Thank you for the yellowstone series, my wife and I have been there the last 5 years but missed this year. The view from Google earth shows how massive this slide was. I really enjoy your work.
Looks almost exactly like the Frank Slide in the Crowsnest Pass of Southern Alberta, Canada. Settlers built a town in the shadow of Turtle Mountain, even though the local Natives called it the mountain that moves. The erosional slide (limestone) destroyed nearly the entire town, the road and the railroad line. It happened in the middle of the night and many people lost their lives. Tragic story and fascinating to see a similar scenario minus the destruction of a town.
@@Anne5440_ There is a slide on Grand Mesa, Colorado (the West Salt Creek slide) that's over three miles long. Tragically, three men lost their lives when it occurred in 2014.
To fine tune the date of these deposits I would want to know............rockfall or landslide or both. Currently active or stable for some time. Degree of soil development on the soils derived from the travertine vs. those soils derived from the shales. Age of the trees growing out of the boulders. Age of the trees growing from trav soils vs. shale soils. Historical records and/or photographs. Fire evidence. Any volcanic ash layers in the soils. Etc. Fun!
I had it kind of figured out, however I thought it was marine formation, particularly before you provided the explanation I was thought the rock you showed was coral.
Thats a good point about not being caused by water or we would see evidence of some kind of errosion but we really dont. I have to guess it was from a large quake or series of large quakes maybe from a fault or rising pluton that caused the ground to rise rapidly?
i always liked this little patch of the park. it is just so interesting to come around a corner and be in the middle of the huge rock field. it is so out of place with the surrounding area. it makes me want to be a bird so i can fly over it and explore it more, it's a bit of a rough walk to get up into.
Always good to go to a crime scene with a good detective. Your questions spark other question of was there any uplift cause by the Yellowstone Hot Spot and was the limestone the hot water pass through from the inland sea period of North America? Great seeing different kinds of rocks in the field. Thanks
Yes, Yellowstone region experiences thermal uplift caused by underlying magma and hot rock. There are older limestones in the area from the Cretaceous inland sea and also from the Paleozoic when the area was under the ocean. These rocks are made of calcite and are then partially dissolved by circulating hot groundwater which carries calcite in solution until it precipitates out of solution when it reaches the surface and water evaporates.
I was thinking the same thing as Daniel. I thought the change in water location might also be caused by the hot spot. As its location changes with the tectonic plate movement, the hot springs would follow, wouldn't they?
@@Danika_Nadzan Many of Yellowstone's geothermal systems do not lie right over the most recent caldera or where the inferred magma chamber lies. Hydrothermal features only need two things: heat and an efficient plumbing system. You don't even need an active volcano! Rocks get hotter with depth so if the right plumbing system exists, then you can have hot springs and other features. Obviously it helps to be in or near an active volcanic system but its not a requirement. There are plenty of hot springs in central Idaho (off the hot spot track) or even central Nevada or southern Utah (and other places). In general, yes, we would expect Yellowstone to have hydrothermal features above the area of active volcanism but the groundwater can also move laterally for many miles. Hope this helps a bit. Great questions!
Holy travertine Batman!! Where did all that travertine come from?!! Chief, be careful out there. It looked like you were balancing on an uncaring roofline!😳. Thanks for the puzzle!
Really enjoying your Yellowstone series. Didn’t make it to the park this year. First my geology field seminar was cancelled. Then my entire trip was cancelled due to the flooding. What route did you take to get up into the Hoodoos? I’ve looked at them from the little turnout by the Grand Loop Road and also through binoculars, but would really like to get up into them.
@@shawnwillsey Thanks. I once tried hiking in from the Glen Creek trailhead, but came across a really narrow spot with a significant drop off which really surprised me as it’s supposed to be a ski trail in the winter. Don’t do heights well so I turned around and went back.
Tectonic/Magmatic uplift pushing that Limestone away up there? Not so sure about the amount of thrust faulting in the past 400,00 years though, or....When was Yellostones last eruption? Could that have caused the uplift?
Thrust faulting would be much, much earlier so that option is out. Some uplift of Yellowstone region is possible, but more likely is downcutting and erosion by Gardiner River and its tributaries.
Great content on your videos Shawn but slow the camera movement down a bit. Leave the camera pointed at the subject a little longer instead of moving it back and forth so much.
Tufa and travertine are really similar. The main difference is that tufa forms at ambient temperatures whereas travertine forms from hydrothermal water. Also, tufa often has impressions or casts of reeds, grasses, and other plants.
According toWikipedia, a "hoodoo" is "a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements." Landslides are an erosion phenomenon, but I don't see the "tall, thin spire" mentioned in the definition. How are these tumbled boulders "hoodoos"? How are you defining the term?
Excellent point. Please note I put the term in quotations. I agree that the landscape at this location does not match the implied or true definition of a hoodoo. Nonetheless, this is an area named such by the park or possibly very early in park’s history so I used the name as a geographical marker that visitors would recognize.
Considering that the entire area was inundated with glaciers prior to the rockslide that deposited the travertine boulder field (the hoodoos). How much of a role could isostatic rebound play in causing the rockslide?
I have been enjoying your videos a lot! But for one issue- I feel car sick when you scan too quickly! Also, I usually slow the video down so that I can better appreciate what you are showing us. Please scan slower! My carpet will appreciate you… is the rock with holes in it an old coral or something?
WAY WAY slow down the camera swinging!! You're trying to show everything all at once -- and so NOTHING is given a long enough time on screen to be actually SEEN! Frustrating!! Is that a fallen over hoodoo at your feet to the left? How can we TELL when you keep flying past it to show us everything else too?! PLEASE, consider how the human EYE looks at scenery: long enough on each piece to get a good look! Really interesting stuff... but visually frustrating. What is the underlying make-up OF Terrace Mtn? Is it limestone all the way down to the river depth? How large must a lake have been to make that ridge/mtn -- and how did it get so HIGH in the sky?
Sorry and I will try to improve. Thanks for the feedback. New to the camera work. Terrace Mtn is capped by travertine but is underlain by Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, many of which contain mud and/or clay, making the slopes unstable and prone to movement. The lake idea for Terrace Mtn involves a very different landscape before the canyon and modern landscape formed.
The park calls this area "The Hoodoos" even though the landscape does not match the definition of a hoodoo. I used the term as a geographic term to refer to the location. Notice I also put the term in quotations.
I wonder if you could use OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) to age-date the landslide? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminescence_dating#:~:text=Single%20Quartz%20OSL%20ages%20can,and%20proper%20checks%20are%20done.
