The Massive Eruption of California's Supervolcano: Evidence in Owens River Gorge

[@shawnwillsey]

You can support my educational 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 or here: buymeacoffee.com/shawnwillsey

[@filonin2]

My geology professor Brian Hausback took our class down that same road and gave us basically the same lecture. A great area!

[@RWBHere]

Thanks button not seen here, but a Like given, as always. If there's one thing which could ever have persuaded me to visit the USA it's the amazing geology that can be found in some of the less populous areas. Thank-you for sharing some of it with us, whilst teaching us how to observe what is around us.

[@steveperreira5850]

Thank you very much. I don’t know much about geology I’m just an engineer but I like to learn new things. I live on the west side of your family and really enjoy seeing the dramatic east sierra escarpment. Thank you for showing diagrams, maps, and illustrative sketches. It’s very helpful because you really can’t tell that much from a ground level camera panorama. Keep up the good work.

[@ntvtxn4]

Excellent video! I love this part of California and have been there several times. As an amateur geologist with a special interest in volcanology and seismology, it doesn't get any better than this. Highway 395 from Lee Vining south to Lone Pine is incredible. Many thanks, Professor Willsey.

[@briane173]

Born and raised in SoCal, have covered every square inch of California and the eastern Sierra is by far my favorite area. My brother lives in Murrieta and he thinks I'm nuts; but the turn-on for me is the geology, geography, topography and climate. Not many places you can go from arid desert to alpine forest within a 40-minute drive; and Owens Valley is the deepest valley anywhere in North America. Looking 2 miles up from Lone Pine at Mt. Whitney, if that doesn't humble you, you're dead. Fall down.

[@RobertCHoweSr]

From Palmdale to Reno, 395 is a treasure trove of geologic wonder and learning. It is hard keeping your eyes on the road or making any time traveling as the need for sidtracking to explore is so great. Mr. Shawn, thank you again for your time and effort in presenting the wonders of our own backyard.

[@RobertCHoweSr]

Correctiom: From Palmdale to Jawbone Canyon, you would be on Ca.14 and would merge onto 305 just north of there..

[@RobertCHoweSr]

395, not 305. Far thumbs

[@mayahawj3852]

I love the eastern sierra . Absolutely beautiful 😍. We backpack at least twice once a year and try to bagged a 14er once a year.

[@briane173]

This is "MY" area -- where I lived for a few years and where I developed my fascination with geology. There's nowhere like it -- from desert to alpine landscape in a matter of a few miles as you climb the Bishop Tuff on US-395. My favorite area of CA even though I lived on the SoCal coast most of my formative years. I've always been fascinated - and _humbled_ -- by the imposing topography, as well as the volcanism and seismicity in this area. From the valley floor at Lone Pine you're looking upward 2 1/2 MILES to the top of Mt. Whitney. This is the deepest valley in North America -- roughly 2 miles deep in places; and take away all the sediments that have piled up in the valley, and you have to dig down _another_ 10,000 ft. before you hit basement rock! So that's a full 5 miles of elevation from basement to the crest of the Sierra Nevada. Amazing. Along the Sierra Escarpment you can trace not only the normal faulting along that 100 mile stretch, but also the use by magma of that normal faulting as a _conduit_ for all the volcanism along the escarpment. Owens Valley is pocked with cinder cones from Big Pine down to Coso Junction -- the latter being a sizable volcanic field of its own that separates Owens Valley from the Mojave Desert -- all of which have made use of the faulting on either side of the valley as dikes and vents for cinder cones to develop. You ride up the Bishop Tuff and have to pause to absorb the amount of ash and lahar that emanated from the Long Valley Caldera when it erupted. 600 ft. thick in places, its very mass being responsible for the hardness of the welded tuffs toward the bottom of the flow. I would not have wanted to be around for _that_ explosion. Anyone wanting a textbook example of a graben needs only to drive through the Owens Valley. The shear depth of this valley is a sight to behold. And it is still spreading apart and the Sierra Nevada is _still rising._ It was 151 years ago when the Owens Valley Fault ruptured in an 8.0 earthquake, creating a fault scarp 50 miles long between Diaz Lake and Big Pine -- rising 20 feet and slipping laterally about 40 feet in an instant. Lots of people in Lone Pine lost their lives in that earthquake, as they lived right ON this fault and had no clue of what was beneath their feet. This is Ground Zero for my interest in geology, and I'm so looking forward to all your videos of the Eastern Sierra. I now feel as well-versed on the geology of this area as a geologist, and the knowledge I've gained of this area after living there a number of years I value deeply. Every time I go down there I discover something new, and can never look at the eastern Sierra the same way again.

[@stevengeorge5605]

This is an excellent comment-thank you sharing your knowledge of the Owens Valley!

[@fallinginthed33p]

The Owens Valley already looks imposing. I'd love to see Nanga Parbat which has a total prominence of almost 17000 feet from the camps at the valley floor to the summit. The kicker is that the valley floor is already at 10000 feet. Orogeny anywhere on earth creates mind-blowing landscapes.

[@Dragrath1]

Fascinating personal account of the area, and the context which I lacked when I was in the Sierras for a family vacation decades ago when I was still in grade school. Didn't really know much about the geology of the area and in fact I don't think we even stopped in any of the grabens when we were heading to Yosemite back then(we had flown out west via Las Vegas so we must have passed through somewhere) . I've read about the area since becoming somewhat more acquainted with the geology out west via several geology KZbin channels (Nick Zentner Geology Hub Myron Cook & Shawn Willsey listed in order of discovery) and gotten into reading scientific papers(where they are available). The GPS movement tracking data of the Sierra Nevada Great Valley block/microplate is interesting seeing how it seems to move somewhat independently of the continent deforming as a rigid plate compared to most of California and the basin and range which seem to be deforming under the clockwise rotation differentially. Only the Colorado plateau seems to share the rigid clockwise deformation of the western US. If the newer emerging picture of the geology out west discussed in Nick Zentner's A to Z Baja BC series is accurate, Specifically thinking of Robert Hildebrand's thought provoking concepts incorporating multidisciplinary forms of geological data with Seismic tomography providing the most striking example via the continuous ridge like upwelling discontinuity which connects directly to both the Juan de Fuca ridge and East Pacific Rise as well as the suspiciously perfect shape via map overlay for that ride like structure and the non subduction related recent volcanic centers of the western US then it seems probable that this whole region of NA has crossed over onto the Pacific plate after the strain from the differential rotation of the East Pacific Rise and North America became too large 17 Ma. In that picture the Sierra Nevada Great Valley block is the are which as NA moves southwest is starting to no longer be braced against this differential trajectory by Cascadia and the rest of the continent to the north still overlying the old "Farallon" plate materials. This suggests that like the Baja crustal block before it the Sierras are likely the next block to begin moving transversely up to Alaska with the Grabens like the Salton Sea Death Valley and Owens Valley among others likely at one point millions of years from now becoming a newer extension of the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California as these grabens continue to get deeper and more interconnected so long as NA keeps moving SW. That said what is driving the motion SW? To my knowledge Slab pull is the dominant source of plate motion but I don't know what effect it has on the overlying plates however the continued subduction of the Juan De Fuca and Cocos plate remnants of the eastern Pacific on each side of this probable subducted ridge kink in the plates has to be significant doesn't it? At least it seems like based on the shapes of deformation that the mantle features that the underlying substructure, the ridge line and subducted slab walls, are as a consequence getting dragged within the relatively "fixed" frame of the Yellowstone hotspot that appears to reside in the mantle architecture of a oceanic triple junction. So complicated and interconnected

[@coltruger2553]

Very informative and interesting comment! I have fished the Owens river many times and I spend more time looking at the geological wonders than I do fishing!

[@briane173]

@@fallinginthed33p Machu Picchu comes to mind immediately. The Andes in general, really -- sort-of an extreme Cascades Range, formed and forming as a consequence of the same processes except it's about 7x as long and the crest 2x as high in some places.

[@Hklbrries]

So interesting! Your explanations are excellent and it is easy-to-follow along. Appreciate the maps, aerial views, and graphics (ie, names) as well. Thanks!

[@itsDolphincat]

Fun fact is the oldest living organism in the world, Methuselah, a 4,855 year old tree lives in the White Mountains East of the Owens Valley. Highly recommend people visiting the area to check out the bristlecone pines.

[@Anne5440_]

I saw bristlecone pines in Colorado that are amazing. Some very old at about 2 thousand years. I have heard about Methuselah.

[@jackprier7727]

Methuselah is 4765. The one cut where Great basin Park is now was 4900-They are SO dense!

[@lawrencet83]

Just think that the tree was already 2,700 years old when Christ was born.

[@michaelnancyamsden7410]

I really enjoy these videos. The lead in fly over to the sites is great.

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks. It is helpful to orient folks right off the bat.

[@LisaBelleBC]

OMGosh! Again fascinating! I have never commented on KZbin videos before yours! I feel like a groupie! 64 years old and makes me feel like an excited little kid! Thank you so much! I have found a road cut on my way to work which I want to stop and look at and today my Charles Stanley (deceased) In Touch devotional came and on the cover was something I have ever seen. I told my husband “this is fascinating geology! I’m going to have to look it up!” Dr Charles Stanley was an amazing photographer along with his amazing preaching and author of many wonderful books. It was a picture of Death Valley from the air, which I can only think of what must be sand formations that look like snow covered mountains! So you have created another geological fanatic! Thank you for teaching us all about the fascinating geology of the Earth! I hope your students know what they have with you as their professor! Sorry so long but I had to :)

[@shawnwillsey]

Much appreciated, so thank you for taking time to comment and share.

[@GregMeadMaker]

Owens Valley is an excellent site for hang gliding, especially for pilots who love XC -- cross country long distance flying. No-engine flying; just thermals. Like Owens Valley, the scenery of many favorite HG sites are breath-taking but it's even better to have at least a basic understanding of the local geology.

[@mikelewis2918]

When we did this field trip in 1993 my professor stated that thin layers ash deposits consistent with the Bishop Tuff have been identified as far away as Kansas.

[@briane173]

Quite true.

[@ronm3245]

pfft! Your professor _would_ say that!

[@carnakthemagnificent336]

Thank you, Professor. I always believed that the more gradual western slope of the Sierras was attributable to erosion and greater precipitation. Love the Great Basin and HWY 395!

[@briane173]

Some of the topography west of the crest can be attributed to erosion from weathering and glacial carving; but the entire Sierra block is _tilting_ westward as the Basin & Range stretches apart and the Sierra block inches northward. As the Sierra block tilts toward the west the escarpment continues to rise. It gained 20 feet of elevation in an instant in 1872 when the MM8.0 Owens Valley Earthquake struck and cut an escarpment 50 miles long, from Diaz Lake south of Lone Pine all the way to Big Pine. The sediments that have piled up in the Owens Valley are also attributable to erosion along the crest -- glaciation, earthquakes, wind and snow. Probably the only reason the Sierra Escarpment isn't 100 miles of sheer cliffs straight up and down; lots of glacial till and talus has piled up along the escarpment and helped to fill Owens Valley with an 11,000 ft-deep pile of sediment in places. The White-Inyo Mountains have also been a source of all those sediments in the valley, and in places that range is almost as tall as the Sierra crest.

[@dancooper8551]

Great video! Spent a lot of time in this area over the last 25 years, almost all of it hiking in Yosemite or skiing at Mammoth. Missed a whole lot! I now have a game plan for future visits.

[@oscarmedina1303]

I greatly enjoyed this video. Also learned two new words; Xenolith and Fiamme. Thanks Shawn.

[@owenkittredge3433]

Another fun breakfast field trip. I have traveled this area many times over the years on 395 and a few times on geology field trips and never have looked at the Bishop Tuff this closely. Now my next trip I will take this side road. Thanks again for the fun trip.

[@alanmiller9681]

I’m fascinated by volcanoes. Really like your way of explaining the various rock formations.

[@user-wk1mw9nj3i76]

A peaceful morning in which to visit the evidence of stupendous power, just lying there under your feet. Amazing.

[@CayeCooper]

Thanks Shawn. Very interesting! We appreciate you.

[@maryt2887]

Great video, Shawn. Pumice, xenoliths, halos, and fiamme-more vocabulary for my growing knowledge. I enjoyed reading the comments from many who are familiar with this area.

[@briane173]

Do not be afraid of exotic rock fragments in the tuff; you don't wanna be accused of being a xenophobe.

[@briane173]

Fiamme -- sounds like a French dessert.

[@robertdiehl1281]

Awesome outing. Nice to get some insight on what I’ve been looking at for 60 years and being curious of course but not having an explanation of the geology. Good video.

[@hankhulator5007]

Hi, as usual, your explanations opens an entire world that most of the people would miss if not told, including I. :)

[@briane173]

Word. All the scores of times I've driven over the Bishop Tuff and never had a chance to just _stop_ and take a hard look at the geology there. The vistas alone are worth it; but the geology in Owens Valley and Long Valley is absolutely fascinating.

[@williammaceri8244]

My parents and my aunt and uncle first took me to Mammoth Lakes in 1962. US 395 was mostly just 2 lanes, so the trip would take just over 8 hours, so we would make one trip a year. In 1971 I joined Mt high school ski club. It was great. Every other month we would stay in June Lake, ski June Mountain on Saturday then on Sunday we would ski Mammoth. I felt like I was really cool. In 1972 I got my driver's license, and that changed everything. My oldest brother had a 66 Mustang, a 289 4 barrel carburetor. After that, he would let me go fishing with him and his friends, and he would let me do most of the driving. In 1974, my parents bought a 55 foot mobile home and we kept it at the Crawley Lake campground. We were always up there all year, fishing in the summer and skiing in the winter. In the 70s, US 395 was always being improved. From Northridge, CA to Mammoth Lakes now takes about 4 hours. We were living large. Due to health reasons, I don't get up there as often as before. Last year the great winter we had allowed Mammoth Mountain open until late August, I will be up there as often as possible. Since the 80s, there has been a lot more volcanic activity, and now we have an increase in the volcanic activity. Many of the trees around Horseshoe Lake. The reason finally came out, an increase in carbon dioxide is seaping up from the ground which means there are a lot more volcanic pools underneath the surface. Mammoth Mountain is a dormant volcano. There are many volcanic areas in the area. It won't take much to release the molting lava. Everything that v makes Mammoth so beautiful could be wiped out in an afternoon. Everyone talks about Yellowstone blowing up, but the Eastern Sierras are just as volatile, maybe even more so.

[@briane173]

I lived there for a couple years in the early 70s as a teenager. To me it was heaven -- no place in CA like it. It was the early 2010s before I discovered how volcanically and seismically active the area is, and that's what got me deeply involved in geology. I sorta knew tangentially as a teenager that there was volcanism in the area, but not knowing much about geology then I had no idea we were living inside a massive caldera that formed all this amazing landscape; and now I discover something new and fascinating every time I go there. It's not as easy to make that trip anymore because I live in WA; but when in CA I make a _point_ of taking 395 down the eastern Sierra instead of the Central Valley, because it's worth the drive. When my family lived in Long Beach as a kid we were wrapped up in sailboat racing, because we lived right close to the marina and we'd competitively race our sailboat 6 months outta the year; so my world as a kid was the coastline -- Beach Boys, surfing, sailing, the works. From the first time we made the drive from Long Beach to Mammoth, the journey was cathartic; I felt it as an analog for going to Heaven -- driving north and driving UP steadily in elevation. North and UP -- that was the route to Heaven in my mind. So whenever we'd spend a weekend at our cabin in Mammoth, for me at least I was genuinely in Heaven; and 54 years later I'll deliberately make that drive, just to get that feeling back. Living up here close to Mt St Helens and Mt Hood, having the Cascades in my backyard is _close_ to that same feeling -- but not quite. I don't think anything will measure up to the sojourn through big city-desert-deep valley-rugged mountains you get on US-395 from L.A. to Mammoth.

[@guiart4728]

Awesome description of the fumaroles !!!

[@briane173]

Before Google Earth I had no idea there were so many of these fumaroles on top of the tuff. You don't see them well at all from the highway.

[@judierickson7166]

Again thank you for explaining what ive seen and not realized. Spent many years camping and fishing in this area.

[@briane173]

Convict Lake -- so incredibly gorgeous it inspired my mom to paint it. I've still got the painting. The entire length of the Sierra escarpment is the definition of awe-inspiring.

[@mistysowards7365]

That is a massive flow. Completely erased a probable canyon, filled it in. These are great videos, thanks. On my bucket list to go see the eastern California volcanic region. Good stuff

[@briane173]

You've GOT to do it. I lived there in the 70s and there's just so much _nature_ there, including the endless geological stories, you'd just be blown away. Just standing in Owens Valley and looking up at Mt Whitney and the entire Sierra escarpment is humbling to your core. Reminds you Who is in charge.

[@valoriel4464]

Thx Prof for another excellent geo-ed adventure. ✌🏻

[@flintridgedesigninc.1351]

This is such an awesome video Shawn!! It's just what I've been waiting for👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@xwiick]

Thanks for all the hard work on these videos!

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

40 feet thick (~13m) Bishop tuff in Arches National Park, UT: 38° 43' 40.87" N; 109° 32' 33.03" W.

[@briane173]

Eye-opening commentary on how massive that eruption was -- only 100,000 years before the last eruption of Yellowstone. See you Sunday at Nick's Episode "J."

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

Thx, see you there!@@briane173

[@stevengeorge5605]

Thanks again, Shawn, for another great and informative video! 😀

[@frankthomas855]

Such interesting videos. Love all the different locations.

[@shawnwillsey]

Thank you for your kind donation to help me make more geology videos.

[@hestheMaster]

It's a geologist paradise there Shawn. Thank you for showing this. Steve from the boring Midwest.

[@briane173]

Ngl -- the geology gets progressively less inspiring as you travel further east away from the Rockies. I now feel privileged to have lived in the eastern Sierra and now along the Cascades in SW WA. I can't imagine living anywhere else, despite the violent geological processes that make all these mountains possible.

[@richardwest9054]

Shawn, your video is very smooth, despite that the camera is handheld and you are walking. How do you accomplish that?

[@jackprier7727]

He is a fit mtn-climber type and has an easy-going manner-

[@shawnwillsey]

Uh, dumb luck, I guess. I use a GoPro on a selfie stick and I think the GoPro has an internal gimble or something that steadies the image. Most viewers do not laud my filming skills so this is nice to hear.

[@richardwest9054]

Thanks for the response! Richard @@shawnwillsey

[@peterjgeraghty]

Excellent description of the history of these rocks. Thanks!

[@tonytenbreock8546]

Shawn, Minor point, but Sierra Nevada implies the reference is Snowy Mountains, so to the word mountains is superfluous. They are amazingly beautiful and dangerously inspirational.

[@jeremy9876543]

Further north in the gorge it is deeper and the tuff gets darker and glass like

[@wtfsalommy3250]

You are extremely well spoken and knowledgeable.. It's a breath of fresh air, thank you good sir.

[@LizWCraftAdd1ct]

More new words and somewhere I'm never likely to get to visit. Thanks Shawn.

[@johnhavens8199]

At 16:00 you can hear one of the Rock Wrens that live in and around the gorge.

[@lauralyons8446]

Long valley is one of my favorite geology playgrounds. So much to see! Did you get to the top of Mammoth mountain - the views of the caldera from the summit are extraordinary! You can clearly see the resurgent dome from the summit. I pulled out my samples of the Bishop tuff - from the top of the flow, very vesicular. Fun to examine it more closely as you talked about the first roadcut.

[@briane173]

I have been trying for close to a year to get back down to Mammoth Lakes to go up to the top and make a geology video, just because there is SO much geology going on within the 360° view from there. I'm hell-bent to do it, probably in March. I used to live in Mammoth Lakes decades ago when it was a sleepy little resort town, and it is Ground Zero for my avocational interest in geology. Can't wait to go back. Couple years ago I drove to Lone Pine to visit the Lone Pine Earthquake escarpment; very accessible and fascinating. Still almost intact 151 years later, owing to the dry climate and lack of erosion. Quite humbling, especially when you look west of there and 2 miles up is Mt. Whitney. No place in the country like Owens Valley.

[@williammaceri8244]

Well this news of California's supervolcano doesn't surprise me, since the entire Eastern Sierras has a very volcanic history. Mammoth Mountain is a dormant volcano. There are many volcanic features that are proof that the entire area was very volcanic in the past. If you know where to look ,you'll find excellent examples of obceian, and areas of completely covered with pumice. When I was a little kid, I couldn't wait to get to the Mammoth Mountain area, looking for that special rock. There is always something to do up there.

[@stevemackelprang8472]

Always entertaining, and always informative! I thank you.

[@diblust53]

This brings back so many memories! My family started camping at Lake Mary (Mammoth Lakes) BEFORE there were paved roads up there. We spent 6 weeks every summer and explored - huge chunks of pumice, and a large outcrop of obsidian glass, hot springs etc. Devils Postpile - hope you go there & discuss!

[@timgodwin9013]

Great job Shawn, Good to see you out here in California on the east side.

[@umm...JustGuy]

Hi Shawn, Love your videos! Just visited Obsidian Butte yesterday and picked up a few nice specimens of Obsidian and pumice. While searching along the beach outcrop shown in your video at about 20:00 we saw what we think was a Red Diamond Rattlesnake sunning itself right on the Obsidian cliff. It was at least 6ft long and luckily was positioned about 8 or 10 ft below me on the cliff. We watched him slither into the craggy Cliffside. So be careful folks, rattlesnakes are right there in the cliff and outcrops!

[@helenaziegler6005]

Wow thanks a lot. I will use this video on my class next monday, to show an excellent outcrop of ignimbrite. Fiamme and reverse pumice gradation. We have good ignimbrites also here but my Uni is far to the north and this is a wonderful substitutive for an excursion 😊 Cheers from Italy!

[@shawnwillsey]

Excellent!

[@lilysceeliljeaniemoonlight]

Even more spectacular than i imagined. Your footage is A1 Professor!

[@Anne5440_]

Did the compaction and hardening of the tuff happen over time after the flow was in place and cooling? I ask because I wonder about the beds of tuff and pumice I saw 2 years after the St Helen's eruption. We were able to visit along the river after the road up the riverside had been reopened. I'm wondering if now a current trip there would show compaction and hardening at the base of the layer. The I was there the tuff was light and fluffy pretty much through the layer. There were large 12 or more inch rocks of pumice in the tuff. These were very round and weighted almost nothing for the size they were. How soon after an eruption do these typs of changes appear?

[@shawnwillsey]

The difference is the volume of ash in both eruptions. Long Valley was many times larger than MSH so the sheer volume, thickness, weight, and heat of ash allowed it to fuse and weld together to form tuff.

[@Anne5440_]

@@shawnwillsey thank you, I hadn't thought of that but of course.

[@DonnaCsuti-ji2dd]

Spent time there yrs ago. My husband was a field scientist in that area thanks for sharing the video and lecture

[@Oceanbleed]

Love your content, Prof Willsey

[@moonbabies]

Feels like I'm back at field camp, thanks for the educational tour! I'm going to be able to appreciate the Owen's Valley area a lot more now.

[@marilynhutchings6666]

Very interesting . There are probably lots of people who have no idea how all this was created. I didn't. Thanks for the geology lesson.🙂

[@susiesue3141]

Thank you for sharing this video. Very informative and very interesting. 😊

[@jackmcmichael3560]

A fantastic video thank you for coming to California to show us what happened to make this state so incredible 🌴☘️

[@californiasun5866]

I have hiked down that same road into the gorge, with the afternoon sun highlighting the far canyon wall. I have hiked much of the tablelands, and have found a lot of interesting formations. If you explore Chidago Canyon you can see some of the column formations, curved into a near perfect arch. As well as vertical columns coming up out of what was a molten pool of lava.

[@dudeonbike800]

Man, I LOVE your videos. And when it's Eastern Sierra? Even better! Love the high basin & range desert. Have driven Hwy 50 almost 50 times at this point, but have yet to cycle the route. On the list! Many thanks!

[@DaveBartholomew-uf6sm]

Thank you. I was just through there a month ago and did not go down that road but will when I get back down there.

[@grandpaadventures360]

Hello very interesting videos I’m so lucky to have come upon your channel I just subscribed to your channel , keep up the awesome work that you do .

[@bretthumphries7911]

fascinating, thanks for sharing. At the only real "horseshoe bend" in the gorge, there are 2 old mining operations. One is placer, and involved blasting a tunnel through the fin, and diverting the Owens River. Pretty sure they had a sluice setup at the bend. The other mine is hard rock, and includes an adit into the eastern cliff wall, about 25' above the river level. Safe travels

[@stevemackelprang8472]

Thanks!

[@shawnwillsey]

Much appreciated. Thank you!

[@Piratedaveslife]

I used to camp and explore the Owens Valley, Alabama Hills, and the Sierras in the 90s. Fascinating area. Unforgiving and rugged beauty.

[@SJSantaBarbara]

The Eastern Sierras are the best. Hike, ski,fish,look at cool rocks. Thanks!

[@shawnwillsey]

Many thanks for your donation.

[@davec9244]

thank you does it ever get deep enough to see the contact point (bed rock to tuff)? stay safe ALL

[@shawnwillsey]

Not that I know of.

[@djannias]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:31 🌄 *The video explores the geology of Owens Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains, focusing on volcanic activity.* 03:31 🌋 *East-west extension in the Basin and Range Province has led to volcanic activity in the area, creating features like the Long Valley Caldera.* 04:56 💥 *A massive volcanic eruption 767,000 years ago formed the Long Valley Caldera and deposited the Bishop Tuff in the Owens Valley.* 09:12 🌋 *Observations of Bishop Tuff at the top reveal pmus particles, quartz crystals, and the volcanic nature of the material.* 11:38 🏞️ *As they descend, the Bishop Tuff changes in color, compaction, and appearance, with pmus particles becoming more compacted.* 16:35 🌋 *At the bottom of the gorge, the Bishop Tuff is significantly more compacted, with darker coloration and reduced porosity.* 19:07 🧗‍♂️ *Rock climbers are drawn to the bottom of the gorge, where the Bishop Tuff is hard and resistant, making it suitable for climbing.*

[@Horsefingerandthetaintwrights]

The eruption event at Long Valley sent airborne materials of significant size,as far away as Mexico City. It boggles my mind to think of the scale of this in relation to St Helens.

[@briane173]

There's practically no comparison. Something like St. Helens x 1,000, in terms of the amount of tephra that was erupted from the LV supervolcano.

[@tabuleirocmd]

12:07 squished components: May I ask if this outcrop shows a tendency towards a welded tuff of sorts? Thanks for the great video!

[@DisHammerhand]

Ive been through the Owens valley a few times. I particularly noticed the small cones dotted throughout the area and some column formation along the highway coming out of Ridgecrest right at Little Lake. I would really enjoy spending a day poking around various places out there.

[@KarlLew]

Thanks! Always wondered what I was climbing-well-packed pyrocrastic flow.😮❤

[@conradmormann2277]

This was very cool and informative. I'd love to learn more about the formation of the tungsten hills/buttermilk areas in bishop. Amazing geology in the tungstens that personally baffles my imagination as to how so many different types of rocks/minerals are all in on3 place.

[@uncleronny6748]

Most of the freshwater fishing Ive done as an adult has been in this region. Thanks for bringing these geologic features to my attention. Pretty sure many folks just dismiss the area as " not forrest" and are missing out.

[@dsthorp]

Wonderful listening. Thank you.

[@DonnaCsuti-ji2dd]

Do you know if mono hot springs over one ridge to the west of your location is connected geologically to long valley caldera??? Spent lots of time there

[@shawnwillsey]

Yes it is connected to this system.

[@loisrossi841]

Thank you for the tour.

[@mistypuffs]

Really interesting. Thank you ^^

[@freshelfpie]

I've camped at Mammoth Lakes a few times, and did a lot of driving around the area, including some, at the time, bathe-able hot springs. So we knew it was geothermally active, but the extent of Long Valley Caldera is truly frightening, should the thing decide to erupt again. A lot of people live up there. Thanks for the tour, subscribing.

[@jamesraymond1158]

Beautiful early morning lighting.

[@bravendyer9529]

Your stuff is addicting. Keep it up .

[@hfarms5779]

We will be visiting Bishop for the first time for another event but interesting to know what we are looking at. Sounds like a future visit for the grandkids.

[@barbaraolson6783]

Love this area , my mom used to explain all the rocks to me when we stoped to look around. Used to love the pink tuff.

[@muzikhed]

Nice excursion. Such an interesting place. Those columna tuffs seem like a syncline fold discontinuation fault with the following terrain which has a much different aspect about it.

[@ultrametric9317]

Great! What a spectacular place! What's the big mountain with the sharp peak almost due south? Mt. Whitney is that way but it's 70 miles away.

[@briane173]

If you're talking about the peak at 0:24 of the video, that would be Mt. Tom.

[@mikeladley5149]

Although I now live. 18 miles from Taal Volcano, Philippines, I truly love the Eastern Sierra's for it's natural beauty and geologic history. 👍💖

[@stephanieparker1250]

This is super interesting! I had assumed the valley was created due to the widening of the area between the mountain ranges, not so much due to up/down movement.

[@grumpy3543]

So the hills were formed from death of whatever life was living in the swamp of the valley floor. Fascinating and horrifying at the same time. 7:03

[@tracymeskel2839]

We took a drive down highway 395, this year. Such a cool drive, with the sierras on one side, and whites on The other. We stayed at the Alabama Hills. Be careful diesel cost just about 7.50 a gal over there.

[@kwgm8578]

Shawn, I wanted to ask you about the Long Valley caldera in a previous video regarding Yosemite. I was educated in the Bay Area (engineering), and we were taught all throughout the 1970's and 80's, that this volcano was our greatest threat. There are some lovely hotsprings all over and around the Valley, but dont get in anywhere -- some of those springs are 140°F or more. Others are cooled with a mixture of cold, glacier water from the High Sierra. Thanks for the video.

[@briane173]

What I'm starting to hear is geologists believe there's no magma recharging there, what's left of the magma in the chamber is actually _cooling,_ and is partly responsible for the earthquakes they've had there the past few decades. I don't have a sufficient explanation for why the Resurgent Dome is _rising_ if the magma chamber is _cooling,_ though. So....who knows? Which is no better than the answers we were getting in the 70s & 80s.

[@davidsabbagh6815]

Maybe cooling magma acts like water? Water expands when it freezes.

[@briane173]

@@davidsabbagh6815 Hmmm, I'd think if that was the case, basalt wouldn't form columns as it cooled and contracted. So my mind's eye sees cooling magma _contracting._ Doesn't mean there isn't gasses and expanding water as it flashes to steam and maybe that's enough to put pressure on the dome, I honestly don't know.

[@briseboy]

In 1980, the same spring as Mt St. Helens eruption, the Long Valley caldera began a series of quakes which raised part of is western floor as much as 3 feet. Little significant motion since..

[@marcialoofboro306]

Thanks that was interesting and informative.

[@EddieSchirmer]

have you been to Cerro Gorda Ghost Town yet? i bet you would get a kick out of the place. Brent seems like a cool guy too. he could take you around to check out the geology of the mine and the town, and you could give us a nice overview too =)

[@SkepticalRaptor]

Based on the lack of snow in the Sierras, I’m guessing he filmed this in October, so he’s back in Idaho by the time this was posted. 😃

[@EddieSchirmer]

@@SkepticalRaptor lol perhaps, but that just means another trip for him next time. i would love to see him and Brent doing a collaboration. along with Jason and Dan Hurd. so many great ones together talking geology haha, would be epic.

[@stevensprunger3422]

You know it’s really incredible to imagine that all these rocks that seem so solid now when you look at it over the infinity overtime they’re actually fluid almost like a wave at a beach over the infinity of time it’s really pretty amazing

[@markjennings7258]

Brilliant Shawn

[@tuttt99]

I love the Eastern Sierra Nevada. Stunningly beautiful.

[@VA7LBA]

Would this welded tuff also be considered ignimbrite?

[@guardgilbert]

Thank you for the video.

[@Mrbfgray]

Rode bicycle from Bishop to Salt Lake City. NV going laterally, only flat in the middle of valley between two modest size ranges. (in a car you don't notice) All the rest is climbing or descending.

[@doormasterjohn]

What are the horizontal pinkish lines in the rock at the bottom of gorge ? 18.48 Looks like almost like a thin sedimentary lines

[@M1ST3RHYDE]

This answered several questions. in Yosemite I came across granite with rocks poking out all over. I have searched a ton but now I know they are Xenolith.

[@johnelder150]

Took me back 25 years to when I took my kids and some friends down this exact walk and saw the pumice get compressed with depth. We continued to the power plant and found some folks fishing. They had quickly caught their limit using grasshoppers as bait.

[@ericfielding2540]

Great explanation of how the Bishop Tuff looks at different levels. I only missed the word ignimbrite.

[@Christiane069]

I belive the geologic formation of the section that fall down between the ridges is called a Graben if I am not completely off.

[@committeelectc6686]

Are the drill holes for paleo-mag analysis? If so is this terrain thought to be exotic?

[@AvanaVana]

Regarding the volcanism in this part of California and the formation of the Sierra Nevada-there are many papers of the past 20 or so years that investigate Pliocene delamination as a genetic mechanism. There’s Manley et al 2000 in Geology (co-written with Allen Glazner who is IMO one of the masters of Sierran geology, with particular reference to the formation of granitic plutons and the history of magmatism in the SN), as well as Farmer et al 2002 in GSA Bull (also written with Manley and Glazner-Farmer was the third coauthor in the 2000 paper too), Zandt 2003 in Int. Geol. Rev., as well as Le Pourhiet et al 2006 in EPSL (coauthored with Michael Gurnis and Jason Saleeby). I think the first to investigate and publish on this was Ducea and Saleeby actually in 1996 and 1998. There was also a Penrose Conference on this topic (in part) in 2010: “Origin and Uplift of the Sierra Nevada, California”. Basically, a cold lithospheric root from the earlier orogenic thickening of the crust (so-called “arclogites” of the lower crust”) begin to sag and eventually either “drip” or “delaminate” from the rest of the lithosphere, falling into the mantle below. This triggers an upwelling of hot asthenosphere to replace the material that is downwelling, which causes dynamic uplift and volcanism.

[@SPak-rt2gb]

My favorite part of the valley are the lava fields around Goodale and Taboose creeks. I could have imagined what it was like back then.