Key paper to read; A.D. Howard; Drainage Evolution in Northeastern Montana and Northwestern North Dakota Yellowstone Geology, Montana Geology, North Dakota Geology, Kettle Lakes, Moraines, Missouri River, River Terrace,
As a Missourian turned British Columbian, this was one of the most fascinating portions of my Fishers degree. The contribution of the Milk and Missouri Rivers' intermingling to Western Canada's fish diversity is fascinating. The further damming and shifting of river systems by glaciation and ice dams can be tracked through the fishs' genetics. Thank you for so clearly explaining this from a geological perspective!
I grew up on a river terrace near the Carpathians where digging down only a couple feet would reveal a thick layer of gravel and smooth boulders but it never crossed my mind that the landscape I'm so familiar with could be the result of ancient glaciers. I'm a forestry major and your videos are my favorite way to learn about geology, thank you!
I've never been interested in geology, but you, Myron, are my new favorite teacher. Also, the American West is among the most beautiful backdrops one can use to keep viewers interested.
I've canoed the Missouri several times starting at Coal Banks. I knew the River turns south there but never thought about why. Now I know. I also lived a few years in the prairie pot hole region of ND north of the Missouri. Hundreds and hundreds of pot holes with no creeks or rivers to speak of. All the runoff is into the potholes. Thanks Myron.
They may have been correct about the next ice age. Humans have a ridiculously short attention span, and tend to take a tiny snapshot of time and believe that snapshot to be the norm instead of the anomaly.
@@slartybarfastb3648, not in our lifetimes. We’re about to enter a solar maxima and the rest of the ice caps will melt. For another thousand or so years it will be hot as hell and then we’ll start the next ice age.
@@lordchaa1598 Exactly my point. None of this hot or cold will occur in our lifetimes. Though it would be the hot, if either, as the spike of solar activity has already reached it's peak. This cycle ends in two years. Then eleven years of greatly decreased activity following a trend toward a long term minimum. We:re now at the peak of solar heating for potentially thousands of years to come.
@@slartybarfastb3648 , unfortunately we’ve already created the feedback loop to trap that heat for a while via air pollution. Though we can’t explain the recent spikes in methane to humans, it was our CO2 emissions that brought us to this point of melting. Now the loop is self sustaining even without our emissions.
I marvel at your knowledge and I appreciate the topics you bring to us. I feel so much smarter for watching your videos. Thank you for the effort you put into these!
The course of the Ohio River was also reversed during these glacial advances. The Ohio Valley is lined with deep gravel beds filled in from the glacial discharge. Your explanation of the reversal of the Missouri correlates nicely with the Ohio.
Also notice the tributaries join the Upper Ohio up stream unlike most rivers. As a field geologist drainage patterns and terraces are often a clue to underlying structure or other geologic phenomena!
This is fascinating stuff! The world is an open book to those who understand it, but no one discipline has the whole picture. Geology, oceanology, hydrology, paleontology, zoology, botany, entomology, anthropology, sociology. It takes all of the sciences to understand it all, so no one person or discipline is able to understand all of it. The sciences as a whole are just beginning to put the peices together to understand how we got to where we are. I guess it will always be an ongoing project. Then the geniuses of the right wing come along, with their bullsh*t and conspiracy theories, and claim all the scientists whoever lived were involved in a vast conspiracy to hide the "truth". That so called "truth" being the existence of aliens, who showed humans how to build civilizations and pyramids. How crazy can people get? But then these are the same people who think Trump is a good guy. They think that in hundreds of years not 1 scientist has leaked the existence of that VAST conspiracy. Neither have any of their assistants, grad students, technicians, their husbands, wives, partners and children, their hair stylists and barbers, their secretaries, typists or clerks, bartenders, auto mechanics, cleaning staff, and none of their friends or family have leaked the secret identity and methods of the plot. NONE of the millions of people who had to know about it over the years have EVER leaked a single detail of that plot! So who the ringleaders and minions are is still a gigantic mystery. This is just hilarious! And the stupidity of it is just astounding! The identities and the details of the plot that involves millions are still a secret because it doesn't exist. The right wingers are bat shit crazy, and they need to be shut down, before they take over control of the education of the children. The beautiful planet we are so lucky to live on won't last another 100 years with Trump and his best buddy Putin calling the shots, and the deluded foot soldiers of the right wing doing their bidding. The importance of people like this guy, this geology teacher, with his exceptionally good teaching skills, cannot be underestimated. He us doing us all a very important service by explaining the history of the land under our feet. I so wish it were up to me to choose the winners of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes! This man deserves both! 🏆🥉🎖🥈🏆
I grew up in the Northern Ohio Valley. The "flats" along the river always intrigued me. I've read a few papers concerning the reversal of the Ohio. It was precipitated by the formation of Lake Monongahela. The glaciers blocked the northern flow, and the lake got deep enough to breach a ridge and started the Ohio flowing south. There is some conflicting information on the exact point that this occurred. There's no research I can find which studies terraces for Lake Monongahela sediments in the area. One paper moved it 10 miles to the north of the earlier papers location based upon the underlying strata. However, from the drainage patterns, I think the older study is correct. I agree; drainage patterns and terraces are the key. @@wowbagger3505
M. Cook your enthusiasm is contagious👍 in Alaska the braided rivers spread over vast areas...in between the glacial melt waters and farther north the eroding permafrost.
I appreciate the time it must take to create these videos. Thank you for driving to theses special spots. From the drone, the Google Earth shots and my favorite white board, you make terrific content. I just love the story of earth!
Love these so much. Starting from some local feature and then expanding into huge areas and deep time, its almost a spiritual feeling every time (theres probably a better word for it but). Thank you!
I concur! I understand the hesitancy to use that word, but I understand what is meant by it. The power of the earth and its processes sometimes overwhelms me. There really doesn't exist in English a word that describes that feeling. Or not that I'm aware of. I can well understand why ancient people thought it was a supernatural entity. We should consider ourselves very lucky indeed when we have an opportunity to feel power of nature! Especially because it's being destroyed an an ever accelerating rate! The province of endless beauty due to the huge expenses of wilderness and forests has mowed it all down like a backyard of grass. And the Northern Boreal Forest that once covered the Precambrian Sheild in a huge swath across Canada is no longer what you could call a forest, and hasn't been since before 1982 when I flew over it. I was just stunned to see that all day long as we flew over the northern part of the provinces, there was nothing but a patchwork, as far as the eye could see in every direction. From an average altitude of around 25,000 ft (I don't know what our height actually was), there were only bare spots of clearcut everywhere, interspersed with patches of tress. But a few trees do not make a forest. Nothing bigger than a squirrel can live there, and even the remaining trees aren't likely to last long, ecosystems need a certain size to be sustainable, and the studies that have been done are woefully inaccurate. Polluted and dead rivers cannot feed vegetation, and logging roads snaking everywher bring in more than just bog trucks. Poachers, off road vehicles of all sorts, people who are careless of the land, and land developers looking for lakes they can build around are just part of the damaging numbers of people who invade what once was a beautiful wilderness! And was once a functioning part of the world's environment. The miles and miles on end of logging I witnessed were a shocker, but logging is not the only way that governments allow destruction of our special places. To me the word sacred is not at all out of place. Those places have always been sacred, even when they never saw a human being. They don't need people to be special. And now they are exceedingly rare! Both Canada and Russia, the 2 countries that are blessed with nearly all of the world's Boreal Forest, are tearing it down and the land up at an astounding rate! There exists no way for the rest of the world to stop them, even though the gifts of the forest belong to all of us! How on earth can Canada, which prides itself as being one of the most developed and forward thinking countries, lower itself to the level of Russia, a Banana Republic at the best of times, run by a caveman?! It's a shocking fact that they behave the same way, raping the land and robbing us all of the wilderness that is so precious and all of the species that meant to live there, undisturbed by human greed. An ecosystem and habitat for millions of animals and plants, including deer, elk, moose, sheep, large cats, and wolves, and some that are near extinction. The BC government has chosen to sacrifice the Spotted Owl, and the last remaining stand of old growth forest in western Canada, if not all of Canada. I've always been an atheist, and always will be. But that doesn't mean there is no room for "spiritual" feelings, for lack of a better term, or the recognition of the sacredness of places that have power. On the contrary. We need to use that type of language more and more to refer to the fact that we NEED those places and the effect they have on us. My worship of Nature is no less valid a concept than the fairy tales that other groups tell themselves about the origins of planet Earth. If there was cathedral in any of those areas, for a mile around it there would be no logging of any kind allowed. Those places are SO sacred to me. So I don't apologize for my feelings about them. I do feel the spirits of the places, and science can even explain why, for a good part of it. Science and our feelings are definately not incompatible!
@@cattymajivYou have just described what all the other eco systems on earth were like before they were encroached upon by humans. If the human population keeps expanding the uninhabited areas are going to be exploited.
@@freddymax5256...yes, until the next global ice age comes that will depopulate the Earth, at least where the ice covers, and then over the millions of years of warming and other cooling cycles too, the Fauna and Flora will once again appear and develop, then Man will also once again come into those areas. It's a cycle of life; always has been, always will be. Planet Earth will always regenerate.
Several years ago, I had flown extensively over this area while piloting fixed and rotary wing aircraft. As you point out, the evidence is there in the landforms and river course. Very nice explanation!
I'm a keen hiker in the UK, places like the Lake District, Peak District, Snowdonia and the Scottish Highlands...I've always been fascinated by the different rock types, river systems, mountain formations etc as I walk, I have to thank you Myron for the wealth of information and knowlodge you're passing on, it truly is amazing how a mountain scene begins to form an understandable picture after watching you carry out your field work. I thank you again, you're an excellent tutor.
The algorithm led me here. What a great format: not just facts and trivia, but a real science story with a common thread running through it. Great on-location shots too! Instant subscribe
Another "OH! I get it!!" moment has occurred. You're my favorite professor Myron! What a great video and it's easy to see that you put a lot of time and effort into this one. Thanks friend!
Excellent video Myron! As a resident of West-Central Wisconsin, I recently found out that the mighty Mississippi river changed its course (just a smidge) in my area due to glacial/interglacial cycles. Especially in the area of Trempealeau, WI where the Mississippi & Black River meet. I've always wondered why the area of Perrot State Park (some people call Trempealeau Mountain or Brady's Bluff) was there amidst a huge flat area North and Northeast of it. Apparently before the last glacial cycle, the Mississippi's main channel ran just North of the Bluff/Mountain. But during the end of the last glacial cycle, the river channel became damned and had to find a new path. Which is now just South of the Bluff in its current channel. Also of note, found out that the Black River was also an outflow river for Glacial Lake Wisconsin during the last Glacial Period! Interesting stuff! And thanks for the awesome video! I always get excited when I see you posted a new video!
Somewhat familiar with your area. Spent many afternoons years ago hiking Barn Bluff in Red Wing. Have wanted to visit the area of the Rock Elm disturbance.
Great video Mr. Myron. Thanks so much for searching for these fascinating geomorphology stories. Always look forward to your videos because I know I'll learn something new. Take care.
Your channel has been so great at exposing and showing how sedimentary processes have worked. I habe to admit that for all the geology classes I took, and all the outcrops, actually visualizing what happened remained so mysterious. Here we are many years later, butits finally staring to make sense. Thank you so much for sharing what you know....
A++ for this video, sir. Watching your work on these brings me back to my undergrad years when I sometimes got to take courses that were actually engaging and useful.
I LOVE Geology!! I just discovered your channel, Dr. Cook, and am currently binge watching your videos. Great job on explaining/teaching what you are talking about in the videos. Thank you and keep up the great work of bringing your knowledge of Geology to everyone!
This reminded me of the lessons of the Ohio River side of this event when I was a student back in high school 1960s. I am glad to see the information is still available. Grand Daughter is getting this video in her in box. THANK YOU
Wow! I have floated the river past Coal Banks Landing many times between Fort Benton and Judith landings. This is very interesting! Always a great video from Myron, thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us!
Great lessons, classes, lectures.. neighborly chats? Exciting trip through our most recent past! Well done! Really happy you take the time, effort and expense to "widen our horizons" and give us something to think about.. Thank you!
Headwaters, in Montana, where the Gallatin, Jefferson, and Madison rivers converge to form the Missouri River is a beautiful place, an old fort, and the final resting place of some old 1800's family members. The grave sites are still somewhat preserved. The history of this country is amazing. The fort that used to be at Headwaters (if I remember correctly was called Fort Rock) was a stopping point for the famous Lewis and Clark expedition.
Thank-you Myron. I was visiting North Dakota for a funeral last month (near Crosby) and your description of those small kettle lakes and that geology was wonderful & insightful.
I can't believe how wonderfully clear you explained this concept. I thought it was going to be something dull, like isostatic (sp?) rebound, but no, this was absolutely captivating! Thank you.
So informative.... we live in the Roaring Fork Valley between Aspen and Greenwood Springs, Colorado. In viewing this video, I now know our new house is built on an older terrace. All of our area is underlaid by 50-150 feet of river / glacial cobbles interspersed with car and truck sized erratics. It's a very stable base (other than the occasional sink hole resulting from 250 million year old salt deposits further down... always lurking). But yes, the terraces you describe are everywhere in this valley. Thank you again for the continuing education.
I still remember driving west across the northern States seeing the mighty rivers that shaped the landscapes of the continental interior! The Mississippi, Missouri a Milk are to this day shaping the landscapes. Making it to Glacier National Park I seen the places where unimaginable forces shaped the land. I will never forget this! Thank you Myron for teaching us about geological features and the reasons for them.
I just found your channel last week & am having a blast watching your videos. I have always had a passing interest in geology but you sir are making it fun! You have hit the sweet spot of making it interesting at any level.
Myron is a true American; one that applies the principles of the enlightenment to the admiration and study of the world's beauty. Always a pleasure to watch and learn
I keep saying "thanks again", again! I had not thought of how those lakes formed, but your explanation was very clear. The river terraces remind me very much of where I grew up in Eastern Oregon near the intersections of the Malheur and Payette rivers with the Snake river. The "heights" around the valley edges were the back-filled earlier river channels. My step-grandfather sold gravel form a gravel pit in the side of one of these steps above his farm. Now I understand how that geology formed. Very cool.
the entire border along the 49th parallel is a gravel pit from Boundary Bay all the way to Sumas, Wa. BUT the border is also a high ridge, the highest points in the area. AT one time it was the old route of the Fraser River. Gravel companies based in West Vancouver own huge tracts of acreage on the USA side as long term holding: it's all gravel. Yet just a mile north or a mile south you have this nice light red soil that grows great potatoes. Lynden wa. grow seed potatoes and my five acres in Custer you can grow almost anything!! Greetings from Canada.
3 min in on a new channel and already have my attention and respect. It's clear this is based off real research, and you took the time to make a good presentation. Hats off to you. Now back to learn this for myself.
I loved my geology course in college. I only got a "C" but appreciate your presentation. I visited the Missouri, Yellowstone and Platt rivers a few years ago and found it fascinating. Thank you.
Another great one Myron! There are moraine type structures on the old Stillwell Ranch in West Texas that I understand were made by ocean waves not glaciers. Can you do a video on such structures?
Bringing geology to the masses! The more people know about this planet. The better our future will be! Thank you Myron for your contribution to furthering the study of geology! I actually know most of the knowledge you share on your channel... But I always learn something new... And enjoy your presentation of the material.
Oh Myron I’m so glad this” re-cycled “ on my site…I have it check marked ,so I’m delighted to be back! I spent a lot of last year in and out of hospital…so I truly watch for your work…it seems “a new river channel in my brain “-changed stations! To make sure I’m “all here” I took some tests!!-well I’m happy with 97% …pretty good return for strokes…I remembered my enjoyable times with your channel Myron…..I like your visualizing technique…Ive don’t it all my life…used it well prospecting
Fantastic content and well done video. I went to college in Havre, MT. Seeing those shots brought back fun memories. Lots of dino fossils and buffalo jumps around the Milk River.
I took a historical geology class in college as an elective. I found that class to be very interesting. I tried geology 101 with the same professor and hated it. This here is the area of geology that I find fascinating, and these videos are excellent at bringing an interested layperson along for a better understanding of our planet and the processes that have helped shape it. Myron is a master, not only of the subject matter, but also of how to effectively communicate and teach it.
Sometimes I love RU-vid, suddenly it offered me this video and now I'm hooked. I know absolutely nothing about geology but Myron made it easy to understand and now I have subscribed I can't wait to look at the previous videos. Thank you Myron.
Stunning video, as always! Glaciers are starting to make more sense thanks to you! Thank you so much, Mr. Cook!😊 I went on a road trip through southwestern Colorado and also noticed the river valley. And this video helped me understand what I was seeing. I love your channel so much. Thank you!
Just wanted to tell you I really enjoy your videos. I have been fascinated by geology since I was a kid and saw pumice floating. Thank you for your time and effort.
I ♡ your stories! I just learned, earlier this month, that the Missouri River used to take another route! So surprising to me! I'm from the southwest. Glad to see this RU-vid video pop up.
What a joy to listen to you. Greetings from Hamburg/Germany! I watched your video while sitting on a terminal moraine, with its river Elbe next to it and a couple of salt domes, glacial hillssites and agrecultural marshlands around.
I absolutely loved this! You explained everything so well, and I appreciate your care in selecting visuals which illustrate the concepts so beautifully. I've always lived in the Toronto area and had a fascination for the effects of glaciation, especially glacial erratic boulders. They're everywhere in this region - people's front lawns, bordering shopping mall parking lots, in front of business buildings. From small boulders you could move with a wheel barrow to others the size of a small car. Nearly all of them shallowly buried in the glacial till, only seeing the light of day as recent human contruction projects stumbled upon them. I'm now going to research the changes to the river systems in the Great Lakes region due to glaciation - and of course watch more of your videos! Thank you - your enthusiasm for your chosen field of study is a joy to watch! Subscribed!
I never viewed geology as something I would be interested in, then I started watching your videos. You are an amazing presenter. I can't imagine any 19yo watching your videos who wouldn't want to become a geologist because of you.
Great story. I jumped to the conclusion of the ice sheets, but you walked through the evidence and gave us a broader story of the evolution of river valleys.
I love geology and earth science. I suppose this is why I love James Mitchners books so much, because he begins with the formation of the land where his stories take place. I live in Sitka, Alaska, where our resident volcano has gone from dormant to active recently, showing me and everyone else that this Earth is still very much alive and changing. So glad I found your channel. :)
I have long used stream terraces in my paleontological pursuits. I had not thought about the Missouri river, but it certainly makes sense. Again, I thank you for so plainly explaining the process.
The sheer magnitude of scale and time is very hard for most people to comprehend and it usually takes someone who is interested in geology to appreciate and understand that magnitude. I bet that scale also still amazes the minds of trained geologists...!! I like how you put in that very short 10 story building to help give a size perspective against the immense size of the glacier.
Spectacular video as always, thank you so much for sharing! I've watched every video you've made, they are informative and interesting; please keep making videos!!
Thanks a bunch for another very informative video. Appreciate the time you give to filming. Living in England I have only been to the area on a few occasions so these vids help me to understand the landscapes better. Cheers.
I have enjoyed a few of Myron's videos and also greatly enjoyed this one. Therefore I decided to subscribe and leave a comment. Thank you for making and posting these in-depth but easy to follow videos about complicated geological processes.
@@myroncook Another interesting area is Northern Canada where the rivers flow northward because they were blocked by the huge icedam. When that icedam finally let go the humongous outpouring of icy fresh water changed the salinity of the Arctic water and also helped to drown much of Doggerland.
Thank you for the fascinating explanation of one of my favourite road trip routes. I live in Saskatoon, SK, and travel often to Yellowstone-my Disneyland-by different routes, including through Great Falls. Your video has given me a whole new perspective on a route I have travelled a number of times, confirms what I have experienced driving between Harlem and Havre, where the highway sometimes runs right along the base of a river terrace. Your video has given me some things to look for on my next Yellowstone adventure (summer 2024?), and reason to do more in Chinook, Havre, Box Elder, and Big Sandy than stop for gas or pass by at 90 mph (allegedly!).
THIS might be right there among your VERY coolest videos, sir (seriously great, like your salt mounds in the gulf video type great!). wow - - thank you.
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you so much. When you showed the current glaciers with their moraines, I imagined my home town area in Minnesota looking like that, because we live in a completely glacially sculpted area with moraines, eskers and thousands of lakes. Wow- it’s hard to imagine a thousand foot ice cliff looming overhead right here! Your videos are very much appreciated! ❤
Thank You, Myron! I have learned so much since following you. In a way, out hiking, I wasn't living life fully. Now, when I question/wonder about my location, it is fascinating to be able [see] how/why. Dave from Great Falls
I learned some basic principles in school, and I've always observed what I can. I've also watched a certain part of the Canadian shield, and forest, change over 50 years. Bare rock is now grassland. I can also see the future of some things. Fascinating! Now I know more.
Another great geologic video! Having lived in Montana for many years ( I did my undergrad at MSU in Bozeman), and traveled in the same areas you covered was a very good explanition of the formation of glacier moraines. I recall that we looked at moraines in the Georgetown Lake area in western MT. I hope you had some time to take advantage of the excellent trout fishing on the rivers you visited!
Thanks Myron. I stumbled across a second hand book titled "The Archaeology of the Gravel Terraces of the Upper and Middle Thames" which covers the ancient geology of the Pleistocine through to 1500 BC detailing similar changes in it's path. It interestingly examines findings within the ancient river terraces while tracking the Oxygen isotope levels of ice cores for that time. Fascinating even for a novice like me.
