Alaska's Arctic Petrified Forest; A Geologic Oddity

[@GAMakin]

In 1979 while living in Denver, I unearthed whole segments (some +1 meter in length) of petrified wood -- bark-on -- while excavating my front yard (Capitol Hill District) for a retaining wall/flower box. Some of the samples appeared to be charred. Before proceeding with the build-out, I took some large samples to the Denver Museum of Natural History. They came to site the same day and spent the next 4-days doing a proper job of it. The foreperson on the job (She would become my go-to person for subsequent finds elsewhere in Colorado) explained to me that a Redwood Forest once covered the Eastern Slope of this segment of The Rockies. This Forest burned, and was immediately innundated and buried by a monstrous mudslide. Time frame estimates varied. I left the debate to the particulars. I was contented with my contributing Discovery. When all was said and done... I was rewarded with a 30cm (about 12-inches) section of base wood -- bark-on -- which held the corpse of a boring insect, trapped in petrified resin, on the margin between the bark and the cambium. 👍 I felt MORE than adequately compensated.

[@Theranthrope]

That sounds like the remnants of a supervolcano explosion; possibly from the La Garita Caldera or another caldera. There was an arc of super volcanoes that emerged 40-18 MYA across Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada caused by a large section of the (I think) Juan de Fuca Plate breaking off and dropping into the upper mantle causing massive instability which expressed itself as large-scale volcanism.

[@donaldduck830]

For a moment I thought you meant a tedious, uninteresting insect, but then I reread that and a lightbulb popped up above my head :P

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@donaldduck830I didn’t. But that you did made me laugh. Goodly done!!

[@daleolson3506]

You were in Denver?we use feet and inchs

[@GAMakin]

@@daleolson3506 I consented to that in the final paragraph; converting 30cm to approximately 12-inches. Most of the rest of the World (who also access KZbin) is on the METRIC SYSTEM. It is particularly useful in Scientific and Technological pursuits

[@TheSpaceEnthusiast-vl6wx]

Thanks as always, Geology Hub!

[@xwiick]

Thanks for all the hard work on these videos!

[@brucekuehn4031]

The Medieval Warm Period was followed by the Little Ice Age in Europe and these are well documented since they were hundreds rather than thousands of years ago. The Thames used to freeze in England and is depicted in many paintings. The Netherlands are well known in speed skating which dates back to winters when the canals would always freeze up with thick ice. Hans Brinker would have to find an indoor rink in the past 150 years or more.

[@donaldduck830]

And before that, the Vikings colonized GREENLAND. The treeline was hundreds of miles further north than even today. There were successful vineyards in the British Isles.

[@krystianzyszczynski4115]

People don't seem to grasp just how warm it had to be during that period (MWP) that would have caused that. Growing grapes in latitudes that are impossible today. Farming in areas covered in ice today. Ice free areas that today are choked in ice. I recall reading about how Vikings were able to swim across fjords without difficulty that today, would kill even the hardiest man with hypothermia within minutes. Just how warm was it then, that this and more was possible, and that there was no mega catastrophe. Seems like life thrived somehow.

[@cleanerben9636]

@@krystianzyszczynski4115 stop noticing and start paying more taxes so the guberment can spend the money on eco projects that politicians are invested in.

[@steventhompson399]

Fascinating! Knew about espenberg maar but not the petrified forest +100ka, wow

[@surters]

Milankovitch Cycles, the kewlest cycles!

[@AlanAdler-b9t]

Excellent work thank you. You're one smart cookie !

[@OutbackCatgirl]

now i want to bake cookies...

[@Winterfur1]

2:41 I like it that you add Palouse Falls which it was the result of a glacial flood from Missoula

[@aaronasusmc]

And also a beautiful waterfall!

[@Horsegirl852]

When are the next high and low temperature periods of the Milankovitch Cycle?

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Thanks for mentioning this fascinating discovery and Milankovitch theory.. few realise that our world has been warmer(and cooler) by such a wide margin. Greenland had trees and Vikings lived there for centuries but left because it got cold(too cold) to stay. Without kicking off a massive climate debate and possibly enacting ‘Botapocalypse’ it’s good to hear some facts regards our climate and it’s history..

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

While Vikings settled some particularly favored bits of SW Greenland for a few generations it was a pretty marginal existence and there weren't any trees. Indeed, the reason these people discovered Labrador and Newfoundland was because of expeditions to find wood. They mostly lived by hunting because it was difficult to raise sheep and farming was not very effective. The climate was a bit warmer for a few hundred years, but then it got colder (the little ice age of the 13-14 centuries) which caused widespread crop failures and famine in Europe, and the Greenlanders either starved or joined the indigenous Inuit people.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Go easy on the ‘few’ because it’s so well known the conspiracy theorists tout it against climate change every. damn. time.

[@Jebediah1999]

"There no obvious changes to the climate. " 20 years later- " The weather's always been changing.".

[@dhickey5919]

Thank you, Geo. While we've all heard the Earth was warmer and colder in earlier periods of geological history, this is the first time it's been explained and in under five minutes!

[@buccizero]

I'm interested in any speculation regarding the great uncoformity in the geologic record. Post any and all thoughts

[@joshjones3408]

That's a cool pic of tsar bomb ....3rd degree brunes 300 miles away from ground zero..... great video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@vrccim5930]

Thanks.

[@RonSparks2112]

This seems like a bit of an odd place for an active (more or less) volcano. Can you explain the geology of this?

[@ROV_Rc2023]

An earthquake struck in hawaii overnight with major rifting of roads in area pls cover

[@fimbulsummer]

There was a mag 5 earthquake in New South Wales, Australia yesterday, under Wollemi National Park, felt in Sydney. Could you please cover this as it really unusual? Thanks, bye.

[@MeanOlNana]

Have you researched the landslide in Alaska over the weekend??

[@sid2112]

Dude you sound like Dan Castellaneta!!!! That's awesome!

[@mikeharrington5593]

How bad are the latest Iceland tectonic events for the coming weeks ?

[@gideonevans9717]

What are the chances this area experiences an eruption again?

[@nufosmatic]

4:02 - If the planet and local climate was sufficently warm as to have trees growing where there is currently only permafrost and lichens, why wasn't the peninsula under water?

[@greenrocket23]

Sea levels can't rise that much, even if all ice in Antarctica melted, it still wouldn't be enough to significantly alter the ratio of land to sea on Earth's surface, which is about 3/4 ocean already anyway

[@czechvirusS]

​@greenrocket23 fun fact. most seawater rise is from the water taking up more space. not really from melting ice anyway. thats why when we measure volume of a liquid we need to measure the temperature too since it changes volume.

[@01i_gaming13]

Icelands reykjanes volcano is actively erupting at the current time been about an hour since start

[@Syritis]

video about it has been uploaded

[@tiffanymarie9750]

Show me where in the video he says human influenced climate change is overblown? People in the comments are reacting like this is about the changes we are causing in the climate in less than two centuries. He's discussing past climatic changes that took place over HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS. On top of that, the claim isn't that the world is ending, the claim is that the world AS WE KNOW IT is done for. We will probably survive as a species, but it will be hard and full of unnecessary death because of our shortsightedness. And if we don't survive, life will continue on. The problem has never been that we're destroying the planet, the problem is that we're destroying the climate and habitats we evolved for, that civilization came up in, and civilization might not be able to take the load of that.

[@filonin2]

These desperate shills will grasp at anything that even vaguely sounds like it support their views and they cannot understand most of the words anyways.

[@donaldduck830]

Uhh, are you aware that according to mainstream science we evolved close to the equator in the African savannah? Are you aware that historically, warmer times were times of high civilization and aptly named climate downturns (lower temps) caused civilzations to collapse? Thirdly: in the past there were Dansgaard-Oeschger events during which temperatures changed by as much as 10 (ten!) centigrades in a century!!! Today's rate of climate change is sedentary compared to those events. That is why Obama sits in his beachfront home and does not worry. You need to clear up your thinking and then your post.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@donaldduck830you might, and it’s quite simple to do, want to have a look at 1) the difference in land area that the last sea level rise caused and extrapolate that to current city locations on the coasts, and 2) the changes in temp variation over the last three hundred years and remember that it’s not going to stop. Your inability to imagine how this goes, into the future, is letting you down.

[@j377yb33n]

@@donaldduck830 🤓

[@donaldduck830]

@@ValeriePallaoro 2) Utterly wrong. Climate change is cyclical and not linear. What we see right now is the point past the crest, the next few decades are gonna be cooler. Due to my vast knowledge about cliamte variations my imagination is well furnished and I can well imagine the near future. And therefore 1) I guess you mean the quick sealevel rise about 12kya. We don't have close to that much ice left. The glaciers in the mountain valleys are negligeable, the floating arctic ice has zero effect. Only the Greenland ice shield and the Antarctic ice shield are relevant for sea level rise. Based on modern temp records and our knowledge about climate, the Antarctic shield will be growing bigger before it is going to melt. In summer of 2023 (=antarctic winter) we have seen the coldest temps ever, against expectations. Greenland has recently had more accumulation in winter than melting in summer. While there is lots of melting in summer, the three other seasons overcompensate. There is also no sign of significant change, we got the satellite data and there is no massive mass loss and we don't know how warm it needs to be for that to happen. According to predictions, the arctic should have been ice free decades ago. contrary to that, the Danish surveyors had to change their charts and add another meter to the height of the sea ice a few years back. 2019-2022 were abysmally cold and close to the 1960-90 temperatures, again proving that climate is cyclical. None of the alarmists are right, calmer evaluations are correct and nobody alive today will experience more than a 1-2 feet of change in sealevel, also because of one simple fact: The overturning circulation needs 600 years for 1 cycle. Right now and for at least 200 years the oceans will buffer the alleged warming and only then will we be able to measure any changes.

[@billsmart2532]

What is the species of the petrified wood? Thank you.

[@Syritis]

rock

[@jeanineerickson7303]

​@@Syritis😂

[@pingnick]

Will we exceed this warmth of last several million years well before 2100!? Time will tell yeah Anthropocene must faster acting than Milankovitch if not extreme ongoing vulcanism

[@SinnerChrono]

And this is why I keep telling people we know almost nothing about the long term climate effects and why we shouldn't be freaking out and panicking. Can we still do things to make our environment better and cleaner and undo the harm we have done? Yes 100%. But it also means we probably aren't headed to a doomsday scenario either.

[@whiteknightcat]

Define "long term".

[@scillyautomatic]

Well said. But they are pretty sure that just a few more laws would definitely change the climate forever. 😂

[@dralord1307]

People are not well informed enough to realize the difference between "local environment" and "climate" Many of the "climate" videos boil down to local environmental degradation. If every area focused on fixing their own local environment things would be so much better.

[@AlexGNR]

We know about the long term and we know eruptions like this have only short term consequences. VEI5 is nothing to the climate. Even the arctic. Ice cores should tell enough. In-fact. Any climatologist has to follow a course in basic geology and volcanology as a mandatory base in geosciences. There is no need for the skepticism. We use 40 year averages for a reason and then averages over each said 40 year periods. We also look at anomalies. 😊

[@AlexGNR]

Tipping points are a very real thing and have been studied throughly. For most life on Earth as we know it right now we are in-fact heading for a doomsday scenario. Future life adapted to said change? Sure it will rise eventually. Just no humans or mammals or yeah.

[@soyoucametosee7860]

So the earth will roast us and there is nothing we can do about it.

[@Syritis]

not even remotely what was said

[@swainscheps]

Ugghhhh…there’s that W word again…he’s doing it on purpose now.

[@mbterabytesjc2036]

Wow, how did your video escape the UTube climate police? 😒 😉 😁

[@markmaki4460]

I love it when YT posts the UN-assisted "context" box on videos attributing climate change "mainly" to human activity - on a video which covers time before humans even existed, for example 5+ million years ago. Alas, humans existed during much of the time discussed during this video, so any later YT "context" box addition will not elicit quite the guffaw from me should it appear, though its appearance would be as ridiculous - but i don't know - maybe Neanderthals did burn fossil fuels. We may never know.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

You’re hilarious. Sooo funny. 😂

[@walt776]

As much as I enjoy your videos, I think you need some clarification about how Eimeem temperatures compare to those of the modern day and the differences between the drivers of the warming then compared to now. Otherwise you leave it open to climate change deniers, who are already popping up in this videos comments.

[@donaldduck830]

You sound crazy. You claim that telling the world about climate change in the past would supercharge climate change deniers, do you even listen to yourself?

[@walt776]

That same past climate change which informs our current understanding of human-caused climate change and its effects on the environment. That connection needs to be made became its absence leaves it open to misinformation from people like you.

[@geckoman1011]

The onus is on you (and other man-made global warming believers) to prove that changes in climate is falling outside of natural bounds.

[@walt776]

@@geckoman1011 That's the great part: I don't need to because others have done that hard work through literally thousands of studies. This onus is on you to do the hard work of disproving them.

[@aaronasusmc]

​@@walt776muh studees!!! I appeal to muh studees!!!

[@Kamara2203]

It’s interesting to note in the Milankovitch cycles chart that all three of axial tilt, eccentricity and precession index have been trending downwards that looks like fir a while now and yet temperature are still increasing…

[@donaldduck830]

We had the most active sun in centuries. 21 years ago and this year are the ones with the most solar activity probably since at least 1300. Next to that we have relatively little volcanic activity, the last significant eruption was more than 30 years ago and there is little sulfur in the atmosphere, so we have a lower albedo. In fact it should be way warmer than it is, in historic times (pre 1300, around CE 0, before 1500BCE) we had phases that were significantly warmer than the temperatures right now. Due to Milankovich cycles and the cyclical downswing in solar output, the second half of the 21st century will be very cold and may comparable to the 1600s.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@donaldduck830 you’re so funny. Made me laugh.

[@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv]

Agw is a scam

[@Lessinath]

You're a scam.

[@TheDanEdwards]

"Agw is a scam"

[@snowmannor7779]

@@TheDanEdwards It's a scam dude.

[@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv]

@@TheDanEdwards most of the original ipcc picks and presenters told me. So climate modelers, physicists , to name a few. It's definitely a scam. From ot releasing data to outright fruad . Manns still in court I think lol. Perhaps the weather gods haven't received enough taxes and actual pollution? Tough call

[@filonin2]

@@snowmannor7779 A global scam perpetrated by millions of people across hundreds of governments and NGO's. Like the existence of space or birds. You sound like a clown, kiddo. If you want us to stop laughing and pointing, SHOW that it is a scam with empirical evidence, if you even know what that means.

[@TheDanEdwards]

It should be noted that the temperature graphs you show have the "present" temperature as the _average from the pior century._ The year 2024 average surface temperature is well above that, so that the warmest part of the Eemian was not that much warmer than the year 2024. And yes, due to human-driven climate change we are going to get much warmer than the Eemian.

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

BS!! I wish to say more, but apparently folks like you have a monopoly on free speech on YT and my comments conveniently disappear due to C E N S O R S H I P !!

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Depending on your viewpoint and information source … because that matters you could be right.. but we are still in an interglacial period.. glaciers melting denotes it may be coming to an end. When there are no ice caps or glaciers… well that’s the end.. not all glaciers are melting.. temperature readings these days are corrupted by building infrastructure and their locations(most at airports etc) and the methods to read temperatures have been corrupted by ‘dodgy’ methods of reading. Unlike the ‘olden days’ many temperatures read ground temperature and not air temp (in the shade) hence why temperatures are ‘suddenly going up’. The problem we have has been (like almost EVERY issue in the planet today) is because these issues have been politicised and too many have ‘vested interests’ in speaking/telling the truth… take the politicians and those who make money out of any of these issue out of the equation and most of these issues would disappear overnight…

[@squidnoid8]

@@malcolmyoung7866not at all true. NOAA has strict protocols for gathering air temp readings including: shaded sensor, at least 1 metre in height from the ground.

[@filonin2]

@@malcolmyoung7866 Yeah, if you take politics out and look at the fact, humans are causing global warming. Period. YOU are adding in politics by making claims not supported by science and then casting aspersions upon the scientific community as a whole, implying some sort of literal global conspiracy. Typical right wing talking points made by the fossil fuel industry think tanks and fed into your ear. You are that which you claim to despise.

[@matta6301]

@@malcolmyoung7866umm, you think the scientific community at large is not aware of every single point you just made? lol. 😅

[@angelodgreat6561]

No one talks about volume, but everyone is obsessed with price patterns. I’ve been expanding my resources and think mastering volume with price action really does help with technical analysis!

[@ms_christinejones]

Hey can you tell me what do you look for in volume analysis?

[@angelodgreat6561]

Historical Volume, Price Movements, Support and Resistance, etc.. Pay attention to volume when a stock approaches key support or resistance levels. It is also crucial to understand market movements, i got some great help from my advisor on this, which really boosted my experience

[@stevens12767]

Totally i agree with you pal! game changing strategy right there

[@Sarahq6g-BANKS]

How do one go about an advisor? I could use more insight

[@angelodgreat6561]

There are plenty of options out there. I go with “ June Renae Matthysse“; she’s quite experienced

[@YourAlaskaGuide]

Seward peninsula is forested now..I think your off a bit here.

[@jimnorthland2903]

Seward Peninsula or the peninsula where the City of Seward is (Kenai Peninsula)? Not saying you're wrong. I've never been to Seward Peninsula, just always thought of it as treeless.

[@snowmannor7779]

Nope. Everyone can use google earth and see for themselves. Why do you lie? To keep your climatology sekt happy?

[@jaym8257]

The climate changed because it is too cold up there for trees now. That's really all you need to say.

[@Natasha-i9y]

You can't vote in a leader who can change the climate or stop the seas from rising. They knew this 1000 years ago. 😅

[@LordDustinDeWynd]

Boring. Climate is always changing.

[@EngiRedbeard]

Warmer!? We didn't have SUVs then, impossible!

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Hysterical. That comment is sooo funny. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@warrenglover]

There is 65 volcano around the world now . Going be more update. Core is stopped??

[@malcolmyoung7866]

65 volcamos doing what? Last week it was in the mid 40’s in number doing a nothing other than sitting quietly doing nothing. Erupting or showing signs of eruption? C’mon watch a recent video(from this or last week) to get an EXACT number of erupting volcanoes… can remember there ever being 60 erupting at the same time.. 50 yrs.. 60? No!

[@filonin2]

I've read your post multiple times and I cannot interpret the meaning. Maybe delete and try again in your native language?

[@dawnpalmby5100]

On average, there are 47 volcanoes erupting at all times. N there is 100s of volcanoes at various stages eruption, dormant, or extinct. The earth's molten core isn't going to just stop.

[@jimf1964]

We are in an intra-glacier period. That means ice melts, and thank god isn’t spreading. Just take a look at that chart, we are totally into a period where we should be rising quickly. In fact it looks like it may even be stunted.

[@Syritis]

given that the chart length is almost a million years long, the rapid warning of the last 100years doesn't even register. instead whats most terrifying is that these interglacial periods end because vast forests in the newly melted regions soak up the excess CO2 released my the Milankovitich cycle, instead humanity is cut down half the world forests.

[@jimf1964]

@@Syritis If that was true, then how does it ever warm up again once all that forest is basically sequestered carbon?

[@shamon351]

Very interesting but I can't take the voice at the end of each sentences, sorry, I had to stop...

[@cutback443]

Bro. What are your thoughts on the electric and/or plasma universe theories? An understanding of both will help your geology.

[@dralord1307]

The issue for both is they need more actual evidence IMO. Some of the things they propose make some sense but there is veryyyyy little hard info so far to support them.

[@TheDanEdwards]

" the electric and/or plasma universe theories? "

[@filonin2]

They have no predictive value and are hence of no value to science. Great for making sci-fi fantasy books though.

[@filonin2]

Might as well have suggested studying Tolkein as a knowledge of elves and dwarves mining might help.