Geology of Minecraft: Caves!

[@jonogrossett8407]

As a hydrogeologist I love that you went and covered the caves, pretty perfect all round. Its great to see that you're out there raising awareness that we exist! Excellent use of the command blocks and the presentation is top notch.

[@gneissname]

Thanks, glad to hear I did alright. Always a bit nervous talking about areas that aren’t my specific discipline.

[@nousernamejoshua1556]

​@gneissname Apologies to Jono. Gne, would you branch out on biometric weather, how climates form of geological formation, clustered biometric confluences, conditions and active patterns and maybe touch on land migration of biometric which are out of place and touch on how those affect weather patterns and speculate the pattern if migration hadn't occurred. Really wanting to learn of Utah, South Dakota.

[@nousernamejoshua1556]

How realistic are the caves? What is the longest cave network, and stability risks? Are the walls of lava tubes uniquely hardened in some way? Is it the same process at the mantle layer?

[@NotShilKa]

Quick tip; Instead of deleting files, you can share a drive folder and update the map inside it, so you won't need to change links with each update

[@gneissname]

Good idea

[@TheTanadu]

@@gneissname I'd even thing further, and maybe "closed" for updating but repository on github, so people may download version of map they want, like your first version where caves weren't covered or something

[@ainstrument]

I have a materials science background, so the only thing I know about geology are the minerals and crystals. It's great being exposed to this field in such an approachable way. These videos absolutely feel like a field trip, with you walking along the different 'exhibits' and the being able to pick which blocks to show in the cave visualization. My favorite part is the cave formation process, which is something I can totally imagine in a museum.

[@gneissname]

Thanks, there is a lot of overlap with material science and geology. I have had several students go on to work in a materials related job.

[@Ziggy-hy4fn]

It does really feel like a field trip!

[@imEden0]

Nice! As somebody who knows next to nothing about real geology, I’m loving this series

[@LaughingOrange]

That's what a teacher who loves both their field and teaching does. They make anything interesting to anyone.

[@Skulkin11]

Shia LaBeouf?

[@gui18bif]

? ​@@Skulkin11

[@commentOwO]

You should talk about the "sinkhole" formation seeds, don't think they're similar to anything irl but they're very interesting in game

[@muelesariocontra]

Sinkholes actually exist in real life, as a consequence of karst subsidence and other factors

[@commentOwO]

@@muelesariocontra i know but i don't think they're like the weird ones in minecraft

[@antoinedube-cote155]

@@muelesariocontra probably not as deep and wide though

[@Parallelwarfare]

You do actually get a lot of these sort of formations in real life. Sinkholes typically are subsidence as said by muelesariocontra, but the real life analogue to Minecraft sinkholes can be seen in places like france, where caves often start from the surface as "chasms". You can also see a wetter version in places such as Mexico, which are known as cenotes. These are essentially chasms which lead to lakes, below which are flooded cave systems.

[@SupersuMC]

I've always thought of ravines as exposed seismic faults, but that's just my take on it. And we all know how sinkholes can form in Minecraft, especially deserts. Also, no mention of aquifers?

[@gneissname]

Another video :)

[@vit.budina]

I love when grown adults who know a lot about a certain complex topic delve into some of these more silly areas of their profession. Seeing how they treat these seemingly childish areas with respect and really put the time into their work to explain stuff in a way that is easy to understand is always fun. I'm not a person who would normally find interest in geology, but you presented it in a very entertaining way!

[@msteph2236]

I had zero interest in geology before seeing this series and now I’m researching geology of where I live. Awesome content man!

[@nicreven]

i guess you could say geology rocks

[@PWNDON]

I loved my geology class when I was younger, and I still found geology cool, but this channel reignited me actually looking into it at all.

[@wuketuke6601]

when you talk about things outside of minecraft, like the collapsing caves in china, or the lava tubes, it would be a great addition to show images of what you mean

[@anoNEMOs]

Recently, when watching Daskalos (the archeologist who did "bronze age minecraft" and "trail ruins excavation"), I thought to myself that it would be great if other scientist started using minecraft to educate people. The first thing I thought of was geology. And a few days later youtube recommended me this channel.

[@aceitedeolivas1997]

you mentioning yellowstone when talking about caves makes me wish that you gave your geological insight into a texture pack called Terralith. it is a resource pack that overhauls the biome generation of the overworld. it changes the shape and feel of most biomes, as well as adding a bunch of new (mostly realistic) ones by remixing vanilla blocks.

[@gneissname]

Thanks, several people have wanted me to look at terrafirmacraft too. Maybe I can do an impressions video or something.

[@toatrika2443]

Its a datapack/mod, not a resource or texture pack. The latter two arent able to change the content of the game world, only how what already exists looks

[@EmilySmirleGURPS]

@@toatrika2443 Terrafirmacraft is a separate thing from Terralith.

[@toatrika2443]

@@EmilySmirleGURPS im aware. I was responding to OP

[@BanditLeader]

​@@toatrika2443by technicality, all datapacks are resource packs. And the terralith "mod" is just a repacked datapack

[@cosmopoiesecriandomundos7446]

4:09 the official Brazilian Portuguese translation of the game (at least in Bedrock) does call the dripstones "espeleotemas", which means "speleothems".

[@gneissname]

cool!

[@biscade]

can real life dripstone actually grow *that* large?

[@gneissname]

I have seen some pretty big formations, the largest stalagmite found is in Vietnam and its like 70 meters tall.

[@biscade]

@@gneissname but about a big stalactite, wouldn’t it break off or collapse? edit: woah 70 meters is really big

[@Highlandword9]

@@gneissname Speleothems are cool 😎

[@Highlandword9]

@@biscade sometimes, usually not

[@piersonlawrence3467]

@@biscade They can and do get that big in large enough caves, they are soiid mineral rock afterall.

[@Paint_The_Future]

What cave biomes would you add to Minecraft? I've been endlessly exploring the big cave next to my base and I can travel extremely far underground. Dozens of hours of exploring and it never stops. I'm wondering if these caves are so numerous and large, then it must be technically possible to travel from one end of the world (the "Farlands") to the other end without coming up to the surface. I don't know how you would find that out though.

[@connordarvall8482]

I'd love some glacial caves and lava tubes in Minecraft. Other ones I can think of are mushroom jungles due to how much space some of those newer caves have. Another one is groundwater oceans that could change the cave generation to be more open, maybe with some floating structures to mix up how they are traversed. Another idea is caves with naturally occurring glass to add a splash of colour to the underground with some lava lakes to be a bit more blatant about the volcanic glass reference.

[@gneissname]

It would be cool to have a bioluminescent cave biome, maybe specifically for underwater caves or something.

[@padoin5332]

I'm surprised there isn't a volcanic kinda cave yet

[@liamisafireplace]

it’s a bit of a odd answer, but there are some minecraft seeds that happen to come out kinda weird where many generated structures (including caves) repeat infinitely along an axis, meaning that there would be caves that definitionally span the length of the world

[@TheRedSmarty]

​@@liamisafireplace I don't think those exist anymore after the world generation changes of Caves & Cliffs.

[@mo0od749]

Hello! I’d love to see you talk about oceans next! I read a paper called “Not a bathtub: A consideration of sea-level physics for archaeological models of human migration” that talks about the weird ways oceans behave in the real world. Do check it out!

[@gneissname]

Cool, I'll look it up.

[@alicemursteinlesbefaen666]

entry level science videos like (especially about geology) this are actually such a huge inspiration for the workdbuilding of my fantasy stories, thanks!

[@Late0NightPC]

The method i learned as a kid to remeber stalacites and stalagmites was that, stalaCites grow on the Ceiling, while stalaGmites grow on the Ground. Im sure if you get down to the nitty gritty details that trick isnt 100% accurate, but at least for an ordinary person who isnt deep into geology, its served me quite well.

[@croissantman8809]

there is also another rare / lesser known type of limestone karst where the limestone is corroded from the bottom by the ascention of sulfur based chemicals , turned into sulfuric acid by some bacterias , these caves have a lot of gypsum inside them (in a "normal" limestone karst , gypsum is very rare beceause of its high solvability ) . this type of karst is very rare and often present in very dry areas , or areas with a very limited "bassin versant" ( idk how to translate this one ) , in europe we have around two cave systems like this ,in america lechugilla cave if i recall the name correcly is one of the biggest example of this kind of karst . also i think it would be very nice (even if almost impossible to put in the game ) to add in minecraft a more "alpine" and young type of karst , with lots of meanders , fossile and active conduits and an important vertical layer feeding its water into a more horizontal interconnection of collectors before entering a submerged area and resurging somewhere .

[@jesselauch]

I just discovered you brother and you are a blessing. Watching your videos with my kids and we both learn a lot

[@gneissname]

Great to hear, glad you and your kids are enjoying it.

[@jesselauch]

@@gneissname I also sent one of your videos to my best friend from the Marine Corps expecting him to watch a few minutes of it so we could appreciate the value of an educational Minecraft video and though he’s the most responsible person I know he ended up staying up until 1 AM consuming your content. You were his first Minecraft video 😂. Again thank you for making educational content that is easy for children to engage in.

[@ramuk1933]

Potential explanations for glowberries: 1. Fantasy rock, maybe redstone, can be harvested from roots and concentrated to form a glowing orb, that the leaves grow to photosynthesize from. 2. Thermo/chemotropic bacteria or other microorganisms, since one explanation of the water formation involves that kind of thing, the microbes that collect energy from it have a strain that evolved into endosymbiotic organisms within the glowberry vines that create light for photosynthesis. 3. Magic, maybe they see light from a parallel plane or whatever. It's hard to make a plant that grows in complete darkness realistic...

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

I think that this is a invasive species that gotten into caves that feeds by eating the cave. The reason they are green because evolution doesn't remove every body part that has lost its purpose

[@cevatkokbudak6414]

Maybe the fruits are symbiotic animals that live like plants

[@bpn12123]

I study Mining and Metallurgical engineering and I had a fair amount of geology, mineralogy and petrology classes. During all those classes we would be provided with crappy pictures of how "things" happened (formation of volcanoes etc) while in fact minecraft is a perfect tool to demonstrate things like these. Especially the 2D (17:38) explanation of caves formation could work with so many examples like explaining faults, rifts, the movements of tectonic plates and so on. Your videos are a great entry level to your field that I can show my younger brother and still find it entertaining but also informative. You seem to have created the "Minecraft Education Edition" that Mojang should have made. Excelent work! Can't wait for more videos! ps. In many videos you mention real life examples of locations and formations, it would be great if you added some pictures during the videos as a showcase of these exaples.

[@guyman1570]

Terraria would've worked better. It handles liquids way better than Minecraft's "infinite sources"

[@sigmasuniverse]

Seeing those real life examples was amazing! Thank you for taking the extra time and effort you took to record that part for us to see.

[@darkhawk155]

Really slick visualization with the cross section advancing through time! Really liked the details comparing the in-game and IRL cave types, super interesting stuff communicated very well. Thanks for sharing your expertise!

[@Ziggy-hy4fn]

I always remember Stalac"T"ites as at the "Top". "T" for top. The "hold tight" strategy didn't help me much because something could just as easily hold "tight to the floor", but "T" is always TOP! Just another fun pneumonics trick I've used over the years.

[@u12bdragon]

The way I was taught stalacTites and stalagMites is that if you draw lines connecting all three lines of the T, it forms a downward facing spike, and the M is easy, it already has 2 upwards facing spikes

[@leedoucette]

The basement rock topic interests me a lot. Living in an area that has basement rock exposed on the surface but always thought it was normal. Thanks for the great video.

[@gneissname]

Yeah its odd here in the mid west where we have tens of meters of glacial debris and then a bunch of limestone or sandstone. Locals will find a piece of granite in their yard and bring it to the university thinking they found something crazy. (usually a piece of Canada that got pushed down with the glaciers)

[@j1m_jim]

The lighting of the lush caves somewhat brings to mind the Glowworm Caves in New Zealand. With the obvious caveat that glowworms are animals and not plants which are present in the lush caves.

[@dillphin5238]

Most under-appreciated channel ever

[@vadernation1233]

He’s back! So glad you’re bringing back this series it’s what brought me to your channel and as a big geology nerd I’m adoring it.

[@easytiger6570]

Just got your igneous rocks video recommended, and there is a new geology episode up, less than an hour ago! Praise algorithm

[@gamesux420]

Big disappointed that they didnt add a jungle giant mushroom underground forest biome

[@captainfraser3827]

0:50 the amount of mobs that spawn specifically in these caves is actually noticably denser though, since the light sources act to restrict the area they can spawn in, not the total amount of mobs that can spawn (verify this)

[@catharsis9789]

correct they will all spawn more densly in a corner without light

[@gneissname]

yeah so the lush caves are serene and you walk around the corner and run into the horde

[@_marshP]

imo a better way to remember the stalactite-stalagmite thing is: stalaGmite, G for ground stalaCtite, C for ceiling

[@bigdumb1]

this is the way i learned it!

[@benjigalvani]

Interesting seeing the cave formation bit about water interacting with limestone, and seeing the water level change. In Terraria's caves, when you fing water and dig away, the water level changes accordingly with the direction you're digging

[@PokeRedstone]

I vividly remember the underwater viewing area for sea lions at my local zoo clearly had a spot in the concrete ceiling that dripped so bad it caused the smallest of bumps on the ground. It was just a small mound no more than a mile quarter inch high if that.

[@Exotic_Dom]

W vid man youre a really cool geologist😎

[@gwynbleiddd]

Just yesterday I was binge watching all of your Minecraft geology videos and thinking “I can’t wait for the next part!” And here we go :D

[@tornadomash00]

in one of my survival worlds i built my house on top of an elevated area. behind it happened to be a hole with a small cave connecting to a giant underground cheese cave that went further down in typical minecraft fashion. i put a sign that labelled "what happened" and i put a fake date just for fun lol. i called it a sinkhole due to its proximity to the cave

[@slemire]

I know for a fact these videos will be used in classrooms soon to get kids interested in geology and earth science. Great video!!

[@evanvandeneinde7095]

holy mackerel. just hit 1k subs a week ago and now within the hour he has 1k views on a video about geology. (I'm a geologist too so I'm allowed to call us boring) this one has so much production value as well. good work.

[@marshmiillow]

I have never been more interested in geology in my life. Rocks!! 🎉❤

[@brettmichal1047]

This channel/videos are incredibly underrated. I wish I would've found these videos sooner they're incredibly fun and entertaining to watch. Keep it up!

[@Aspen1117]

Loved seeing the samples at the end of the video. Up in northern Wisconsin here we have the Ice Caves In Cornucopia, but due to increased temps in winter tourists haven’t been able to visit since 2015

[@invincabl355]

As someone who finds insane amount of enjoyment in world building and geology itself, these videos are amazing and makes me want to actually world build more than i already do! Keep up the amazing work!

[@Everest111]

The production of these videos is unparalleled, so much work must go into your set design and command block work. Keep it up man!

[@justadragonryu]

I loved the end seeing the actual formations in person.

[@dabylch]

wow! 10k views in just 12 hours! I would love to see your channel grow. keep it up with the videos, Good luck!

[@seek.l2215]

This video style reminds me a lot of ethos lab and I love it. Keep up the good work.

[@bbittercoffee]

YOOOOO I was just watching your Dirt! Video and you were talking about making a video about caves at the end of it and HERE IT IS! GODDAMN!

[@Raven-Blackwing]

I wouldn't think a half an hour video on the geology of a 12 year old game would be interesting, but this is extremely fascinating.

[@Smolnsalty]

Getting your Minecraft geology videos in my recommendations was one of the best things to happen to me

[@cathat4813]

I've been looking forward to this concept of a video from you!! I'm absolutely loving these videos!

[@trulyinfamous]

I love your little museum in minecraft. I think video game musuems are always fun. I have been building a musuem about space and the apollo program in a modded minecraft server so I have spent a lot of time trying to teach others in that game. I've done more research for that project than any school projects lol. Looks like I'll be subbing to this channel. I find rocks and geology really interesting. I'd love to have a geologist friend that I could explore with. I think I would probably talk their head off.

[@gneissname]

Sounds cool Truly, I have thought about doing a scale solar system in the end and covering some planetary geology there.

[@Mikelaxo]

That's really cool, I wish I would have learned more about cave formation in my geology classes, but the professor just briefly touched on it in my hydrogeology class. Also I learned something new this video, I didn't know that's how karts topography formed, that's very cool and it makes a lot of sense.

[@Litch016]

I love your educational approach of teaching geological facts, terms, and geology in general through Minecraft!

[@guitaristtony9913]

These videos are great! I know almost nothing about geology, so it's awesome to hear how it all applies to Minecraft. I think a video on the different ores in the game would be really interesting too!

[@nl_morrison]

you did this exactly like a mammoth cave tour guide, it was so good, i loved how informative and funny your little bits (which obviously took effort! like the lights turning on and the bridges) are! ✨

[@mxrcusf.3711]

Hi, I think that your videos are really interesting! I am currently studying forest engineering, and part of that is also learning about geology, so your videos are quite interesting to see in comparison to what we learn in class about geology and soil science!

[@ProfessorThock]

Just discovered this series. Cool stuff! Super innovative to create this amazing minecraft world as an interactive museum.

[@FukaiKokoro]

I love hearing people talk about things they are passionate about. Thank the almighty algorithm for recomending you!

[@Vicaral]

Would love to see you cover the way Vintage Story's generation of geological stuff works, these videos are really awesome! Keep it up

[@muno]

Google drive lets you upload a file as a "new version", so you can update the world without needing to change the download link ^^ It happens if you just upload the file again with the same name. It replaces the old one

[@glitchyentity2117]

I've always been fascinated by caves. I live in Kentucky which is quite well known for karst, and there is a bunch here.

[@n3r3sh77]

I remember stalactites because T is literally a line hanging from a roof and stalagmites because M is two spikes facing up.

[@skyheaven8257]

dear wake up,new geology of minecraft episode dropped

[@promaster4758]

Great video! I am a geology student in Spain and this videos are really interesting for me. Even if they are basic geology I still learn new things!

[@doktormozg]

I have been expecting this one from the first episode!! :) great stuff

[@RedRanger-ll7hx]

Very, very under rated. This is one of the only things that I would donate to on something like patreon because I love to see educational stuff through the format of games. You can really tell how much effort are put into these and as a Geography student and Minecraft player this is really nice to watch. Keep up the good work ♥👍

[@twistedkitty]

Came for the igneous rocks, stayed for the caves. I hope to see more of your amazing content soon!

[@Bebeu4300]

I really love the way you explain things in an understandable way and especially the way you do the visuals in Minecraft. It's a great way to explain things and keeps everything visually interesting, while fitting in with the game. It's also interesting to see some real life examples of speleothems, especially the calcite crystal covered stalactite. I'm so happy to have discovered this series.

[@rerurmaximov]

Dude, your videos are really entertaining! leaving comment just for an algorithm, cause I'll be able to watch it only tomorrow

[@rerurmaximov]

Yeah, video is great!

[@SnoFitzroy]

I remember stalagmites as the lower ones because it's phonetically reminiscent of "meteorite" ("meteor" being while it's in the atmosphere, "meteoroid" being when it's within earth's gravity influence) So to me, a "Stalagmite" is just a funny shaped meteorite, and a stalactite is "eh, The Other One"

[@sciencedude22]

That's a good way to remember it. I've always remembered it as "stalaCtites are on the Ceiling, and stalaGmites are on the Ground."

[@dylan5490]

Love the video! My favorite ‘educational Minecraft’ youtubers tend to over-edit their videos. I like the genuine feel of your content!

[@ArchDennam]

I've been watching a few of your geology videos recently and in this one I was just thinking, when you started discussing the real types of caves, _man, I'd love to see a timelapse of the process of some of these caves forming_ and then BOOM delivered! Masterful work Gneiss :)

[@Brenilla]

I’ve been to the lava tube out of flagstaff (few times actually), it is pretty cool

[@lmbrjckwharfie]

As soon as you explained what "karst" was, it reminded me of Karst Farm Park, a recreational complex near Bloomington, Indiana, where I sometimes had lacrosse practices. I had always just assumed the name came from somebody with the last name "Karst" owning a farm that later became the park, so I had to look it up and figure out how that connection was made. Turns out it literally is named that because of the karst topography of the area (and yes, also a farm that was there before the park, but not owned by anyone named Karst). Really enjoy these videos, please keep doing these!

[@draken4936]

You deserve more subs, this content is amazing

[@gneissname]

Thanks, I appreciate that!

[@Mr.FastZombie]

Presenting Geology through Minecraft is great. It makes it a lot more interesting when you make connections to one of my favorite games which also makes it much easier to focus on and digest this information, and it truly is fascinating

[@refl9630]

Dude found out how to make geology not boring by using Minecraft. Have my subscription. (Gneiss pun name btw)

[@emmahealy4863]

If you're looking to make geology interesting, you should try going caving in real life! Adventure companies tend to run day trips for beginners, and caving clubs exist if you decide you want to keep learning. Very fun and informative!

[@1st1anarkissed]

sweet lessons, bro, I never knew about karst topography and it really excites the imagination. I looked at some images of landscapes and imagined the cave roof still overhead, partially collapsed so the light reaches in and allows all the valley farming. I realized the cave roof would have done a lot to level the valley inside and that a lot of the hills would have been stalactite/stalagtite (I forgot the name already for that) pillars that got left behind. Pretty nifty.

[@villagerfish]

awesome video. thank you so much for the world download as well. i'm inspired to incorporate some geology related builds/features in my survival world :-) plus, being able to dive deep in each of your world sections will supplement my current geology course

[@kengeraw]

You just gave me inspiration about teaching "things" method. You're doing great job. Are you geologist or geology engineer? Just asking.

[@gneissname]

Thanks, Im a geologist in my current irl job. My geology knowledge specializes in a few topics but mostly the equipment side of analytical machines. Mass specs, X-ray and laser equipment. I took a lot of engineering geology classes though and a previous degree was nuclear engineering.

[@mariovelez578]

I absolutely love this video series! How I remember: StalacTites (the T looks like a stalactite) StalagMite (the M looks like stalagmites)

[@SupersuMC]

Or: StaCtite (C for ceiling) StalaGmite (G for ground)

[@MechanicalRabbits]

Lmao I got baited into taking a geology lesson. This was cool as fuck.

[@Noelwiz]

That lush cave scene is so pretty! Makes me want to build something like that in my own world. It reminds me of when I visited Carlsbad Caverns :)

[@Pinsplash]

14:47 i once made an icy (sorry, glacial) cave in the minecraft art style in team fortress 2 and it looked a lot like that. i feel weirdly validated by that.

[@adalet127]

woow, I just recently subbed and went through all of your videos and instantly got a new one to watch, how nice :D

[@meemdic8682]

Subscribed recently and not disappointed. This is amazing and incredibly interesting on top of being so masterfully put together and demonstrated c:

[@Zugerujk]

The showcase at the end was really fascinating. Thank you for that! :D

[@foolofdaggers7555]

I really like the rock samples. Those are some neat rocks!

[@isobarkley]

that cave formation x-sec was so cool!! i need to learn to mess with command blocks like this

[@ShayanQ]

The diagram of the cave forming under the village was amazing!

[@Ommelanden]

I think the sculk could represent a sort of slime mould

[@Eliasdbr]

Is amazing how those geological formations can tell us about what happened in the past! Great work!

[@bengoodwin2141]

I'd love to see mods that add a little realism to cave generation but keep the variety, so you might have some regions with realistic shapes and some with weird exotic shapes, and same with the other aspects of the caves. Here's one way it could work: change the world generation to simulate the erosion that forms caves, rivers, ect, like in the later part of the video. Deeper than these, form the vanilla caves and explain it with some fictional thing, like maybe they're weird kind of mine held up by magic for so long that new natural caves formed around them

[@maskyboy2653]

I wish minecraft (Java) would add the old worldType options back. I’d love to play a survival world in JUST caves. Y’know… where the world is caves, and nothing else.

[@manrock1924]

Good work! A new video in the series, a few notes I guess, for me the most enjoyable parts were the 2d real life cross section and the real life rocks, with you using Minecraft as a reference to show how the real world works I guess, also when you talk near the start about the Minecraft caves, I would possibly showcase some images from Google or something to show examples at the time, anyways nice work! And the camera shots with replay mod have been neat, and the lights were cool how you rigged them up!

[@NOVA-vj8iu]

You have no idea how surprised I was when you mentioned my hometown Flagstaff lol. Nobody talks about it. And yes, the lava tubes near the base of the San Francisco Peaks are very fun and interesting to explore.

[@billyr2904]

Timelines are interesting and your timeline is the best part of the world in my opinion.

[@L4busaures]

This was peobably one of the most interesting Minecraft adjacemt videos ive ever seen. The ending with the real life samples so great! Please post more