 1 looked so much like a tree with the sides even looking like bark! I was expecting to see the rings on the end of it. I would have not believed it was also sandstone because of the color differences. The macro pics and sketches were great in helping me see what you were explaining and I didn't have to google any of the geologic words you were using. I thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks so much! 🥰

Such an interesting video Mr Cook. Thank you for doing a great job of explaining all the natural history involved with these unique formations. I'm noting that location down as a ' must see '. Hopefully in a couple of years we'll trek up there from Texas to see them in person.

Awsome Video 😊😊

You did your best, Myron very enjoyable. However, I don't think I'll ever truly get my head round these ancient processes and their results. Loved the idea of the sandstone spheres forming round the fossil like pearls in an oyster. We have lovely, russet Cheshire "pebble bed" sandstone here in Chester, UK. From northern France, brought here by an ancient river in the Triassic, I believe.

Another great story Myron! Clues were everywhere, but the common man see’s things differently! I was a petroleum landman for many years and worked with several geologists in the Anadarko Basin and central Oklahoma from North to South. Most of the deeper wells here are around 18k’-22k’ out west and 8-10k’ in central Oklahoma! There is a large outcrop around Ardmore, Oklahoma in the Arbuckle mountains, the oldest is precambrian consisting of gneiss and granite dated to 1.4 billion years! Thanks again!

Nice to see a explanation for this phenomenon. I live in Prairie county MT the home of the Terry Bridges (one of the most extreme examples of this). One of these formations spans around 50 feet over a void. I had heard that they were not tree fossils but I had always wondered how they were formed.

This was so interesting to watch. The whole time I was imaging the river flowing around and over the area. It truly would of been a sight to behold. And no doubt more fertile from the abundance of water. It would be cool to see a CGI of it. 😀

This was really interesting. Thank you for taking your time to share your knowledge with us.

My first thought when I saw those was, "lava tubes." I found a small (bookend size) piece of a lava tube from the volcanos five miles from us across Sitka Sound. Kind of a miniature Devil's Tower. Lots of neat stuff like that around here. Most of the pumice has been collected although some pieces occasionally "pop" up, if you catch my pun. This chunk of mine is a treasure, and it also works great to hold the plate down on the cabbage when I make sauerkraut. When you showed a picture of the end of the "tree," however, I saw what looked like layers, and then showed the "ribs," now I was stumped (no pun here.) Which is why I love watching your videos.

I love your content it's so fascinating and I find it easier to comprehend. This is my first video of yours I've seen and you have yourself a new subscriber ❤️

At one minute & twenty seconds you literally told the world what you are going to call your new show- 'Think Like A Geologist'! I would watch your show everyday, haha!!😊

So interesting. Thank you for the video and information about these things.

It would be interesting to have someone research Elephant Rock in Missouri. It's an amazing landscape.

This was great! I’m an undergrad and learning to think like this really helps! I’m excited to watch more videos like this to help me think like a geologist! Thank you much!