Brian Atwater at Steamboat Rock

A very memorable Saturday looking at Ice Age clues on the floor of Grand Coulee.
USGS geologist Brian Atwater is best known for his Cascadia Great Earthquake research.
Filmed on May 22, 2021.

[@adem5762]

What a legend, Brian Atwater, retired and now working on glacial geomorphology in his spare time.

[@guiart1553]

All you geology fans...I am watching all the A to Z episodes again and I am getting so much more the second time around!

[@elizabethkarmellacomedian3872]

I did that about a month ago as well.

[@complimentary_voucher]

Same!

[@imaseeker100]

Can you point me to these?

[@larsbee]

it sounds so boring .... can't stop watching 🤣🤣🤣

[@guiart1553]

Still a kid at 70! What a guy!

[@charleslaird870]

Just imagine being a young geologist assigned to help him on a project. Wow. This is a wonderful video that truly needs to be preserved.

[@101rotarypower]

WOW, I could watch Brian go on and on, he seems so excited he jumps around looking for the next clue postulating how the puzzle pieces could fit together. Thank you Nick, thank you Brian!

[@deantheot7296]

Thank you for sharing this outing and BIG THANK YOU to Mr. Atwater for giving more clues to what HE see's when looking at a lake shore deposit. Most interesting! Thanks Nick

[@erfquake1]

This is all amazing insight; geologist-to-geologist banter. This is gold, seeing how much they both enjoy their profession.

[@Sven-_Trials]

Blows my mind on how complicated ice age deposits are!

[@KathyWilliamsDevries]

An hour of bliss!

[@StarfireReborn]

Brian Atwater Is The Reason I Was Having Field Trips Through The Columbia River Gorge In High School... Observing Destruction & Construction Of Layers, Post Tsunami & Ongoing Uplift Speculations. My Teacher Was Amazing. Geology Is Amazing.

[@BawlmawrBob]

“No, we both have old knees. We’ll need those knees to get back.” Ha!

[@garynickel648]

The biggest take away from the class today is the power of observation, GREAT WORK

[@jeremyharstad7951]

I sure hope we get to see more videos of Nick and Brian together like this! That was excellent!! Thank you so much for this!

[@sidbemus4625]

Thank you Nick.Thank you Brian.A beautiful day in the sage....with water and ROCKS.....

[@MellnikMary]

Wonderful experience for us! Thanks.

[@eunicelcastilloeunicelarac9421]

Wow! Nick, you are in rarified company!

[@dancooper8551]

Dr. Atwater is a genius! Every geology student taking a class that involves field study should watch this. Thank you Brian and Nick!!

[@michaelhusar3668]

Agree 100%, watching Dr. Atwater in real time explain what's going on on that cliff is amazing. Show this to get students motivated prior to doing field work. You could send 1000 different geology majors to this site, and most would be clueless. I just see dirt, Dr. Atwater sees and explains thousands of years of geology.

[@SP_3333]

Washington state is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing these field trips w/us Nick. Brian's input is fantastic. Appreciate you both so much.

[@mikebjornstad5855]

Thanks for taking us townies along with you.

[@sdmike1141]

What an irrepressible soul! You can’t fake that kind of passion. What a treasure of a human! Thanks Nick for sharing him with us.

[@biffnarzilla4649]

Brian's like a kid in a candy shop. He clearly enjoys what he's doing.

[@kidmohair8151]

both of them actually

[@thirteenthtone]

What a storyteller!

[@markbrideau588]

Yet another great glimpse of a Field geologist at work. Very interesting to see both the evidence and interpretations.

[@johnwinskie7911]

Thanks Nick & Brian - very instructive!

[@catbritz9765]

Thank you for the videos with Brian Atwater, he is amazing, a pleasure to listen to!

[@okiejammer2736]

OMG. I am reading FULL RIP 9.0 (Sandi Doughton) and the 2nd chapter starts with the name: BRIAN ATWATER. Believe me, folks. After you read the 1st chapter, this man's name, BRIAN ATWATER, comes into full focus. You GET it, why Nick Zentner mentions this scientist in his videos. Jiminy! Total Respect and Gratitude to you both. And let's hope Cascadia slumbers into millenia.

[@davidkarkoski3437]

Thanks for the fun walk with geologic interpretations. A lot more interesting than going by yourself and looking at something and not understanding it

[@longcastle4863]

Listening to a scientist think out loud... Wonderful and very generous of him.

[@AvanaVana]

It’s not hard to get those flood deposits up at pangborn, etc if the land is depressed as Atwater mentions, from glacial isostatic loading! They should re-run those simulations with a glacial isostasy loading parameter and use the mantle deformation rates to calculate timing, based on the necessary hydrological conditions to create the deposits. Or at least to establish bounds on timing, then maybe you can get some answers on when the ice retreated from grand coulee, for instance. Wow, some really beautiful sedimentology there, hidden in the shadow of such an impressive rock. Love those varves overlying the beautiful ripples. The varve/mud injectites speak to the instantaneous nature of the flood deposits IMO. so much sediment deposited so quickly on unlithified, wet sediment loads it, and causes the saturated sediment trapped below to flow as an overpressured liquid up into the bed above, and also is caused by dewatering structures. Another explanation for that diamict (if it’s not a till) landslide/debris flows caused by destabilization of the land after flood scouring. But if there’s drop stones loading sediments underneath then it likely is glacial. And if it’s glacial, then that seems to imply ice advance, and lots of icebergs... Also the coulee could have started to get cut during a previous glacial maximum, and there may have been cycles of glacial outburst floods during that time that then got scoured completely away and filled by the Missoula floods of the LGM ;) Video stops right at the tillite money shot! Haha. Really appreciate this video, Nick. So much to read here, apologies for getting excited with this long comment.

[@swirvinbirds1971]

I always wondered about this... I know they are having problems getting enough water to fill the high points. I also wonder if those high points are from the earliest floods when the floor of the Scablands wasn't as carved out like the later floods.

[@AvanaVana]

@@swirvinbirds1971 yeah could be

[@mattcwatkins]

When my head isn't smoking, gears are turning in my head watching this. I find myself Googling so many basic geology terms like varve, intrusion, gypsum precipitation, injection, sills, diamicttite (sp?), coulees, etc. Thanks for letting me hang over the shoulder of two masters of their fields.

[@okiejammer2736]

Isn't this a profoundly beautiful planet!😊

[@johnkraft7213]

This reminds me of dad in the field. Giving a convincing story of what's going on and at the end, when you think you have a complete story, out came the " or maybe that's not what happened" !

[@illbee3395]

Thank you Nick and Brian

[@crowesarethebest]

Spectacular field trip. Thank you.

[@sharonseal9150]

My ears perked up at the Mt St Helens ash layers 14,000 to 15,000 BP. Goes along with the Native American Spokane Flood story. I had previously speculated Glacier Peak had been erupting.

[@MrFmiller]

It’s amazing watching and hearing Brians thought processes and methodology. I’m delighted to have had him share his vast experience, knowledge and enthusiasm with us. It gives me some insight as to how sediment is interpreted. I’m grateful for you sharing the experience.

[@kevincorbin6273]

Brian and Nick are amazing individuals, they have way too much fun playing in the mud

[@wandamosley9049]

Thanks for another opportunity to learn!

[@tick_magnetedschaper5611]

I thought I a good handle on this stuff and Brian just blew my mind. Big THANKS to Brian and Nick for showing me just how little I actually know. Very exciting!

[@cyclicalcycler993]

Just wow! Brian is an absolute badass!

[@deepquake9]

Wonderful outing! Great set of geologists!

[@FiddleyBits]

It doesn't get any better than this!!! A new Scablands story in the making. Absolutely stunning!! Thank you so much!!

[@Champstarrable]

Instant classic. Thanks for documenting and sharing Brian Atwater in his element.

[@woop2235]

What an interesting man is Brian Atwater😉 He carries a lot of knowledge and valuable information for the young ones that are up and coming 👍🏽❣️

[@yaserhussain8113]

Very much to learn from this field trip. Thank you for this amazing video.

[@lawndog6218]

Thank you Nick,always waiting for a new field video.

[@sharonhoward4957]

Man he has the fever! I didn’t want it to end! Especially when you know he is going to keep talking! Great video!

[@justmine6498]

Just awesome. Thank you both so much. Love this keep it coming Nick.

[@steel1182]

Really interesting layers of TIME. …neat stuff .. thanks to you both !

[@janicemartin1580]

Wow! I am breathless trying to keep up with Brian Atwater. What an interesting day at the 'beach'. Thanks Nick and Brian, for sharing.

[@philbox4566]

Oh that was such a rare treat spending time with Brian and following along with his thinking as he digs around in the field. Awesome.

[@TheDevice9]

This is just an extraordinary piece Nick. Thanks to my having hung out with you so much the last year or so, I understand just enough of this to really appreciate how cool it is. The thing I like best about geology is trying to understand the landscape and picture the events over time that formed it. I'm not so good at remembering the names of things, but love the big story. When I look at something, I want to know why. I would never get to participate in an outing like this in real life without you bringing me along. My humble thanks to you and Brian for this treat. I hope you will discuss this further some time as I always have questions....which is why this is so cool because I'm looking at this stuff while having it interpreted by experts in real time. And... always remember, you might need those knees to get back. Good advice.

[@briane173]

I'm kinda like you in that regard -- I'm into the MACRO-geology, not the micro-stuff. What Dr. Atwater and Nick dive into is very nuanced minutiae that add up to this big picture that I'm _most_ interested in. Within the micro is the evidence, within the evidence is the whole of the story. _That's_ what I'm into, not the parts that make up the whole, but the whole itself.

[@raylancaster5886]

Well, I caught parts of that, sure enjoyed it and didn't want it to end. Thank you

[@cawsonwillislide5204]

Brilliant! 3rd time watching this, will watch again, had to say Thank You. Nick and Brian, your time and knowledge are so valuable. To see environment that could be gone tomorrow, priceless.

[@warrenosborne6044]

I continue to learn from Nick, and guest geologists. Thank you.

[@PeteV80]

This is so great. I wish other disciplines did this as well. So open, transparent, accessible.

[@Rachel.4644]

OMG, fascinating and beautiful, and engaging. What surprises me is the continual questioning of possible scenarios, (which is somehow reassuring)! 👏🏼 New word: Diamict ... 😊 Thank you!

[@jeffaxel181]

Fantastic! Reminds me of boating on Lake Roosevelt and observing those very same sediment exposure types. I wish you guys would get on a boat and cruise the Lake Roosevelt shoreline for a video, especially up the Spokane Arm. There are massive lakebed rip ups of the old Lake Columbia up there on the south shore near Porcupine Bay. As I recall, they were something like 6 feet or more high. Just imagine turning a swirled cinnamon roll on its side and looking straight at it. They were wonderful whorls of Missoula sand and Columbia clays. Also a giant sequence of rhythmites a good 20 feet high from a massive growing sandbar during one of the floods just east of Porcupine Bay where the lake gets really narrow.

[@tadpolefarms631]

Brian Atwater - the Energizer Bunny has 'nothing' on this man. Simply amazing his knowledge and ENERGY.

[@Rachel.4644]

My nose is on my screen, looking at Brian's scrapings. Dang, it's fascinating. What a total blast this is. Brian's enthusiasm is off the charts. Wow.

[@tonylea671]

This video really makes me wish I'd been a geologist. What a great, charming guide!

[@ericpark2911]

I really like this guy, fun to watch. He really enjoys what he is doing and it shows. Makes it fun for the viewer. I hope to see him again in a future video. Thanks Nick for sharing.

[@neebeeshaabookwayg6027]

Playing 'catch up', going to see this now.. thank you so kindly, nick!! God bless, and good eve! Pet the cat, and hug the wife, :) ... and keep up your good work..🥰

[@laureneolsen8624]

We enjoyed this episode so much. Brian is amazing !

[@beebester4106]

Wow wonder place great day to be out! Great too see such enthusiasm and Mr. Atwater is doing great so full of energy.

[@JenniferLupine]

Fascinating to see Brian at work discovering and interpreting! Very exciting! Thanks Nick! 👌👍

[@rwnelson51]

Overwhelmingly insightful and to "tag along" on a field trip with such knowledge, passion and drive; to learn.... Thank you Brian. Thank you Nick!!

[@badmoon8663]

Love this series of field geologists at work. Looking at evidence and trying various stories to explain what is going on.

[@ricksanderson4640]

Nick, I want back to watch the 1 hour mark and it’s really mind blowing to hear Brian discuss that Bretz had agreement about the prior cutting of Moses coulee. Thanks for pointing this out

[@AllYouJesusAmy]

Wow.! Ur at one of my fave places.! Love steamboat rock.! So beautiful there.!

[@KrisWood]

Thank you for posting this, Nick. Utterly delightful to watch him and listen to him. His enthusiasm is infectious.

[@lonthrall5613]

Thanks for putting this together and sharing it with us!

[@revolknhoj]

I could watch this all day ! Thank you for taking us along

[@p.d.nickthielen6600]

Loved this discussion

[@oscarmedina1303]

What a wonderful field trip. Brian is quite a treasure. Thank you for taking the time to shoot this video and for sharing it with us.

[@zazouisa_runaway4371]

Awesome! Thanks a lot for sharing such memorable time!

[@jeffbaran8036]

Great show with Brian. Many thanks

[@GratefulNachos]

Wow! I could listen to Brian talk all day long.

[@jdean1851]

GREAT STUFF!!! Cheers from Lewiston, Idaho"

[@Rocket39Smoke14]

Where the "Older - Bigger, Younger - Smaller" theory was re-imagined. Thank you, Brian Atwater.

[@wiregold8930]

What a phenomenal presentation. The skill of the videographer, field technique and observations from a maestro, set along the mighty Columbia. I feel really insignificant now.

[@jamesparker6876]

It is all new to me. Thanks to the knowledge and experience of Brian Atwater, and Nicks reflections regarding Brian's explanation. I have gained a greater picture of what may have happened in the distant past. I could spend all day looking at these sediments. Oh well, ran out of battery.

[@altheacraig2904]

I have tried to tell some people about what Brian and Nick are telling us about the history of WA's geology and they seem to have no idea of the REAL history. I am 84 pushing 85 and love learning all of what they are telling me and all of you. I watch everything that Nick puts on my computer.

[@Dripfed]

Re-visiting this after the Ice Age Floods A-Z series is a must. As Nick says in his lecture aeries, this was the lightbulb moment for Moses Coulee and revisiting Bretz work, and the Spokane ice sheet. Nothing beats field geology for getting at the truth.

[@GregInEastTennessee]

A fantastic video with so much information, I'll have to watch it 3 or 4 times. But it just kind of faded out. I assume your battery died. Hopefully you brought two and there will be a continuation of this great field trip. Thanks for doing this and sharing it with us. And a special thanks to Brian Atwater for his expertise. It looked like you were having the time of your life. :) Be well.

[@charliebartholomew1564]

So nice to see Nick with his buddies and makes me feel like they are our friends too. Thanks Brian for taking the time to make this video so enjoyable mostly because you are such a gentleman like all the USGS geologists are while teaching me something new and reminding me of previous publications I need to review again. Have a happy 60th birthday coming up );

[@georgegrader9038]

Yes, Legend. So much fun. Really enjoying this.

[@robmagee100]

Absolutely fascinating

[@stabbrzmcgee825]

Wow this was fun. Good camera work too, giving us very good looks at the cuts.

[@glennsohm6643]

Been out of touch for awhile but came across this episode. Nick...so interesting...thanks!

[@michaelciccone2194]

This is absolutely fantastic! Geology has been interest since I was a kid.

[@Langonica]

This field video expanded so much in its questions, as much as the hypothesis. The idea of the transience of varves through major, or even minor, events is so, so interesting. Mystery Diamect. Drop Stones. I also love the incongruity of the thought of long geologic time interrupted by events spanning less than a single decade. Thank you for sharing with us enthusiasts, as well as your students.

[@Langonica]

I especially love Brian Atwater's... "Moving on..." mentality. Conveys so much, in such precious time. It's the excitement I get amped by.

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

Brian is a detail man. A technician. He let's other deeper thinkers explain his findings. He seems confused, but not. Other enlightened beings will come along and if he details enough they will enlighten us to the area history. His information is too dense to interpret. Like Nick he is asking the question, no answers just questions that show the Missoula floods were not in any way as simple as Nick was explaining 4 years past.

[@ryker900travels7]

WOW..Just keeps getting better!!

[@HJWhitehall]

My two favorite geologists in one video! This is one happy woman geeking out.

[@711zuni]

Mine also Not that I know the names of many geologists !!! I saw Brian on a discovery channel about the tsunami sédiments years ago. I watch nick all the time over and over again Still no nothing really but so interested

[@HJWhitehall]

Both Nick and Brian are passionate and brilliant geologists. Nick Zentner was my husband's geology professor at CWU. He's a tall and sweet man to talk to. I met Brian at an Emergency Management meeting once and the second time was at a picnic. Once they start talking geology they don't stop. I hope you get a chance to meet one of them, you will not regret it.

[@jayolson578]

Small world!!! Nicks videos are amazing and he’s an awesome facilitator. This years curriculum sounds like it’ll be great.

[@yukigatlin9358]

The deposits of 1foot thick layer of unsorted rocks could come from local landslides?? Landslides possibly caused by a pool of water breaching on top of iceberg??--from Gene Oh, WOW amazing experiences you guys brought to viewers, Brian and Nick! Thank You!! I love Brian's enthusiasm to go and still going head on to solve mysteries of Ice Age Floods, SO cool!!!

[@gordonormiston3233]

Brian has such an active mind, finding excitement in most everything he comes across. Be it new exposure of sediments or a hawk getting mobbed he finds a great joy in everything. It must have been a most interesting and enjoyable field trip for Nick. I’m very jealous!

[@vf7vico]

an amazing day to be a fly on the wall -- first rate fascination, intrigue!

[@mwhitelaw8569]

Mr. Atwater is looking well Great to see

[@n539rv]

WOW…. What a great tour with the famous Brian Atwater and hear his thinking!