Random Roadcuts #14: Geologist Explores Roadcut In Austria's Wachau Valley

[@shawnwillsey]

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[@Riverguide33]

Gneiss scenery! 👍

[@holly50575]

👍😁

[@camiledionne-west6233]

When traveling I drive my travel mates crazy by wanting to stop and examine random road cuts. I’ve been on tour in Vietnam where we stopped at a lookout to see the view. I was far more interested in the road cut on the other side of the road, and was trying to work out the stratigraphy. The tour guide actually came over to me, tapped me on the shoulder and told me that the view was on the other side of the road. Was some interesting geomorphology, but there were fossils in the road-cut! Friends on vacation: where’s Camile? Oh, she’s over there looking at the rocks again!

[@ligavasara-brakmane4051]

It is so interesting how you go around the world and find such magic in natural objects others pass by every day without thinking about it

[@simplicitygirl2]

In case anybody is interested to know what I KYSELAK means and how old the engraving is: Josef Kyselak (March 9, 1798 - September 17, 1831) was an Austrian civil servant, mountaineer and travel writer. He became famous for his habit to tag his name onto prominent places during his hikes across the Austrian Empire.

[@causewaykayak]

That's an incredible bit of detective work. I was wondering but dismissed the idea ofa Search as being unlikely to yield results. Good On you 👍🏼

[@maryt2887]

Thanks for this!

[@lisahart5682]

Really cool info. Thanks. Definitely not a road cut then. I love that kind of info. 😃

[@LisaBelleBC]

Please thank your family and friends for sharing you with us even on vacation!!! I love random road cuts!

[@sdmike1141]

Earthquakes, volcanoes, random roadcuts, oh my!! The busiest geology professor on the interwebs!! Thanks, but make sure to squeeze some fun out of your trip too!!

[@kateclover874]

How fun to stop at a random outcropping when traveling. Love the way you examine the rock up close and the whole outcrop from a distance and make macro and micro observations along the way. Not only are you teaching HOW to read rocks but we are learning from your interpretation. Well done. Thank you Shawn.

[@birgithartinger3066]

I am austrian . My geology atlas says Gföhler Gneis , Paragneis, orthogneis and schist. remolten and reshaped 491 million years ago. Thanks for the roadcut i am definitely going to look for it.

[@Emac1216egg]

Been watching random road cuts since #1, this episode in particular has been the most informative for me to identify local geology, maybe surprisingly, even more so than the BCW Canyon roadcut. Living on the eastern salt lake valley, I have had the knowledge to identify similar basement rocks but this has really refreshed my mind. Thank you for educating!

[@user-wk1mw9nj3i76]

Nothing like continental collisions to create a little scenery. Thanks as always!

[@DrGeorginaCook]

Welcome to the weathered rocks of Europe! Makes it so much harder to figure it all out. Oh for fresh surfaces! Reassuring you figured out probably as much as we would have done. I’m always frustrated not being able to know exactly what the mineralogy is and to figure out the history but it’s just not always possible from such outcrops. Thanks again.

[@greenthing99100]

Well, I was expecting fossiliferous limestone at first glance, so that wonderful mixture of gneiss, schist, pretty little crystalline inclusions and veins of quartz was a lovely surprise. And that is why you are a geologist and I'm a biologist! I'm enjoying your European adventure. Thanks Shawn.

[@dougreid1951]

This is a neat idea for a series - I live in the UK where the geology is extremely varied - and even within a couple of hundred miles we have a fabulous variety of different rocks often visible as roadside cuts... But for a near baffling range of types in a very small space - Beaumaris Castle in North Wales - The builder was paying good money for ANY rock - so peple delivered all different sorts - if you ever get the chance - pay it a visit.

[@J0hnC0ltrane]

I like the random roadcuts. Your passed videos have given me a lot of information. Ty Shawn.

[@viennasky1]

What we have learned in school it is a very old formation and it is the basement rock formation indeed. It is a gneiss plateau to the north that ends at the Danube river which formed the Wachau valley. Thanks for the video, I hope you tried some of the wine as well.

[@jersey63]

Random road cuts goes world wide! Love it!

[@RudolfPosch]

The Dunkelsteinerwald accompanies the Danube in the Melk to Mautern section . The massif is a “foothill” of the Waldviertel , the mountainous part of Lower Austria north of the Danube. From a geological point of view, it belongs to the granite and gneiss plateau , the part of the Bohemian Massif in Austria , from which it is separated above ground by a breakthrough valley in the Danube, the Wachau. The Dunkelsteinerwald is predominantly made up of the highly metamorphic rock granulite . Only in the south of the ridge do other metamorphites occur, including: various gneiss as well as mica schist and amphibolite . The eponymous mountain of the Dunkelsteinerwald, the Dunkelstein ( 625 m above sea level ), owes its name to the dark tint of amphibolite.

[@kevindorland738]

Thank Professor. Thank you for taking your time to educate us further.

[@kathilisi3019]

Watching this from Krems in the Wachau. 😊 I hope you enjoyed your time in Austria!

[@LizWCraftAdd1ct]

Gneiss and schists, my favourites.

[@Laserblade]

Thanks for the lesson Professor!

[@brucethomas471]

Another fun roadcut video! Don't forget to deduct your trip from your taxes!

[@holly50575]

I also truly enjoy Random Roadcuts!

[@pauldietz1325]

We took a Viking river cruise on the Danube last year, from Budapest to Regensburg. We went through that part specifically during the day because it was so scenic. The rocks visible from the cruise really caught my eye.

[@edwardlulofs444]

Oh how I wish that I could be in Regensburg! There’s a professor there that I think will become famous for his group’s original and insightful work. 😊

[@SirWussiePants]

Austria has some wonderful wines! Blaufrankisch (Lemberger), Gruner Veltliner, etc.

[@CricketsMa]

That little vineyard is awesome. Were there several of them along the road? The rocks made me think, old, been here a long time. As though most rocks aren’t ancient! 😄

[@KellyConlan]

Love that you found a road cut on your holiday for an episode 😂 It’s so interesting to learn about international geology. I saw an amazing road cut in Auckland New Zealand but Unfortunately I couldn’t get a photo. Totally recommend New Zealand for geology lovers!

[@muzikhed]

Well Profesor, I reckon that was a pretty nice litttle find, metamorphics from 300+ ma. Gneis !

[@davidk7324]

Thanks Shawn.

[@marcosfreijeiro8763]

Great content, that helps a great deal when I'm out and about to identify rocks thanks professor

[@sandrine.t]

Hey @shawnwillsey thanks for another cool European roadcut! The Variscan orogeny, hmmm... also called the Hercynian orogeny right? I believe this is the origin of the Armorican Massif, the Massif Central, the Ardennes, in France...

[@nothanks3236]

Did you make it over to Budapest? The topography there is rather interesting (or it was to me when I visited there many moons ago). It's almost as if the river there is running on an old fault, as on the Buda side of the river the terrain becomes immediately very hilly and even steep. But on the Pest side of the river the terrain is almost horizontally flat. Edit: also I highly recommend Budapest, just as beautiful as Vienna but with a quarter of the crowds...

[@userpharnorth]

Very interesting.

[@hankhulator5007]

Hi Shawn, as you are europe at this time, I suggest you push west to the Eifel fields (only one "F", two is Gustave Eiffel, from the tower ;-p), as they are those that have the higher probabilities to awake harshly soon, apart from the Phlégean fields from Naples surrounds.

[@shawnwillsey]

Sorry. Returned from Europe on March 30. But we will back soon.

[@rillhills6391]

The text info needs to be longer so we can read it, I replayed it 4 times. Very interesting that those rocks are that old. Thanks for sharing your European trip with us 👍

[@shawnwillsey]

You can always pause video with text on it. But thank you for the comment. Noted.

[@edwardlulofs444]

@@shawnwillsey there’s nothing wrong with having to re-watch a video. It’s a bigger problem to go too slow. I like GeologyHub because all the videos are under 5 minutes. And yes it moves quickly but at least you never wonder if you are clicking on a hour long video. But you have a light, breezy upbeat style and that makes you a lot of fun to learn from. If something works, keep doing it. 😀 Your videos work!

[@lauram9478]

Thank you, Shawn!

[@FeeNixBeech]

Oz of Oz Geology also does random roadcuts, I thought this was his at first. XD Australia and Austria look similar at first glance. XD

[@edwardlulofs444]

Oh I like Oz Geology a lot! 😃

[@edwardlulofs444]

Fascinating. Thanks. 😊

[@valoriel4464]

Thx Prof. ✌🏻 grt geo-adventure

[@3xHermes]

Thanks Shawn, I hope that you and your wife can take more dream vacations together. European edition road cuts! Guessing Africa colliding with Europe caused uplift to show us these Gneisses and Schists?

[@kaboom4679]

It would be better with less weathered surfaces , but still a fairly decent exposure there .

[@00Mandy00]

There is a geology documentary series on Disney talking about the geology of that area. Weirdly, the geologist they interviewed was a dude who I went to the UofU with in the ‘80s. I was friends with his brother.

[@YOICHIHAGIWARA]

ありがとうございます！

[@pizzafrenzyman]

fascinating

[@davec9244]

You young one don't appreciate any rocks, today. I remember back when the Old North American plate collied with Europe those were good days. Stay safe ALL.

[@edwardlulofs444]

Yes, those were exciting days. And the life around was very alien to what we see now. Next time I visit I will take some photographs. It will be fun to see the excitement when I show them around. People always laugh and argue and say that they are very high quality AI pics.

[@7inrain]

I live on an ancient coral reef here in Germany that formed in a shelf sea next to the Old Red Continent. So I like to say that my home region once belonged to North America. Which was a bit ago (about 375 mya) but who cares.

[@moatl6945]

These stones are part of the so called Bohemian Massif. The Danube crosses its south parts two times. The Wachau region is in the second gap. One of the most iconic features lies in the first gap: the “Schlögener Schlinge”, Europe's biggest entrenched meander.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

Very interesting. If you ever find yourself in Austria again, prof. Willsey, I again recommend a trip to nearby Bratislava in Slovakia. Especially to Devín Castle. It sits on a very interesting rock formation on the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers; the Morava being the only dark river in Europe. Would be interesting to see, I am sure.

[@kevindorland738]

Why is it dark?

[@weepingscorpion8739]

@@kevindorland738 I got the terminology mixed up, it is actually called a blackwater river. From what I understand it depends on what sort of terrain the river runs through; usually forested swamps and wetlands. I could try and explain more but the Wikipedia article on blackwater rivers does it much better, so I recommend you read that. :)

[@douglasfinch5085]

Holy schist.....gneiss video!!

[@ukaszbadura5670]

There seem to be different grades of metamorphosis. Great video!

[@cohomologygroup]

Pretty Gneiss!

[@hestheMaster]

My guess is that it is gneiss. Certainly at least 300 mya. Mostly this is found in central Europe and may be the Bohemian Massif formation but not very sure. Nice roadcut nonetheless professor.

[@aurelioperez1363]

Please Prof.Came to Spain!❤

[@shawnwillsey]

Would love to.

[@johnjConnellan]

Any Iron oxide there?

[@terezasnyder]

Friends: "Where's Shawn?" "What happened to Shawn?" Wife: "Oh, he saw a rock!" Me: "Pull over! Pull over!" Them: "what?! Why?" Me: "I saw a rock!"

[@surendrabhakuni1639]

Salute. Some xenolith?

[@paulowens1715]

1:04 Thought I'd accidentally clicked on a Philomena Cunk documentary

[@edwardlulofs444]

Oh, I love that show! It’s hilarious 😂 So many people I know are pretentious and boring and this is biting satire of those other fuddy duddies!

[@7inrain]

I've not scanned through the comments but I reckon somebody will already have said something like "gneiss video". To which I simply say: +1 Are you also going to visit the western parts of Germany, like the Eifel mountains, the Düsseldorf - Cologne region or the Sauerland mountains? I'd be happy to buy you a beer.

[@shawnwillsey]

Maybe on another trip.

[@janeanson8520]

💕💖💖💖💖💖💕

[@Ari-jj9op]

Pretty gneiss!

[@skyedog24]

You're a Long Way from home

[@slidefirst694]

In the 1950's TVshow," Superman", Clark Kent and Jimmy Olson were reporting on an African tribe. WhenJimmy snapped a photo of the chief's prized possession , a large diamond, the diamond dissolved into dust, which angered the chief and the tribe. The visitors were about to be tied up and punished. Clark, Superman, asked the chief to wait a minute, he placed his hand in a nearby stream and found a piece of coal, which he squeezed in his hand and produced a diamond to replace the other one and save the day.

[@THX5000]

I think that is Samsonite

[@TreeRelics]

Some nice gneiss, just saying.

[@daleolson3506]

Are you able to write these ginormous road trips off you tax’s? Lol

[@Blueyedlady007]

Not unless they're primarily for business 😕

[@okboomer6201]

First! 🪨

[@jonerlandson1956]

the home of yodeling...

[@daleolson3506]

Home free rincola