Glacial Ice & Earthquakes Help Shape Mountains. A Geologic Look at the Sawtooth Range, Idaho

Geology professor Shawn Willsey explores the role of glacial ice and earthquakes, particularly the March 2020 M6.5 quake, on Idaho's iconic Sawtooth range. This is a presentation given to the Stanley Community Library in March 2023.
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[@thekambIer]

Awesome!!! I always look forward to these lectures

[@user-wk1mw9nj3i]

This was fascinating, watching on 4-30-24. I’ve been in Idaho twice, first as a little kid stopping with my family at Craters of the Moon while driving from California to Minnesota, and second, auditioning in Boise for the Boise Philharmonic. Didn’t get the job. It’s clear to me now that there’s a whole lot more to discover in Idaho. What spectacular mountains!

[@3xHermes]

Very well done, thank you!

[@dithompson2679]

Always enjoy your vlogs, Shawn. I admit it ... I'm a lurker (from Virginia) rather than anything else but it's usually because I'm doing two things at once. Hmmm, is it okay to just listen and enjoy? 😊 Great subject today!

[@marinangeli3250]

Great video and topic, Shawn, thank you for posting this! That brilliant blue lake, below Thompson Peak, is noted on maps simply as Lake 9000... the elevation, in feet, at which it rests. I hiked there to watch the 2017 total solar eclipse.

[@shawnwillsey]

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[@LizWCraftAdd1ct]

Always interesting, thank you Shawn.

[@JanetClancey]

Kudos for the climb and great geology.. always interesting and informative.. I’m getting to know Idaho even tho I’ll probably never get to see it. Thank you Shawn

[@denisem.1042]

There was also a gravel bar on Bull Trout lake where Spring Creek flows in, that was popular with fishermen, which also slid into the lake during the earthquake. Now, you have to get your feet wet to fish there, or bring waders.

[@tombakewell2007]

Thanks!

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

My absolute favorite Idaho area, and I've been all over the State on motorcycle. Beautiful, massive geological features everywhere!

[@RWBHere]

Thanks Shawn and Library. 🙂👍

[@fire_n_ice1984]

Here in Southeast Alaska, you really get to see the power of glaciers. Exploring and climbing on glaciers is like being on another planet. 25yrs here, couldn't live anywhere else.

[@susierider55]

Re: the 2020 earthquake. At my house(Boise) , the first indication was a big whomp. Just like the house was picked up and dropped. It was such a weird sound. Then some mild shaking. I still remember that ‘whomp’.

[@coyote4237]

The Ruby Mts. just outside Elko, Nevada, also has excellent examples of glaciation.

[@USBIKER26]

Great info. I would think that the steepness of the mountain range would also effect the creation of glaciers.

[@causewaykayak]

Thats incredible scenery right at the outset !!

[@causewaykayak]

Im amazed that Rain Shadow affecting snowfall and glaciation .. makes such a huge difference to the eventual topography and vegetation cover. Geology is evidently a fundamental part of the environment.

[@marinangeli3250]

Smoothie is GONE!!!! Sad but hilarious. The videographer's reaction, while taping the demise of Baron Spire (Old Smoothie), was priceless.

[@Janer-52]

Just a comment - when the giant earthquake hit San Francisco in the 80's, I was in LA. And I felt it!

[@justhim1710]

Love it 👋🏻👋🏻

[@SolidifyingLava]

I didnt feel the biggest Earthquake here in Ireland. It was a magnitude 4.4 even though the epicenter was 8km away. We live near an old fault that goes straight through Scotland too. I was in the garden, building a shed....

[@EddieSchirmer]

haha, i can sympathize with missing a good quake. i slept through two in the early 2000s when living in San Ramon, CA. i still get annoyed by the fact that i am such a heavy sleeper haha. alas, i was busy with school and other things, so i needed the sleep. still, its been a dream of mine to experience a Good quake some day.

[@DJDouglasWarden]

Good stuff thank you

[@nothanks3236]

5:36 you should update your slide there for future talks, you're well over 100K subs now lol. Brag a little...

[@GregsGeologyChannel]

Great video! I understood all of your explanation of how glaciers work. There are parts I had not heard before. Looking at the historical map, it looks like the small aftershocks and small quakes, the circles seem to go north of the Sawtooth Fault. You said it was hard to find at times. Could these circles help to define the fault? Greg in east TN 😀

[@wardsdotnet]

You might find a lot of useful photos and footage of your area from the SUV RVing channel (if you ask permission)

[@geoffgeorges]

I have a roadside geology episode for you: Mars . Some great new images from NASA.