How 7,000 Years of Epic Floods Changed the World (w/ SciShow!)

[@anikaesther5463]

This warmed my heart!! I grew up just outside of and now live in Spokane, my dad is a geologist and I’ve spent much of my life hiking the scablands with him. Learning about the spectacular floods is so much more real and terrifying and incredible when you’re lucky enough to be hiking the landscape with your own personal geologist narrating the whole thing! Also, if you get the chance to visit Dryfalls, absolutely do it. I’ve done a lot of international travel and it’s still my favorite place in the world. Absolutely spectacular.

[@daveprout5373]

Very cool Anika. I'm inspired to come explore!

[@demariultraastra864]

I have a similar thing, i live in northeast Washington and theres nothing there so i go to spokane quite a lot. And every time i drive through the scablands or the columbia basin i am just in awe at what happened here

[@goodeye6373]

Used to know people in Ephrata . Liked those rolling hills until I would get car sick. Almost catch air. Sort of like a roller coaster. Like 50 years ago. Did not know some sand is worth more than others. They have valuable sand.

[@LoPhatKao]

Eons tells me to go to Scishow Scishow tells me to go to Eons help i'm stuck in a loop

[@MrSplicer3]

Exactly as they planned.

[@nolanwestrich2602]

I've got the solution! Press Alt-F4 or Ctrl-W.

[@xl000]

@@nolanwestrich2602 Alt ?

[@momiaw]

You should visit PBS Space Time and watch this. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZTJfY2JgZyMfdk

[@JohnJohansen2]

@@nolanwestrich2602 How to do on a tablet?

[@r.awilliams9815]

You didn't mention the Potholes, which were formed by whirlpools so violent that cavitation tore holes in the bedrock. That was a real puzzler for quite a while for the geologists.

[@jacksongoerges9422]

R.A Williams tell us more

[@sudmuck]

I live not too far from there, now you've increased my thalassophobia.

[@KodamasaMC]

@@jacksongoerges9422 During these Missoula floods, so much water was moving so quickly that it would create whirlpools like R.A. Williams said, sometimes aided by boulders that acted like sandpaper as they were swirled around. These "potholes" are now a series of good sized lakes in the middle of eastern Washington that are wetlands and parks that are pretty awesome to grow up next to, if I may say so myself ;) ETA: There are a lot of cool things associated with this flooding that I'm sure they didn't have time to talk about; the granite erratics, Wallula Gap, why the Palouse is the fertile deposits while the scablands are scoured down to rock... There's so much cool stuff to explore about these floods.

[@sudmuck]

@John Peric Really? What Doc?

[@virolo1960]

The rock wasn't solid at the time of formation. It was just silt.

[@isoldam]

I live in the scab lands just west of Spokane, and I've heard the story of glacial lake Missoula and the ice age floods several times. I've heard the story in the class room, from trail markers read during hikes, and from a geologist on a local geology tour, but I've never heard it told so well in such a short amount of time. I recognized quite a few of the areas shown as places I have been to before. It was really fun to see those places in context. Thank you! Now I'm going to watch SciShow's video on Lake Agassiz, because I've never heard of that one.

[@brokentombot]

I agree. This video nailed it concisely.

[@charitybrook6279]

I also live near there!

[@brianshissler3263]

I live near there too!

[@dragons_flight]

Take a look at this KZbin video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jImQZaqPlM6hp7M for the best info on what really happened to the eastern Washington scablands.

[@BridgesOnBikes]

Nancy Rose-Chism it’s funny that they talk about how Bretts was maligned as a geologist, yet the Younger Dryas Impact hypotheses has been virtually ignored. They ended up Doing the exact thing that they claim to be against.

[@veggieboyultimate]

Hey PBS Eons, did you realize you explained what the plot of Ice Age The Meltdown was? That's really awesome! This is the type of videos I wanted to see, about the glacial lakes of the ice age and Holocene keep up the good work!

[@jmarch_503]

I was looking for this comment

[@veggieboyultimate]

Really? Then I guess you’re welcome 😊

[@justnoah2073]

I Know exactly what I thought!

[@dragons_flight]

Take a look at this KZbin video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jImQZaqPlM6hp7M for the best info on what really happened to the eastern Washington scablands.

[@alexmacgregor9631]

I grew up on the shores of what used to be Lake Agassiz and have spent most of my life in the Red River Valley that is the ancient lake's basin. Really fun to hear about and learn about other ancient lakes and what they left behind.

[@carissstewart3211]

Must drop everything to watch Eons.

[@TheExactlyatmidnight]

Yes one of the best channels on youtube.

[@jc.1191]

Must procrastinate more, putting on eons. Lol

[@lyreparadox]

This is one of my favorite Eons episodes! I have an idea for an alternate history story about people witnessing the floods caused by Lake Agassiz, so this episode made me super happy!

[@larryg3326]

Great episode! One of my favorite details of the Missoula floods is the boulders from Montana found in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The explanation is that the boulders were embedded in huge chunks of glacial ice. These washed down with the floods, drifted south and ran aground in the Willamette Valley as the flood waters backed up, waiting to drain though the coast range. When the ice melted the boulders were left. The scale of these events is hard to wrap my head around.

[@trevorslovick3313]

You guys should do a video on recently extinct Ice Age animals.

[@G0die16]

They have

[@G0die16]

VanderbiltQuinn except that Eons has better quality

[@ChillinWithGuacamole]

@@G0die16 agree

[@Sognafar]

@Alexander Supertramp pink floyd was okay, but nowhere near the best smfh

[@lonjohnson5161]

This reminds me of Doggerland and how humans got flooded out there too. (For those who don't know, Doggerland is the part of the North Sea that is so shallow that it was dry during the last ice age and, yes, there is evidence people lived there too.) I would like to see more about that and other amazing events that humans may have witnessed as well.

[@captainanopheles4307]

That's what I thought this would be about. No, screw the Euros, let's go for that Montana demographic.

[@dochdaswars]

There is a well-established scientific theory that connects the topic of this video to the flooding of Doggerland (and all other loss of previously exposed land across the globe). These several smaller floods wouldn't have caused any noticeable sea-level rise in the Middle East, for example, though they may very well could have altered the climate by dumping large amounts of cold water into the oceans, messing up the currents. The equally-legitimate theory which is completely ignored in this video, very ironically just as they mentioned Bretz was dismissed by the uniformitarianists of his time, is that a single catastrophic event such as a comet impact into the two-mile thick North American ice cap, very well could have instantly liquified such a vast quantity of water so as to rapidly raise the sea-level (up to 400ft) all over the world in a very short amount of time (1-3 weeks). In addition to this, a large quantity of water would have been instantaneously evaporated by the heat of the impact which would have collected in the atmosphere. This could also explain the atypical climate variations mention in the video of the Younger Dryas Era and that water vapor in the atmosphere would have caused prolonged rainfall all over the planet which may be why Native American flood myths all describe something falling from the sky (a star or a great serpent, etc.) whereas the myths of the Middle East describe only a flood which was caused by rainfall. People who support the theory that this erosion was caused by multiple smaller floods over vast amounts of time point to the fact that there is no crater (though why would there be if the comet struck the ice cap which has long since melted?) and dismiss vast quantities of other evidence such as a sediment layer found all over the world corresponding to the age of the Younger Dryas Era very similar to that which can be observed as being formed by the impact of the object which killed the largest dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous. They also ignore basic reason by claiming that the many large species of North American megafauna (mammoths, giant ground sloths, giant beavers, the shortfaced bear, the American lion, just to name a few) were all hunted to extinction completely by human beings within a very short geological time frame (the Younger Dryas = circa 1200 years) despite the fact that other species such as llamas, deer, bison and jaguars were apparently spared by the Paleolithic peoples of the Americas and that nowhere else in the world (even in more modern times with better equipment than stone axes) have we ever witnessed such massive slaughter by human beings of such large populations of megafauna resulting in such abnormally high extinction rates (which are, however, typical of catastrophic habitat destruction and rapid climate change caused by asteroid/comet impacts). And even one point made at the end of this video about the Native Americans having witnessed/experienced these floods (because yes, there definitely were people living all around these areas in the time leading up to the Younger Dryas and, yes, there are dozens of myths from various tribes all describing something falling from the sky and then an unparalleled catastrophe marked by flooding, darkness and cold): He stated near the end that they believe these smaller floods to have occurred every 20-60 years but if that is the case, i think it's reasonable to ask why people settled and remained in this area? If Vesuvius erupted multiple times per generation, the Romans certainly would never have built Pompeii where they did. The reason why mainstream science doesn't want to give this theory a fair shake is because there are various theories attached to it such as the possibility of an advanced, Atlantis-type civilization having existed before such a cataclysmic event which could very well have been wiped from the geological record by such a world-changing catastrophe. Whether or not one wishes to adhere to such theories the likes of which Graham Hancock proposes (though, i do admit, are interesting to say the least), the fact is that based solely on the geological evidence, the theory of a single catastrophic event holds just as much water (pun intended), if not more, than the theory presented as irrefutable fact by this video ("Pardee finally solved the mystery"). That geological evidence coupled and cross-reference with archeological data and the countlessly similar myths of ancient peoples all point to the very possible conclusion that the Scablands of Washington state, along with dozens of other sites in North America and beyond, and indeed, the entire climatic anomaly that is the Younger Dryas Era were caused not by multiple smaller floods from glacial lakes but one cataclysmic flood caused by a comet impact. If you want to learn more and be better able to look at this ancient mystery truly objectively, look into the Younger Dryas Impact Theory and be sceptical of anyone who tells you that they are 100% positive that they know what happened 13,000 years ago.

[@IWasaTeenageTeenWolf]

@@dochdaswars The fact that recent asteroid impacts are known for causing the extinction of marsupial creatures outside of Australia should be a clue to researchers that asteroid impacts CAN still happen and cause massive damage. As for the lack of crater=lack of evidence, one theory for the Permian Extinction was a super-massive asteroid, bigger than the one that killed the dinosaurs and possibly wiped out 50-70 percent of life in the end of the Triassic. The impact would have hit so hard, and at such an angle that the ground liquefied, literally covering the crater in magma and "hiding" it. Potential places for such a thing are in Canada, where satellites have picked up areas of high-mineral deposits shaped eerily like a big circle. So lack of crater=lack of evidence is a really REALLY dumb idea in science. It's one reason why I HATE it when I hear 'impossible' in the science community. Nothing is truly impossible, only improbable (Alice in Wonderland reference.)

[@paulfidler3710]

Sorry for being so late to this conversation! Doggerland was likely flooded by the Storegga Slide off the coast of Norway. Still devastating.

[@NickRyhajlo]

I grew up in Western Washington and went to college in central Montana. This is such a cool story of the formation of the landscape you drive through when you make that trip. I really enjoyed this. I would like to see some more videos like this, that focus on cool geological features/events/phenomenon.

[@rodchallis8031]

Fascinating. Thanks. More Geology please!

[@TheColemancreek]

PBS did an hour special on The Scablands some years ago. Not sure whether it was on NOVA or Nature, but it was informative and entertaining just as Eons always is.

[@rodchallis8031]

@@TheColemancreek Thanks.

[@lyreparadox]

@@TheColemancreek It's a NOVA Special called Mystery of the Megaflood. And yes, someone has uploaded a full (low res) version to KZbin. :)

[@superstitiouspre-literatep9730]

@@rodchallis8031 look up randall carlson, and you will have your mind blown

[@rodchallis8031]

@@superstitiouspre-literatep9730 Thanks, will do.

[@ScootinJackMcCue]

Thank you for do a video on my home state! Eastern Washington is often forgotten about and looked over by others! Nothing is more beautiful then riding around on horseback though the Scablands and seeing all of the different sediments deposits! You have just made my day!

[@nerd_alert927]

I live in the Spokane area. Love seeing videos that mention the cool geology our state has.

[@christophelesmacgillicutty9677]

I am an Eons junkie. Thank you for what you do.

[@marjoriebarker6990]

I loved this video! I live in Washington state and I remember learning about this in high school and I thought it was so cool. I also liked how you were interested in if any humans witnessed these catastrophic floods, and it makes me wonder if any of the Yakama people or Coast Salish people who live in Washington have any stories about these floods.

[@stephanieflorence8109]

Thanks for doing this episode!!! I grew up in Eastern Washington and these features have always fascinated me. I had no idea the impact it had on the larger world of geology. Thanks Eons!💖💖

[@judsonwall8615]

Another fantastic episode. I’ve watched all the Eons episodes in chronological order and am now officially in the Holocene. I’ve gone from the Hadean and earth’s creation all the way to the current Epoch. Amazing channel. I’ve learned a ton, thank you.

[@ChrisWhite.fishing]

Rewatching this episode after months or two. A characteristic of quality content. Good job, Eons!

[@jake2663]

Wow! I'm from Central Washington. My grandpa told me about how this area used to be underwater. You were right, grandpa! Miss you, you were so bright.

[@tinyguy9398]

Blake is such an amazing guy. I could listen to him all day. He is very articulate and his manner of speech just exciting enough to keep hold of your interest. It doesn't hurt that he is nice to look at either. Great guy to host this channel!

[@bolekzn5813]

I'm 8

[@ichifish]

What a fascinating story. You guys get better with every video, and you started out amazing. Thanks for all of your work.

[@snowballeffect7812]

Wow. The scale of that flooding is nearly unimaginable.

[@dochdaswars]

It gets even crazier... There is a well-established scientific theory challenging he one presented in this video. These several smaller floods wouldn't have caused any noticeable sea-level rise in the Middle East, for example, though they may very well could have altered the climate by dumping large amounts of cold water into the oceans, messing up the currents. The equally-legitimate theory which is completely ignored in this video, very ironically just as they mentioned Bretz was dismissed by the uniformitarianists of his time, is that a single catastrophic event such as a comet impact into the two-mile thick North American ice cap, very well could have instantly liquified such a vast quantity of water so as to rapidly raise the sea-level (up to 400ft) all over the world in a very short amount of time (1-3 weeks). In addition to this, a large quantity of water would have been instantaneously evaporated by the heat of the impact which would have collected in the atmosphere. This could also explain the atypical climate variations mention in the video of the Younger Dryas Era and that water vapor in the atmosphere would have caused prolonged rainfall all over the planet which may be why Native American flood myths all describe something falling from the sky (a star or a great serpent, etc.) whereas the myths of the Middle East describe only a flood which was caused by rainfall. People who support the theory that this erosion was caused by multiple smaller floods over vast amounts of time point to the fact that there is no crater (though why would there be if the comet struck the ice cap which has long since melted?) and dismiss vast quantities of other evidence such as a sediment layer found all over the world corresponding to the age of the Younger Dryas Era very similar to that which can be observed as being formed by the impact of the object which killed the largest dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous. They also ignore basic reason by claiming that the many large species of North American megafauna (mammoths, giant ground sloths, giant beavers, the shortfaced bear, the American lion, just to name a few) were all hunted to extinction completely by human beings within a very short geological time frame (the Younger Dryas = circa 1200 years) despite the fact that other species such as llamas, deer, bison and jaguars were apparently spared by the Paleolithic peoples of the Americas and that nowhere else in the world (even in more modern times with better equipment than stone axes) have we ever witnessed such massive slaughter by human beings of such large populations of megafauna resulting in such abnormally high extinction rates (which are, however, typical of catastrophic habitat destruction and rapid climate change caused by asteroid/comet impacts). And even one point made at the end of this video about the Native Americans having witnessed/experienced these floods (because yes, there definitely were people living all around these areas in the time leading up to the Younger Dryas and, yes, there are dozens of myths from various tribes all describing something falling from the sky and then an unparalleled catastrophe marked by flooding, darkness and cold): He stated near the end that they believe these smaller floods to have occurred every 20-60 years but if that is the case, i think it's reasonable to ask why people settled and remained in this area? If Vesuvius erupted multiple times per generation, the Romans certainly would never have built Pompeii where they did. The reason why mainstream science doesn't want to give this theory a fair shake is because there are various theories attached to it such as the possibility of an advanced, Atlantis-type civilization having existed before such a cataclysmic event which could very well have been wiped from the geological record by such a world-changing catastrophe. Whether or not one wishes to adhere to such theories the likes of which Graham Hancock proposes (though, i do admit, are interesting to say the least), the fact is that based solely on the geological evidence, the theory of a single catastrophic event holds just as much water (pun intended), if not more, than the theory presented as irrefutable fact by this video ("Pardee finally solved the mystery"). That geological evidence coupled and cross-reference with archeological data and the countlessly similar myths of ancient peoples all point to the very possible conclusion that the Scablands of Washington state, along with dozens of other sites in North America and beyond, and indeed, the entire climatic anomaly that is the Younger Dryas Era were caused not by multiple smaller floods from glacial lakes but one cataclysmic flood caused by a comet impact. If you want to learn more and be better able to look at this ancient mystery truly objectively, look into the Younger Dryas Impact Theory and be sceptical of anyone who tells you that they are 100% positive that they know what happened 13,000 years ago.

[@superstitiouspre-literatep9730]

@@dochdaswars nice summary dude love that other people are talking about this. Ive been blabbing to all of my friends and family about this for years lol

[@ABC-yt1nq]

@brajamtho757 - Super-easy? So you know the mass, composition, speed, and angle of impact of the comet/fragments? Given the stupendous velocities of cosmic impacts, and given that the kinetic energy is squared when velocity doubles (E=mv2). And how have you calculated the amount of water required?

[@ABC-yt1nq]

@brajamtho757 - Prove it.

[@21LAZgoo]

@@dochdaswars yesssirrrrrrrr THAS what caused the biggest of these floods

[@Rampratdelta]

It's interesting to learn about this as a native Texan who has lived in both eastern Washington (known as the scab lands) and now resides in Missoula. All the pictures he showed are areas I've extensively have hiked and backpacked in. From the Columbia river George, Bitterroot mountains, Cascades, to Mount Sentinel here in town. Great video :D

[@chrrmin1979]

That flood would be terrifying "My house! My tribe! Books!"

[@clydebalcom8252]

I like the collaboration between channels. Knowing what took place in the past can allow us to understand what is going to happen now.

[@AlohaMilton]

Eons, thank you for talking specificly about J Harlen Bretz. PBS Nova really dropped the ball not even mentioning him in a full episode on this subject. I have no idea what was going on with the writing on that, but it was weird waiting for the story of that the entire episode and literally it didn't happen. Worse it was seemingly implied the modern geologist on camera were the ones to discover these things simply by describing them with zero mention of any previous study or any history of study. Nova dropped a huge notch on my list of reliable sources with that episode.

[@wesgilmer5391]

PBS is not a science network, bro.

[@eddierich6179]

Eons should cover the formation of the great lakes! It's more complicated than most people might imagine...

[@axiomaticidioms3857]

It's pretty amazing! I agree!

[@Heinskitz]

This channel is absolutely amazing! The love of history and discovery you guys exhibit is captivating! Keep up the great work!

[@theglassrat5844]

The amount of times I hear Montana in this channel is great. Proud to live in an extremely important ancient place

[@Jeebus007]

Apologies in advance if you guys have already made this, but a video on the evolution/origins of fruit would be awesome!

[@Wingo537]

#no

[@WokeandProud]

The evolution of fruit is pretty obvious, certain animals eat the fruit then deposit the seeds unaffected by digestion in thier feces which acts as fertilizer allowing a new plant to grow. It's really effective way to sow your wild oats for lack of a better way to phrase it lol.

[@razorransom1795]

@@WokeandProud no if you do some research on the origins of modern day fruit and veggies, its quite fascinating how different they were just a few years ago and since 1300s and father back. Its just not animals, but how much human cultivation had an impact on them over time and space. For example look up the origin of the clemintine, lemon and limes, watermelon, wheat and corn, what their a mix of or how they changed over time and when they came into existence, its quite interesting once you delve into it besides the social stigmas on some in their countries of origin or next door like the jackfruit, potatoes and garlic. 😌

[@greatpumpkinpatch9167]

Read the book Genesis. Fruit is fruit.

[@annoyed707]

Yes, that would be sweet!

[@Vahlee-A]

I was raised in Spokane. When Riverfront Park got its remodel in 2019, they built plaques telling people about the Bretz Floods. I had already learned about years prior. But it's still cool seeing such a small city be such a big part of history.

[@jora9655]

One of your most interesting videos to date. It's very fascinating to hear about glaciation and such in America, since here in German, glaciation is huge part of geological education in schools, but only the glaciation of Europe.

[@michaeltumey7756]

Same thing happened where I live, in north central Illinois. A massive lake of melted glacier trapped behind an ice damn crossing Illinois and Indiana. Whether it was an earthquake or a meteor strike or other possible cause, the ice damn broke, and millions of gallons of water poured out of that break in a matter of hours. Starved Rock State Park are dells (small canyons) cut into an exposed sandstone bluff on both sides of the Illinois River. It was here that the break occurred and those canyons cut into the sandstone were carved in a matter of hours. While they've experienced 13,000 years of further erosion since that cataclysmic event. This park is about 7 miles west of my hometown.

[@mrshah2043]

Hands down one of the best channels on youtube. Fantastic video!

[@AnonymousTranquility]

Here in Utah, we talk about Lake Bonneville which saw the same fate as Missoula. Lake water surged through the red rock pass in Idaho flowing into the snake river and later into the Columbia. In the exchange Lake Bonneville lost a good portion of lake water. As the ice age was coming to an end and temperatures were rising, the rest of the lake would dry up and evaporate. The only surviving remnant of this vast reservoir is in the form of the Great Salt Lake.

[@reflect7559]

Love this. Thanks again for another great episode! This is my favorite channel on KZbin. I'm always looking forward to a new video notification from you guys.

[@geethsan1567]

Man, I had no interest in geology or just the history of earth until I started watching these videos. I just love how these guys present the videos.

[@geniusmp2001]

I just suggested the Missoula Floods! Yay!

[@gretchenwetzel7313]

Love it! Last year my friend in Missoula told me this story and we decided to meet halfway at Dry Falls and hike and see some of the geology for ourselves. So cool, although I still feel there’s so much left to see!

[@geofishdude9488]

Not sure if it's been done yet, but the formation of the Yosemite valley is very interesting and would be great to hear about

[@TeaRex12]

I’m a geologist and I never knew about this, awesome episode! More geology pls!

[@Timodj13]

Thank you for your channel. It’s always full of great material. Just thank you

[@stevenbaumann8692]

How did I miss this one?! I’m aware of these and Bretz but you put it together so well.

[@Panchis2204]

You guys are amazing.. I learn so much about this stuff.. I would love to learn some more about the geological finding in central America. And would be extremely thankful for the video. Have a nice one!

[@alanmarston8612]

Thank you for putting this program on the net.

[@JeremyWS]

Y'know these ancient floods are probably what created the flood myths of ancient cultures. Just an idea. lol

[@dochdaswars]

It's not just an idea, it's a well-established scientific theory. Though these several smaller floods wouldn't have caused any noticeable sea-level rise in the Middle East, for example, though they may very well could have altered the climate by dumping large amounts of cold water into the oceans, messing up the currents. The equally-legitimate theory which is completely ignored in this video, very ironically just as they mentioned Bretz was dismissed by the uniformitarianists of his time, is that a single catastrophic event such as a comet impact into the two-mile thick North American ice cap, very well could have instantly liquified such a vast quantity of water so as to rapidly raise the sea-level (up to 400ft) all over the world in a very short amount of time (1-3 weeks). In addition to this, a large quantity of water would have been instantaneously evaporated by the heat of the impact which would have collected in the atmosphere. This could also explain the atypical climate variations mention in the video of the Younger Dryas Era and that water vapor in the atmosphere would have caused prolonged rainfall all over the planet which may be why Native American flood myths all describe something falling from the sky (a star or a great serpent, etc.) whereas the myths of the Middle East describe only a flood which was caused by rainfall. People who support the theory that this erosion was caused by multiple smaller floods over vast amounts of time point to the fact that there is no crater (though why would there be if the comet struck the ice cap which has long since melted?) and dismiss vast quantities of other evidence such as a sediment layer found all over the world corresponding to the age of the Younger Dryas Era very similar to that which can be observed as being formed by the impact of the object which killed the largest dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous. They also ignore basic reason by claiming that the many large species of North American megafauna (mammoths, giant ground sloths, giant beavers, the shortfaced bear, the American lion, just to name a few) were all hunted to extinction completely by human beings within a very short geological time frame (the Younger Dryas = circa 1200 years) despite the fact that other species such as llamas, deer, bison and jaguars were apparently spared by the Paleolithic peoples of the Americas and that nowhere else in the world (even in more modern times with better equipment than stone axes) have we ever witnessed such massive slaughter by human beings of such large populations of megafauna resulting in such abnormally high extinction rates (which are, however, typical of catastrophic habitat destruction and rapid climate change caused by asteroid/comet impacts). And even one point made at the end of this video which caused you to raise this very question about the Native Americans having witnessed/experienced these floods (because yes, there definitely were people living all around these areas in the time leading up to the Younger Dryas and, yes, there are dozens of myths from various tribes all describing something falling from the sky and then an unparalleled catastrophe marked by flooding, darkness and cold): He stated near the end that they believe these smaller floods to have occurred every 20-60 years but if that is the case, i think it's reasonable to ask why people settled and remained in this area? If Vesuvius erupted multiple times per generation, the Romans certainly would never have built Pompeii where they did. The reason why mainstream science doesn't want to give this theory a fair shake is because there are various theories attached to it such as the possibility of an advanced, Atlantis-type civilization having existed before such a cataclysmic event which could very well have been wiped from the geological record by such a world-changing catastrophe. Whether or not one wishes to adhere to such theories the likes of which Graham Hancock proposes (though, i do admit, are interesting to say the least), the fact is that based solely on the geological evidence, the theory of a single catastrophic event holds just as much water (pun intended), if not more, than the theory presented as irrefutable fact by this video ("Pardee finally solved the mystery"). That geological evidence coupled and cross-reference with archeological data and the countlessly similar myths of ancient peoples all point to the very possible conclusion that the Scablands of Washington state, along with dozens of other sites in North America and beyond, and indeed, the entire climatic anomaly that is the Younger Dryas Era were caused not by multiple smaller floods from glacial lakes but one cataclysmic flood caused by a comet impact. If you want to learn more and be better able to look at this ancient mystery truly objectively, look into the Younger Dryas Impact Theory and be sceptical of anyone who tells you that they are 100% positive that they know what happened 13,000 years ago.

[@JeremyWS]

@@dochdaswars :: Good advice, but I was talking about the myths, not the science. I accept the science. I will look into it. That was an interesting point. Have a nice day.

[@zyrecha]

@@dochdaswars Didn't they find a huge crater (30km wide or something ?) on greenland last year? ^^,

[@dochdaswars]

@@zyrecha yes, they did and it could be much too old to be related to any of this but there's a decent chance that it's as young as 15,000 years ago so given the inability to precisely date things like this without loads more research, it could be an impact from the event i described. It's also very possible that if such an event did occur that there could have been multiple impactors as comets very often fragment when entering a planetary atmosphere, so the Hiawatha Crater may have just been one piece and still larger chunks struck the ice cap or plunged directly into the ocean. There's also a second crater located very close to the Hiawatha Crater but the initial estimate is that it's much older. Who knows at this point... This is all quite new territory and of course has to be tested thoroughly in order to obtain the most complete truth. And while that's difficult to do with such radical theories as they upset the status quo and are met with unproportional push back, we have, in just the last decade seen so much light shed onto this subject with discoveries such as Göbekli Tepe and the Richat Structure finally breaking into at least the periphery of mainstream science and archeology. It's an exciting time to be alive.

[@zyrecha]

​@@dochdaswars It absolutely is! Thx so much for taking the time ^^, Take care :)

[@montarctica]

Thank you for stopping into the Mint in Malta tonight. Glad to meet you and find your channel this stuff is right up my alley. I’ll be in touch.

[@Ellensburg44]

Enjoyed this. Thank you. Well done.

[@Marvin121516]

Hi Nick, big fan of your lectures.

[@stephenbell4476]

Beautifully done! I learned so much about the Northwest, geology, and solving mysteries of the natural world!

[@johnteixeira6405]

Seeing some of my favorite science channels collaborating is awesome.

[@naguszed]

Randall Carlson's version (on geocosmic rex & rogan) includes J Harlan Bretz's explanation about catastrophic flooding as the cause of the scablands, but the source of the flooding is meltwater from the Laurentian ice sheet after being struck by a fragment or fragments of a comet. The ice sheet was 2- 3 miles thick at the time. The heat released would have been enormous enough to account for the amount of water necessary to erode the scablands in one event, and also account for the rise in sea levels overnight that occurred at the younger dryas. Also check out Antonio Zamora's videos about evidence of geological deformations from iceberg-sized fragments striking the southern US after they exploded out of the sheet. Fascinating to think about what was there before and what was wiped out in North america overnight.

[@tec-jones5445]

Yes! Eons/SciShow Crossover! On a side note, do you think you guys can do Speculative Evolution like in Dougal Dixon's After Man, or The Future is Wild?

[@Linkous12]

This! Dougal Dixon, Wayne Barlowe, C. M. Kosemen... super interesting topic.

[@Dragrath1]

Personally I'd rather they stick to their strengths than veer off into hypothetical speculation this seems more like a topic for a new channel.

[@Linkous12]

@@Dragrath1 Speculation within the realm of how biology works is super important, especially when it comes to how we detect extraterrestrial life, for instance.

[@YarBeeDarr]

PBS Eons, This video leaves out the connection of the Hiawatha impact crater in Greenland. That is an important and integral part of the story of the catastrophic flooding of the Younger Dryas period as well as the impact that the flooding had on the climate, as eluded to by SciShow. The geologist Randall Carlson, and others, have spoken on the topic extensively and even accurately predicted the presence of such a crater of such an age before the Hiawatha impact was discovered in northern Greenland late last year. The topic of this video goes much deeper and I'd love to see some more videos on it!

[@MrSmith-ve6yo]

They're kinda doing a disservice to everyone who watches this video by neglecting the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis.

[@ajicepalice]

When you realize that Ice age 2 The Meltdown was based on a true story :D :D :D

[@herisuryadi6885]

huh i didnt notice

[@arcticstorm9957]

My friend and I went on a Geologic Grand Tour of the West Coast road trip several years ago and one of the places on my list to visit was the Columbia River Gorge. I grew up hearing about it on the news but I didn't really understand what it was. On our trip, first when we started driving through the valley, I was annoyed because I couldn't see the gorge. Where was it? There was the Columbia river, only a few dozen feet from the highway at the bottom of some regular old river valley--not the epic violent cataract of racing water like I had envisioned. We headed to a "viewpoint" which was actually just a turnout on the side of the road. We got out of the car and observed the valley from the top of the Washington-side cliffs and I suddenly realized: the gorge isn't IN the valley, it IS the valley. I was utterly astounded when I understood that 10,000 years ago, this entire colossal valley was full of of a raging torrent water. It was one of the few moments in my life when I have been completely mind-blown. To anyone out there patient enough to read this whole thing, go see the Columbia River Gorge and witness the incredible power of nature. It is well worth the drive.

[@martinsapsitis4292]

Thank you so much, this has allowed me to understand the ice melts in Tasmania. The landforms south of the Great western tiers, which appear alluvial with respect to the general land contours. If I'm lucky a local geologist could set my thinking correctly.

[@Flt.Hawkeye]

I've heard of a theory over this called the young dryas impact theroy. The fact that this flood coud either be a series of smaller but also absurdly large floods or caused by a meteorite hiting the ice and melting it into a lake the size of a sea that literally took hundreds of jears to drain just completely floors me every time

[@hyunsung32]

Can you please do episodes in these topics (**please read) 1) Enteledonts and call it "When Pigs Were Preadators" 2) Tyrannosaurs and Abelisaurs (two part series) and call the first one " Dinosaur Cannabilism" The second one can be "The Kings of the Cretaceous" 3) An episode on Raptors (Velociraptor, Austroraptor, etc.), and call the episode "The Incredible Divergency of Raptors" I would LOVE to are episodes on these topics 🙂

[@melvinshine9841]

I am so onboard with this. I need more T.rex and Dakotaraptor in my life.

[@wheaties2912]

Those are very mainstream, we like touching on more Bleu topics here budderboy.

[@bigman13128]

Sexy McDeepVoice enteledonts aren’t mainstream...

[@wheaties2912]

@@bigman13128 Shut up nerd you like my comment you know you wanna kiss me.

[@ohtheblah]

@@wheaties2912 enteleOhNoYouDidnt... dinoSnapped a dinoSoreAss

[@m8sonmiller]

A lot of the soil that was picked up in Eastern Washington settled out of the floodwater into the Willamette Valley, which is part of why it's so fertile today. Thanks guys 👍

[@SimpleRoad]

Uniformitarianism vs. Catastrophism : Binary answers in a non-binary world.

[@EebstertheGreat]

Even "saltational evolution"--major heritable changes in a single generation leading to almost instant speciation--turns out to be a real thing, albeit extremely rare.

[@antiisocial]

@@EebstertheGreat The Wonder of Nature!

[@kyabatsu]

Your Mother’s Lover Thats not edgy tho

[@naufalap]

Geology is a social construct

[@Ezullof]

Well you're wrong. Catastrophism was rooted into literary bibliocal analysis. The world couldn't change because it was designed to remain still, perfect, unless a superior being decided it should change. Catastrophism is just the outcome of that belief. Uniformitarism was a reaction to Catastrophism. It derives from the fact that careful, scientific method could explain most geological phenomena without the need of catastrophes - and anyway, there was no known example (from the point of view of the geologists of that time) to show that big, catastrophic events could be the cause of geological changes. Now we know that there are some fast occuring, catastrophic events that have geological consequences, but they aren't the norm. So technically we're still using the "uniformitarist" model, just that it's enhanced by more observations.

[@porcus123]

underwater archaeology needs a huge boost

[@Jesse__H]

I'm subscribed to almost 200 KZbin channels, and I think this one is my favorite. ❤

[@turtle2720]

300+ and I agree :)

[@deanwcampbell]

@8:08 happy to see PBS was able to locate the most updated map from Luis & Clark.

[@Kazgoth1]

Love the channel. Would have loved to see Randall Carlsons impact theory during the younger dryas mentioned.

[@yallimsorry5983]

Maybe if it wasn't pseudoscience that couldn't be replicated by outside scientists.

[@SirEmrik]

@@yallimsorry5983 With that definition psuedoscience, Bretz theory was once psuedoscience. I think his evidence is pretty tight and warrants further exploration. You behave tribalistic instead of trying to be scientific. Both theories are plausible, so let's explore more.

[@RavianGale]

Eons doing some of my local geological history! Fantastic!

[@Soraviel]

I love how he turn these informative content into a humble story/narrative 😏👌🏿👍🏿

[@ReverenXero]

About 11-12,000 years ago or so, there was an event that would easily have enough power to do something like knock planets over so that their orbital axis differs from the orbital plane of The Sun. some planets were unaffected, but I would bet my bottom dollar that when I can a get a good sandbox and roll the solar system i.e. the position of the planets now, and using the known orbital velocities roll time backwards, the planets that tilt (in one case flipped over) were in the path of the shockwave to varying degrees, while 3 were probably behind the sun and therefore shielded. Suddenly rolling the planet 23.5 degrees would be like the famous tablecloth trick. The ocean being the stuff on top of the tablecloth as it is suddenly yanked out from on top of the table, while the dishes and silverware stay where they were. But in our scenario, the stuff that was on top of the table cloth (the ocean water) is going to try and get back to its spot on that table cloth (usually the lowest point). Meaning walls of water well over a mile high thundering over the land. Erasing a huge chunk of Earth (Terra) history. EDIT - DOH! Sorry, the event I speak of is called the Vela Supernova event. It happened around 11-12,000 years ago.

[@derrbarn14]

I'm a first nations person from British Columbia, and we have a flood story and how we supposedly survived it by tying some canoes to the tip of a mountain. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of lake here in BC that caused that flood just like these ones.

[@soniclovergirl2680]

Incredible! I lived in washington as a kid and got to see dry falls. It's truly a beautiful and intriguing site.

[@gigglysamentz2021]

This is a captivating detective story with many useful words and cool concepts, I love it!!

[@furatceylan8]

thanks for this video, i love eons, maybe even more than scishow (not really, you both rank up there at the top and i am so happy to see stephen here!) great to see blake again! blake, you should totally play the host of some of scishows videos as well! i never would have thought of it, but thanks to you i am now interested in the pacific northwest... i just love how you guys make science, and how complex the research of geological and biological change really is, come alive with great examples like this one!

[@johnk4437]

You left out the likely comet impact at the boundary of the Younger Dryas 12,900 years ago. Hiwatha glacier was identified in October 2018 in NW Greenland under the ice sheet as the likely impactor crater.

[@timq6224]

the impact in greenland was localized, the planet is littered with such craters that only affected regions and not the entire planet.

[@yallimsorry5983]

It's a bunk 'hypothesis' that isn't supported by the evidence.

[@mitchhak2]

It wiped out all megafauna but for Africa. I’d say it was more than localized.

[@MaliciousMatt888]

@@mitchhak2 whats funny is we know for a fact elephants existed in north America before the ice age and all scientist have to say about that is Humans hunted every last one of them into extinction but if that's the case why were they not hunted to extinction in Africa?

[@christinearmington]

Baird Carver Exactly. Makes no sense.

[@daniellemonroe9006]

I would absolutely love a video of the history of the volcanic flats of southern Idaho, it’s amazing how many dead volcanoes and long gone “lava lakes” are out there. I always wanted to learn more about that.

[@arcticstorm9957]

Yes! Talk about that random volcano in the middle of nowheresville southern Idaho: Craters of the Moon.

[@Leomoon101]

Speaking of water and oceans, how about the evolution of seals?

[@DiMadHatter]

good subject indeed! after the whales, that would make a good sequel! :P also manatees!

[@Hashishin13]

sea dogs

[@farticlesofconflatulation]

All the wolves that were flushed into the ocean were forced to evolve.

[@rockinbobokkin7831]

Ocean puppies diverging from a common wolf ancestor approximately 6-7 MYA

[@gradyvasil8423]

YEESSSS! Thank you so much for covering this! I live in Oregon and an area called The Gorge that the Columbia river flows through was carved out by these floods. It's one of my favorite places on earth. I remember learning about its creation as a child and it was so fascinating!

[@astrobot4017]

Dry Land is not just our destination, it's our destiny!

[@lizzykinz246]

Every time I drive from Spokane to Central Washington I wondered how there was ever enough water to carve out the river-shaped grooves in so many of the hills. So cool! Also Dry Falls is absolutely stunning to see in person 🤩

[@tomfurstyfield]

Never stop making videos and release more please

[@will4not]

This was an awesome collaboration. And interesting video too.

[@rogersevand]

Hey Eons, is a video on North America's past lakes worth a video? Like Lake Bonneville? I still love coming back to these videos. Eons and SciShow are the most entertaining videos on the internet to me.

[@HeartlandTuber]

Especially good episode, well presented history. Illustrates once more that groundbreaking science almost always meets resistance from the establishment and accepted dogma of any time. I looked up Bretz, and was pleased to see he lived to 1981, so he had the satisfaction of knowing his theories and research were proved correct. Wish Alfred Wegener could have had the same experience, his recognition of plate tectonics totally revolutionized understanding of our living planet's geologic processes. I still remember being taught plate tectonics in college in the second half of the 1960's, by a young professor geologist who was on top of the latest developments in the science. At that time, geologists were finally accepting all the accumulated evidence that demonstrated Wegener was correct.

[@melvinshine9841]

I'm pretty sure there was an episode of NOVA about this late last year. Also, I was guessing Hank was going to make an appearance. Clearly, I was wrong. Either way, SciShow/Eons crossover need to happen more often.

[@YouAreAsleep]

This stuff is SUPER Important. I think they should have uploaded this a little slower. I'm having trouble keeping up with the pace that the guy is talking. Sorry if I'm just slow. I changed the play rate to .95 and that seems to help a TON!

[@camiloiribarren1450]

Erosion and land drift! Love it. Thanks for this lesson

[@timothyblazer1749]

Brett said it was one or two events. The extension of that to 7000 years and dozens of events is weak, and is basically conjecture. The hard evidence sans interpretive bias points to two enormous events, and a bunch of tiny, orders of magnitude smaller events.

[@TheJustina102085]

I’ve been reading books and watching countless videos on this topic so clearly I’m not an expert if I need studies from others to form my opinion but in my opinion the cataclysm breaking a glacier ice damn is the best hypothesis on this topic. The amount of water needed to form some of these Land formations could not come from multiple floods.

[@elvismiron5921]

Blake, when you said how much you loved looking at those lines on the hills, it reminded me of how much I love (what I call the 65 Million Year View - now it seems to have a much more realistic and resent value ;) ) going to 46.572N,84.384W in Sault Ste. Marie, ON and looking S to see all the stages of where water rested and then emptied. I always wished I knew more about this area.

[@supersonica08]

9:07 ... made my eyes get full of tears of emotion. 😍

[@cfapps7865]

No, you have not got it figured out. A fragmented comet hit the ice cap, no ice dam could hold back that much water. It's absurd.

[@ciudadanubis]

The exact same process happens today in Perito Moreno Glacier in southern continental Argentina. In the 1950 the Argentinian Air Force bombarded the glacier because Perito Moreno blocked periodically the Brazo Rico lake. Normally reaching 21 meters of increment the Brazo Rico broke the glacier and the waters flooded the area. In the 1950's this barrier of ice dodn't breake and the level continued rising, flooding even more the area, that's when the Air Force bombarded the glacier with no results. Perito Moreno is 5km wide, 25km deep and 55meter above the lake level TODAY, too big to be affected by a bombing, in the 1950' was bigger. Eventually the block broke itself and the waters return to its levels. With the climate change several glaciers are melting, but Perito Moreno due to this melting recieves more ice. So you can see live this same catastrophic event today, but the flood is usually mínimun. The climate change is so agressive that I saw with my own eyes the glacier Upsala change from 9km wide, 65km long and 130m high change to 55km long and 70m high in 15 years. Upsala is one of the northtest glacier in the Argentinian continental ice.

[@Neenerella333]

Very Cool! I've visited Perito Moreno and took some pictures during ice calving. It's obviously retreated quite a bit since the 50s, but you can see evidence of what you're talking about.

[@davidjones8484]

So if rivers make ‘V’ shaped valleys, glaciers make ‘U’ shaped valleys, and steep sided canyons are caused by flood waters, what very large flood event created the Grand Canyon?

[@Sarcasticjab]

It's always a good day when eons uploads.

[@paulpierce956]

Thumbs up! Not everyday you see a geological explanation for why your hometown is structured the way it is ! :D

[@EGGE54dt]

so where does Randall Carlson's work w/ the Younger Dryas period further north in Canada fit in w/ Bretz and Pardee's work?

[@URProductions]

Fascinating. I live in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The draining of Lake Aggasiz carved out the river valley in my hometown and exposed much of the oilsands that today fuels our local economy.

[@Tlactl]

I wonder if the people who made Ice Age 2 actually did research

[@Ezullof]

They made artistic research. That is, they looked at which animals were alive during that ice age. Otherwise, obviously not.

[@oldwestern123]

@@Ezullof Wait, so you're telling me Wooly Mammoths couldn't talk?

[@ianism3]

yeah, you mean with the glacial lake causing a giant flood in the meltdown one? (i'm too lazy to look up whether that's the second one or not) because yeah, probably. there was a big one in northern canada a couple of years ago, though it wasn't caused by a glacial dam breaking: www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/northwest-territories-lake-falls-off-cliff-in-sign-of-changing-climate/article27667016/

[@ot23234]

Scientists chuckled at a saber-toothed squirrel character, because none had existed. Then they found a skeleton... www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/101102-saber-toothed-squirrel-fossils-paleontology-dinosaurs-science/

[@lavendergalaxy9996]

Quite possibly the best episode you guys have put together, both over here and at SciShow. Not that I expected anything less from my two favorite KZbin channels in existence. Keep it up! Your teams are amazing.

[@akyer8085]

Water is boneless ice

[@andresjrz99]

You’re not wrong.

[@mastaw]

Ice is boneless ice too though

[@BragoTHEgraviyKING]

Why did this make me gag

[@gelatinocyte6270]

Are bones waterless ice?

[@miguelmontenegro3520]

Fascinating

[@DJCallidus]

Always interesting, never dull. Thanks guys.