Grand Canyon's Iconic Great Unconformity: 1.3 billion years of geologic time!

[@shawnwillsey]

You can support my field videos by clicking on the "Thanks" button just above (right of Like button) or by going here: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EWUSLG3GBS5W8

[@mudfossiluniversity]

LETS TALK????? Hello Prof...I run Mudfossil University on YT and soon to have live classes on Telegram...you are invited my friend......I study rocks as well but they are actually fossils. Some are very large. I would love to discuss my findings with you. Some of my "Rocks" are cat scanned and DNA tested so quite serious. [e-mail]

[@LinasMuliolisC21Homestar]

What camera did you use? Looks like a reframed 360 of some sort.

[@BlackCeII]

I've seen some compelling research coming out that the Grand Canyon was not formed as gradually as we once thought, but looking upslope, there is ample evidence of massive historic Lake that might have drained rapidly, carving deep, similar to what we see in the channels scablands of Eastern Washington.

[@1J_R]

there are podcasts here on YT of people that go down deep in caves underground. the "action adventure twins" in a great one. in their videos all sorts of amazing geological features and formations they pass along. would be so cool if they had an actual geologist accompany them to explain such amazing layers, processes and formations. Ever go caving, Shawn?

[@campsitez2355]

talk about an Atheist's Nightmare wow

[@JPREEDY77]

Plasticity and lubricated nature of landforms sliding against liquefied bedding over basement rock. Thank you SOOOO much for your much better back and legs that get me the vicarious field work.

[@runninonempty820]

You really know how to get the camera right up to great examples of what you want to show. It makes for very good videos that are easily understandable. Thank you.

[@alittleofeverything4190]

He is The Professor afterall.

[@kevinrussell1144]

Thanks for the views and the video. While in school (to become a geologist) we hiked to the bottom of the GC and saw the contact, but your sites showed a good deal more about the nature of the Tapeats than what we saw. The sandstones, grits, and conglomerates don't look that old, but facts don't lie. Sure, we were impressed by the unconformity, but thinking about it now after a long (but very short in geologic terms) life as a geologist, soon to join the record myself, one begins to understand just how much can be read from the nature and meaning of that contact.

[@Yetibiker67]

Amazing stuff Shawn. Please keep posting these educationally fascinating vlogs. You are a wonderful teacher!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thank you! Will do! Thanks for watching.

[@JimArnoldPhoto]

I took a course on the Geology of the Grand Canyon back in my undergraduate Geology days in the early 80’s. Never made it to the bottom of the canyon. Thanks for taking me there in this video.

[@campsitez2355]

the greatest threat to geologists who promote atheism is this. not just the "universal claims" argument that presents a unique contradiction for the claim _"there is no god"_ which can never logically consistently be made in the affirmative.

[@JessicaTPeterson]

Thanks for this clear picture and explanation of the great unconformity. What an incredible place. Love seeing the river.

[@mewanttools7275]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mae8lqOhacR5bacfeature=shared

[@mikekenney1947]

In 1995 I was fortunate to be on an environmental impact expedition down the Grand Canyon. Among our number was a geologist from NAU in Flagstaff who led us on a hike of Blacktail Canyon. Your rendition of the Great Nonconformity took me back to that glorious experience. You are a gifted communicator using the web the way it was first imagined. Bravo

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks.

[@shawnwillsey]

I also went to grad school at NAU. Who was your NAU geologist in 1995? I was there 1997-2000.

[@Dytopjewa7631]

Great mystery..really

[@jpx1508]

Shawn, thanks - watching this video was a moment lost in time. My understanding is these features in the Grand Canyon are accessed through wining impossibly oversubscribed lotteries for the 10-day whitewater trips to the Colorado River section, and, with reaching the Blacktail Canyon, are subject to the likely but not always given scheduling and interests of the specific tour group. Your sharing this expert "hands-on" reveal of the striking Great Unconformity is an understated sharing of a special adventure.

[@Rachel.4644]

Great video! (My one grand canyon experience was life-changing.) This helped me better understand the Great Unconformity. Just gorgeous, so appreciated, Shawn.

[@shawnwillsey]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mewanttools7275]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mae8lqOhacR5bacfeature=shared

[@briandwi2504]

Spectacular site. Awesome.

[@AndrewGrey22]

That is mind-blowing, Shawn. Just astonishing, the contrast between layers. That place is so beautiful. I wish I could see the entire lifespan of the canyon in ten minutes. I bet it would be amazing to see.

[@jackripleymaddiero]

Thanks ah so nice. Thanks for taking us there!

[@shawnwillsey]

My pleasure 😊 and thank you!

[@TheEarthMaster]

So how do you think all those sand particles you mentioned got there?

[@billburkhalter411]

Noah's Flood

[@hunt4redoctober628]

An incredible piece of Geological history! Just awesome. Siccar Point in Scotland is also another extremely rare example of where you can see what is thought to be part of a 'Great Unconformity' (or Huttons Unconformity) along with the Grand Canyon sequence ( Powell's Unconformity) . I visited the Grand Canyon 25 years ago now from the UK and I was just blown away by it. Such an awe inspiring place to visit and get up close to some amazing geology. You have the best job in the world Shawn!

[@shawnwillsey]

Yes, I've been to Siccar Point and it is awesome to think of Hutton there in the early 1800s piecing together important geologic concepts.

[@mewanttools7275]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mae8lqOhacR5bacfeature=shared

[@lisaloy2011]

Loved this video. The best one so far as it shows up close the distinctive strata layers back to over a billion years. To see it so close was amazing. I definitely shared another of your videos to Facebook. Would love to see more videos of this trip. If you could zoom in on any marine life fossils would be great. I wonder if the seas here were to shallow for the sharks of the day back over 200 million + years. Finding a tooth to see would be epic. I don't think they can be taken out, but a picture with one on the hand or a hand next to it's embedded site would be really something to see.

[@franklinchavezzambrana5251]

Explanation is clear and a nice place to learn .

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks for watching and learning with me. More Grand Canyon videos to come in next few weeks including one that shows some marine invertebrate fossils in Redwall Limestone.

[@mewanttools7275]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mae8lqOhacR5bacfeature=shared

[@gwynnfarrell1856]

The Great Unconformity is a really amazing thing and I've never heard or seen it explained so well. You must be having an incredible time on this journey! Thank you for giving us a look at what you're seeing.

[@earlysda]

The "Great Unconformity" took probably a couple of minutes to form during Noah's worldwide flood.

[@ucanliv4ever]

earlysda, exactly...and belief in Noah gets you kicked out of the phd club

[@earlysda]

@@ucanliv4ever Sure does, ucan. Anything that goes against the prevailing current of belief in the world is scorned and ridiculed. . But observed evidence shows the truth of the Holy Bible.

[@burpleson]

Awesome, in the true sense of the word.

[@chrisgriffiths2533]

Wow, This Video is Worth Watching Just for the Scenery. The Knowledge is a Bonus.

[@LanceHall]

Very cool seeing it up close and personal.

[@escapo6895]

It was left unsaid in the video, but presumably that contact also represents the ground surface at the moment where erosion waned and deposition took over--as this was in a coastal setting, perhaps it looked something like the rocky coasts of CA/OR, with a wave-cut bench of pitted rocks that enclosed tide pools in the upper reaches. I'm always fascinated by those kinds of windows in time where we can almost see exactly what the landscape looked like. Each one of those rocky cobbles at the lowest layer was dislodged from its source somewhere upstream, then came to rest on the Vishnu schist to be buried--frozen in place for us to see 500M years later.

[@jonathansmith2323]

Isn't the mystery of the Great Unconfomity the millions of years misssing that it represents... and considering the amount of missing material we have to wonder about the mechanism responsible? ....

[@pdledesma]

Agreed. What sheered off the Vishnu schist? Where did the upgradient sands erode from to deposit on the schism at the new shoreline? Fascinating.

[@torreyintahoe]

@@jonathansmith2323 I think most geologists agree that is was deep ice sheets that eroded that rock away.

[@ksrmk]

I am just barely grasping the commentary of what this environment might have looked like and the forces involved. I need an animated 3D visualization! Fascinating video. Thank you!

[@robertdavenport6705]

It's pretty crazy when 340 million YA sounds kind of new. What an amazing place. Thank you for showing us this .

[@billiamc1969]

HOLY SCHIST...what a cool video...much respect from Baltimore

[@Fox1nDen]

wow it is just so wonderful to see this so plainly above ground. thank you

[@halg3625]

I'm so envious, that you get to study this incredible geology. I'm a first time viewer, but I've known about the Great Unconformity for a while. I'm glad you've given me a deeper understanding. Thankee, friend.

[@joshrawlings2621]

Finally, an actual explanation & detailed images of the GC currently having incredible exposure by media lately….!

[@drpikegeologist]

this is the best video I have seen yet on the Great Unconformity- excellent work!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thank you!

[@ericpierce3660]

Your talks are so interesting, I wish you were my professor. I could listen to you all day.

[@shawnwillsey]

Wow, thank you! Much appreciated.

[@nowhereman8374]

Thanks Shawn, you took me back to my trip down the river.

[@mixolydian2010]

Wonderful place, mind blowing. Cheers

[@juliamacdonald3767]

Oh fun, love to see the Colorado and the Grand Canyon. Thanks.

[@paulw.4834]

Hi Shawn. Thanks for the great video on the GC GU. 1.2 billion years gone (in the blink of an eye). Hard to wrap my mind around that. Thanks again.

[@nancyvonschimmelmann96]

Loved this video. It took me back to my Grand Canyon rafting trip in 1968 when I was 14. I still have a photo of the “wavy” rocks that had been sheared and the horizontal strata above them. I was fascinated by them then and enjoyed your explanation of them now. Thanks.

[@EM-qx3hx]

Fascinating! I just visited the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, and was overwhelmed by their size and their beauty, but had sooo many questions! This video answers some of them, thank you!

[@shawnwillsey]

Awesome. I’ve got a video from just outside Bryce that you might like. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6CQeJVogLWWd8k&feature=sharea

[@3xHermes]

Fantastic Canyon with a great story! Thx!

[@peatmoss4415]

I am so glad I did something productive with my life!

[@bluegrassengineer]

Excellent video. Thanks for posting.

[@jackthetford7558]

More, please!!

[@shawnwillsey]

Look for more Grand Canyon videos in next few weeks.

[@patrickkillilea5225]

Wow. So cool. This is one of the most thought provoking subjects I know. Starkly terrifying in a way. The planet is so old. Our lives are so short. Your hand on that spot in time. Yeah buddy. What a great day!

[@bakkerem1967]

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting !

[@maryt2887]

Truly beautiful and amazing!

[@Nitephall]

I find this stuff fascinating. I saw a picture once of a rock that was billions of years old and the striations curved and turned all over the place. They weren't broken, just bent with the immensely of time.

[@mosiah3197]

Amazing, tks!

[@GWNorth-db8vn]

It never occurred to me that Southern Ontario has anything in common with the Grand Canyon. The pink granite of the Canadian Shield is overlaid by the Great Lakes limestone at the surface near the northern end of Georgian Bay It's a striking example of an unconformity, and one of the most beautiful places to cruise in a boat in N. America.

[@Crodmog83]

Really awesome video.thank you so much for posting.

[@robertfallows1054]

I’ve been to both N and S rim of Grand Canyon. I had heard of the great unconformity but have never been down in the canyon so it was great to be able to see it in your video.

[@Danika_Nadzan]

Thank you for yet another great video allowing me to see up close a geologic wonder I'd never be able to visit. The Great Unconformity is mind boggling, not only for the length of time involved, but for the sheer volume of material that must have been eroded. It would be so interesting to see what that would have looked like prior to and during the erosion process.

[@fully_retractable]

Nick Zentner at WSU is also an entertaining watch.

[@BretBerger]

Great episode Shawn and remarkable site you picked. GCNP is such a magical place; hope you had a great trip.

[@shawnwillsey]

It was so awesome. Look for more videos soon from this trip.

[@worldclassish]

Fun trip thanks

[@loisrossi841]

So interesting, thank you.

[@dominiclester3232]

Thank you!

[@shelleyszulinszky9732]

Well that gave me goosebumps ❤️✌️👍

[@susiepittman601]

This is so cool. Thank you.

[@Jefuslives]

Wish i could visit sites like this. Beyond fascinating.

[@garypalmer2066]

Hike down to Hermits Canyon and see the black Vishnu Schist and the pink Zorastor Granite. It's below the William Boucher stone cabin site just upriver from the Colorado River.

[@mountaintrailventures]

Thank You for a great video! Very Informative!

[@Fryed_Bryce]

Great Unconformity would be a sick band name

[@mountaingirlzstuff4314]

👍👍👍👍

[@dudeonbike800]

They would definitely ROCK!

[@MsMsmak]

Very interesting!

[@jerimiahharding8142]

Awesome explanation of an amazing place!

[@shawnwillsey]

Glad you liked it! Thank you!

[@Ilovelimabeans]

Great video. The "Missing" billion years seem hard to accept. Shouldn't there be massive erosion on the Vishnu?

[@arthurjones9580]

I love your channel! So interesting learning about our earth!

[@shawnwillsey]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@maciejrozmus5613]

Very informative vid and the scenery is just breathtaking. Thank you! I wish I could be there one day!

[@shawnwillsey]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robertingliskennedy]

chapeau Shawn - great style

[@happyhappycatus]

Thank you for proving to me that I’m not crazy I am at the Western base of Joshua tree national Park and it is phenomenal. What I find in the canyons here.

[@Colorado8300]

Outstanding!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thank you kindly!

[@fridolinnatter5702]

Joining from Germany , just found you and these layers interest me extremely for their old age and how they were formed, Great channel, I took an abo of course , thanks a lot !

[@shawnwillsey]

Welcome aboard! Hope you enjoy the content here as you peruse the existing videos. Danke!

[@dudeonbike800]

Love it! Crazy to be looking at and standing on ONE POINT EIGHT BILLION YEAR OLD ROCK! Damn!!!! This is probably even cooler than visiting the K-Pg Boundary. In terms of deep time it sure is!

[@erikpeterson25]

Fascinating 👍 thx

[@xenstone]

Great vid Shawn! Great to see the GU so clearly! I dont think we the GU in Western Australia, but there is a small remaining sliver of an massive unconformity near Perth that is between 3.0-2.6 billion year old gneisses and granites of the Yilgarn Craton and a Cambrian (although its not been possible to get an accurate date) transgressive unit of fining upwards conglomerates, sands, silts and mudstones. Sadly the actual contact is hidden by overburden where I have access to where it would be (it's visible in a private quarry nearby apparently) but it's amazing to wonder what happened in that gap, especially as there were probably 2 supercontinent collision and breakup stories that impacted Western Australia in that time period.

[@MEHEREWGTNNZ]

Thanks! ... the clean look of the layers below the sandstone, I immediately think of long ages of ice ? Need to research more on this unconfoming gap ! 👌

[@riz8437]

Excellent video, very informative. Seeing unconformaties really gives a sense of the vast age of the planet.

[@ELMS]

Just discovered your channel. It’s terrific! Subscribed with notifications on. 👍

[@shawnwillsey]

Awesome, thank you! And welcome aboard. Enjoy the existing videos.

[@glenncivale6824]

mind blowing!

[@davidk7324]

Great video, Shawn. Nice to see that the NASA shirt is still holding together.

[@nancytestani1470]

Wow, just wow

[@LanceHall]

Thanks!

[@shawnwillsey]

Your donation is very much appreciated. Thank you!

[@Krackonis]

You know, as an electrical engineer this is very explainable. Even that great mica crystal vein you found. But usually these are much smaller in the lab :)

[@AhJodie]

Very cool!

[@contrafax]

That was amazing, thank you!!!

[@shawnwillsey]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@glennquagmire1747]

This ris eally fascinating, though i wish these video's were longer 👍

[@tabuleirocmd]

"The biggest part of the stratigraphic record is missing...." (this was more or less what our Prof used to state (almost unnecessary to say that he wasn´t a fan of global sea level charts produced by sequence stratigraphy nerds)). Thank You!

[@bluebirdfan100]

The time scales, it's hard to even imagine how long that really is. Comparable to the scary incomprehensible vastness of space.

[@bomaite1]

Do you think the metamorphic rocks have been leveled off by glaciers? There was enough time for that, and you would expect to see the smaller rubble on top, which is clearly visible in your video. What else would plane off the rock in that straight a line?

[@clairerobsin]

so this is why I find those rocks on Mars so interesting to look at!

[@johngalt97]

I've been to the top of the rim, and wondered what the bottom looked like. Thanks for this video, Mr. Willsey. Subscribed.

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks for the sub and welcome aboard. Enjoy perusing the existing videos. Here's one from the bottom of the canyon of the basement rocks at Phantom Ranch. Video from my Rim to Rim hike in Oct 2021. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXmrmahugJKWj6c

[@vampireslayer1989]

As Stanley Beus, NAU Geology Prof used to say in 1979 (of the Tapeats/Basement contact); "If you listen carefully, you can hear the waves crashing on the ancient shoreline!" Actual quote from a field trip! Great Professor btw.

[@shawnwillsey]

Yeah, he’s great. I have a rock signed by him. We both have an NAU connection.

[@vampireslayer1989]

Class of 1980 here.

[@meropetied]

This is so friggin cool.

[@digilyd]

Shawn, on a stereo system it is confusing to have you only in left channel.

[@Anne5440_]

Thanks for taking us along. Those are really old rocks After my geology study of the last 18 months i understand so much more than when I went on a ranger walk near the rim of the grand canyon. This video is reminding me ju how young the rocks here in Central Washington are. The scenic views you show are so very stunning. This summer through videos I'm seeing a vast range of rock ages, from 1.8 billion in the grand canyon to a few days old at the Iceland volcano. I can't help but wonder how time of erosion went on before the sandstone began to deposit. I suspect that there is not a way to truly determine what that time was. Thanks.

[@earlysda]

Anne, you are right, those are really old rocks. Jesus Christ spoke them into existence, along with the sun, moon, and stars, roughly 6,000 years ago.

[@STHFGDBY]

It's amazing looking at the layers that look like layers of pasta placed on top of one another, each layer representing millions of years of sand deposit. And the amazing thing is that the geographical settings are still changing, and change so slowly that we will never witness any future changes in rock formations with the human eye. You would probably have to sit on a spot and observe an area for 10 million years to see any movement or change of less than an inch. It's mind-boggling, and it makes you think that on the scale of things, us humans live for a microsecond when you consider the age of these Earthly rock formations and also the movement of the continental drifts..

[@Johnny-pp7dx]

Sure love your work

[@IndridCool54]

So cool! 👍🏼

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

The most interesting experience was a community college geology class in Central Wyoming. Unfortunately being colour blind prevented me from being able to appreciate all the nuances of crystalline structures, but just the mechanisms in place were inspiring.

[@music100vid]

Is there any speculating as to what rocks had been between the Tapeats sandstone and the older Vishnu Shist rock beneath and what happened to it? Or is there a place where that layer might still be intact somewhat?

[@williamsohveymah5550]

I've been on many a river trips in the canyon. That is a popular place to stop and trek around. The sediments get thicker as you advance West in the Canyon. Experienced river guides know the area, however, most are actually ignorant of the geology of the GC. 😂 They have a great amount of ego, thinking river guides are a elite class of their own but far from it. River trips should always bring a real geologist along on every boat like Shawn. I salute this youngman.

[@lanceleavitt7472]

It's hard to tell if that rock is 340 million years old or 340½ million years old. -- Thanks for the great upload. ---

[@lindakay9552]

Every time I see the faces of Grand Canyon from the Colorado River, I imagine that is exactly what it would be like to stand at the bottom of the Columbia River if it were drained, especially between Douglas and Chelan counties in Washington.

[@philorlowski2681]

After a holiday, I'd sit on a large chunk of driftwood while overlooking the ocean, eating a licorice stick -- I'd contemplate this.

[@thompsonjerry3412]

10 day trip, always wanted to do it. Only ever walked from the south rim to the north rim.