What lies buried 20,000 feet under the Appalachian Mountains?

Followup video at • What formed this ancie...
The structure of the Appalachian Mountains intrigued geologists for more than a century, particularly because so much of the US population live so close to these mountains. During the 1970s and 1980s, geologists became particulary interested in what is underneath the Appalachian Blue Ridge, where rocks that formed deep in the Earth, such as granite and gneiss, are found at the Earth's surface. This video illustrates how geologists interpret the deep structure of a part of the Appalachians, how geologists gained this information, and what the information can contribute to learning about climate change. Microsoft Paint diagram drawing and a physical "sandbox" model are included.

[@alicemiller3139]

Amazing channel! I live in Murphy, close to the TN border and the in part of the Dean Formation comprised of schist. In my yard, there is nothing but very hard clay, some that actually look like rocks but when we get torrential rain, they start to fall apart. When I moved to NC from northern NJ 8 years ago, I was collecting rocks to line my fire pit and put some of the red rocks around it to. First real downpour, my red rocks melted. 😊. Love telling that story! Anyway, during the pandemic, I started watching KZbin, found Nick Zentner and his channel got me really interested in geology, but he deals with the PNW and Western Washington State. Myron Cook is another great geologist and he did an episode on the Application Mountains which I was thrilled to watch. I had looked for more but didn’t really find any other channels until I stumbled upon your channel. Thank you!

[@LHoover]

An impressive presentation, however most impressive is your MS PAINT skills! Bravo sir.

[@TheGeoModels]

I have been training for some years! It's a fun challenge to try to pull it off and come up with something decent. Thanks so much for watching!

[@hutlazzz]

ive been about to comment the same.. im just impress at what possible with paint now lol

[@LHoover]

@@hutlazzz LOL NOW?!😜 Litterally it has to be 50 year old code it is identical to windows95 other than saveable formats. Back when Giffy was the "NewPoo" beyond 'wingdings' wtf is a jaypeg?? Lol. But since we are discussing a clearly gifted individuals skills I wonder, @GeoModels did you collaborate with grogen and Cohen? Either way it's a good vibe. It really makes delicious geology hyper delicious, like sugar crack breakfast cereal.

[@bill8985]

I'm guessing a pen pad interfaced with Paint? Touchpad with stylus?

[@TheGeoModels]

@@bill8985 just drawing on the screen in regular old Paint with a digitizer pen. Sometimes draw with a finger on a touch screen as well.

[@Geologynut37]

I am a Geological nut job when it comes to the Appalachian Mountains. The history of this range tells us so much about almost any geological process you can think of around the world. Over the past 1.2 billion years, 2 supercontinents have formed, then created oceans that closed again. I am from North Carolina and every time I go to the slate belt, I am in awe that I am picking up a metavolcanic rock that was erupted up to 600 million years ago! When I first starting loving Geology, I had no clue the US east coast once had volcanoes. That still is hard to believe! But these were the result of subduction, volcanic island arcs, and orogenic events. I would love to pick your brain sometime! I have a lot of questions about the ins and outs about the complex aspects of the Appalachian Mountains!

[@sarasmr4278]

I have no idea and am so happy you're going to spend 45 minutes telling me 💜

[@TheGeoModels]

Get your Microsoft Paint here!

[@davidsaylor3582]

I Live in Greene County Tennessee & My entire Property is Full of Limestone Dolomite and Even Barite...When I have Busted pieces I have found a Purple like Substance that I thought might be Amyithist but it was Something called Fluoride.... Very interesting Research.... I'd love to know what is 20,000 Feet Below my House and Property 😊

[@TheGeoModels]

Fluorite! That's really cool. It often hangs out with barite, sort of in the areas where the gray rock has slid in over the purple rock. Emplacement of the gray rock brings a lot of hot geologic "fluids" (water at high heat/pressure with high mineral content) with it, and minerals precipitate out where the fluids meet the carbonate rock. That general geologic zone has a fair amount of zinc and lead ore in various parts of Appalachia, particularly southwest Virginia. They ran a mine shaft underneath the bed of the New River going after it.

[@davidsaylor3582]

@@TheGeoModels Yeah... Thanks for the Spelling Correction 😁 I Have A Creek that Runs Year Round & A Natural Limestone Spring that we Get our Water Supply from "We Like it Much better than County Water" And it Seems like For Some Reason the Water that Originates from These Limestone Springs are Stronger Flow and Continuous even in the Driest of weather.... There is A Huge Limestone Ledge Or Shelf Across the Creek Behind my house where The Spring Originates and Plenty more further downstream....My Guess Is A Cave System even though no Entrance A Human could fit thru but Plenty of Disappearing Streams Nearby...As A Matter of Fact the Creek Behind my house Is Right Between two Smaller streams that Both disappear into the Ground without making it to the Bigger Stream the Creek Behind my house feeds into... Sinking Streams are Very interesting to me and I Always wonder Where they Resurface at As I would imagine they would have to or Feed Back into the Water table or Aquifer 🤔 Ever Heard of the Pulaski Fault By The Way?

[@bubbafrump74]

If you were asked to suggest a realtor for trying to find a small parcel of land in the mountainous portion of that are... would you have a decent bit of advice for a fellow seeker of geological knowledge???😬

[@TheGeoModels]

@@bubbafrump74 go to this link and read down through it and there's an email address. Holler at me and tell me what you're interested in! princegeology.com/about-philip-prince/

[@gavincoleman8368]

@@davidsaylor3582I cave around east TN often. If you would like to know where the resurgence is for those vanishing creeks, you could run a dye trace! If there is a cave system under the property there could be entrances on neighboring property’s. When the weather gets cold check for steam vents after a storm.

[@bryandraughn9830]

I live in this area. Super curious. Thank you for the detailed explanation of these mountains and all the science and stuff. I appreciate your work!

[@TheGeoModels]

Glad it found you! It's a an iconic spot for thrust belt geology. They shot a seismic reflection line across Shady Valley and Mountain City...it will show up in a video down the road. It would have been cool for someone to drill through the Blue Ridge just to see what was down there--in other words to see if the seismic was good. The only time drilling went all the way to the granite-like "basement" was in Scott County, Virginia. It hit basement at 17,003 ft deep. Everything out that far is thinner than down around Erwin, Elizabethton, etc. Thanks again for watching and commenting!

[@HiwasseeRiver]

Thanks for this - I live and fish down near Etowah - I'm always amazed at the mix of rock types I find in the Hiwassee River. This video helps makes sense of that.

[@garyb6219]

Thanks for doing these! A few years ago I read Roadside Geology of Montana, if you're pondering a subject for another video I'd love to hear your take on the Lewis Overthrust up near Glacier National Park.

[@TheGeoModels]

Yeah I can take a shot at Glacier. I'd like to do a sandbox model for it, but it can be drawn as well. There is a fair bit of similarity to this Appalachian stuff. As I will likely include in the video, the Canadian Rockies (where they reach down to the US) are sort of like a half-sibling to the Appalachians in terms of structural style.

[@budgarner3522]

Love the block models. How to really understand geology.

[@TheGeoModels]

They're fun to put together. You don't need no Sudoku or Tetris when you're trying to keep the angular relationships reasonable and make it all match the surface outcrops zones!

[@joshuaplacka8480]

I live in mineral co WV. On our farm we have an area we call diamond hill. You can walk the hillside and find the clearest quartz crystals just laying on the ground. Mostly on dry stream beds. I have no idea what it means bust it sure is cool. We have collected them for generations. Always wondered where they come from.

[@juanmigueloctaviano6736]

This is the best MS Paint tutorial ever. Plus, the geology stuff is a great bonus. Love it!

[@TheGeoModels]

Thanks!

[@PaulRobert-mb6wo]

This is fantastic. The best explanation of what's going on under our feet with the Appalachian Mountains.

[@GregsGeologyChannel]

I just stumbled across your channel. The Appalachian video is very interesting. I'd be interested in hearing more about volcanics in NC and GA, such as Whiteside Mountain. I've noticed that the prominent rock in east TN is limestone, but it changes to granite and copper and gold at the NC state line near Coker Creek, Copper Hill and Murphy. I plan on doing some exploring in that area perhaps next year. Also, when North America and Africa were in the process of forming Pangea, exotic terranes were accreted to North America. The Appalachians are a complicated story over eons. The more I learn about it, the more questions I have. Thanks! 😀

[@TheGeoModels]

The change from Tennessee limestone to older/different rock you're looking at is sort of the like the transition from purple to yellow to gray in this video. It's generally the same "belt" of Appalachia, just separated along the trend of the mountains. The terrane accretion is complex stuff! I'll try to get it fired up one of these days! Uwharrie volcanics or Mt Rogers might be a good topic too.

[@bethtanner5047]

I live near Mountain City TN. I have read conflicting reports of volcanoes in east TN. Are there any?

[@GregsGeologyChannel]

@@bethtanner5047 I'm not aware of any. But I'm not an expert. I do know there are volcanics in NC and GA. But that's east of the Appalachians.

[@TheGeoModels]

@@bethtanner5047 nope...just really cool geologic structure. Mt Rogers VA has old volcanic rocks, but they "rode" into place with the big slab of gray stuff I talk about in the video...sort of like the rocks were part of slab "B" that rode up onto "A" in the sketch. The Pond Mountain area that is up northeast of Mountain City right on the state line also has old volcanic rock, but it's the same deal as Mt Rogers...the volcanoes that produced it are about as long gone as you can get, and it formed far away and got pushed into place. You can feel as good about NO volcanoes in Mountain City as you can anywhere! Mountain City will probly show up in a follow up to this video in a while.

[@GregsGeologyChannel]

@@bethtanner5047 you might find this interesting. They contend there was a hotspot going from Arkansas to Bermuda. kzbin.info/www/bejne/baPHnmmMe7Z0qLcsi=rx99UCYj98Q4j-xl

[@danielcarter5537]

Hey man! I happened upon your channel about a month ago and have been enjoying your videos. I was born and raised here in WNC and have always loved hiking or exploring our local geography/geology. Also, been studying topo maps both new and old looking for out of the way places to explore since I was a teenager. I really like the way you sort of dissect the land, explain the various rock layers and how they contribute to the various landforms. Thanks, also, for explaining how to access the LiDAR maps you use. It's incredible the amount of detail you get when used along with topo maps. I'm still trying to figure out exactly where this giant boulder is though, but I noticed something else nearby. If you look at Mine Branch, a tributary of King Creek, which flows through Brevard College. It has what looks like a circular shaped hanging valley at the headwaters. Where Mine Branch exits the valley is at about 2600' and the rim of the valley is a pretty consistent 3000' to 3200' on all sides. Is that just a result of erosion and different rock layers, or could it be the remnants of some sort of crater? I don't personally know of any other hanging valleys in our area that have such a nearly perfect circular shape. Another facinating thing about the LiDAR images is that you can clearly see the Brevard Fault. I always knew it was there, but have never been able to see it like this before!

[@Jablicek]

Your lectures are fascinating - illustrating as you go, using the imaging and marking detail.

[@adampryor1289]

Really enjoy your videos and your blog posts! Thanks for putting in the time and effort to create these amazing models and sharing your knowledge. Looking forward to the next one!

[@TheGeoModels]

Thanks so much! I'm going to try to keep em rolling.

[@PeelerofFaces1]

Man you really need a twitch channel where you just go over certain areas of the planet each day and interact with people live, then upload the whole thing to youtube and cash in.

[@drklrsn]

Just found your channel, so good. Love the long form explanations and especially the hand drawn diagrams. Thanks!

[@babaoreally8220]

Thanks for this geological presentation on the land of my childhood.Some in my family once worked in the Zinc mines in that area.

[@vhhawk]

Feels good to learn this stuff.

[@TheGeoModels]

I am trying to bring it to the people!

[@vhhawk]

@@TheGeoModels You're doing a hell of a good job.

[@tobiasdogford222]

Love this. Thank you so much! Too fascinating 💪

[@TheGeoModels]

It's interesting stuff. I think there is less broadcast information about subsurface geology than most any other science. It's cool to look at, but it takes time to draft out the dang illustrations!

[@moosesnWoop]

Subscribed for the MS Paint skills. This guy generates.

[@wapartist]

Im in north Georgia but love going to east TN / western NC. Very interesting to learn about what you cant see

[@laminator221]

As an aspiring geology nerd, this stuff is great

[@Merhabess]

Instead of blocking out the first diagram, I think you can use the Select tool to grab, then the Resize tool to make it small and move it up to the side. May be nice to have the visual on the side/corner. I dunno, try out it! Love the videos!!

[@shable1436]

Hi from Radford VA, i bet you have a few rocks from fairy stone park

[@ClaytonMileto]

Love your channel. Thank you

[@TheGeoModels]

glad you like it!

[@joecaves6235]

Yup the granite near the top is the float of the lithosphere. The east coast is just a mountain top that sloughed over eastward when the granite floats of the lithosphere broke off from North of Africa. The lower granite pictured is new and/ or thinner because the old granite was the red granite used in Egypt that popped up to the top there when the continents separated.

[@hardrocklobsterroll395]

Best ms paint this side of the Mississippi.

[@TheGeoModels]

Doing what I can!

[@valoriel4464]

Fascinating content. Have you seen Looking Glass Rock in NC? Wld love your insight on it. Thx very much.✌🏻

[@TheGeoModels]

Know it well. Try to get a word in on it down the road. It and the Pink Beds area are sort of a cool geologic pair to look down on from the Parkway.

[@valoriel4464]

Yes, and Devil's Courthouse, Graveyard Fields, Black Balsam. off the BRP close together. South of Looking Glass. Thx for your reply. Gotta go, Time for me to Sub. 😅

[@mrtoastyman07]

Build us a sand model! I want to see it! Your videos are awesome, very informative - thank you!

[@jamielancaster01]

Love Johnson City! Go Hill Toppers🎩❤

[@jamielancaster01]

Go Bucs!

[@bethtanner5047]

We have a cistern system from a spring fed creek. Between Butler and Mountain City. Water tested fairly pure but did have some nickel content Guy who worked for local water district for either Butler or Mointain City told me that the water tested and the testers were baffled. Said the water appeared like it had never seen sunlight. Primary water?

[@TheGeoModels]

Nickel does seem pretty wild...a few places down towards Spruce Pine and then again down towards Lake Chatuge might have it, but it seems out of place around Mt City. That water had seen sunlight at some point, but it might well have been a while!

[@richardwest9054]

Thanks for the dynamic presentation.

[@TheGeoModels]

Glad you enjoyed it! I having fun putting these together!

[@youregonnaattackthem]

Absolutely fantastic.

[@TheGeoModels]

Glad you liked it!

[@johngreen4610]

I spent quite a bit of time just west of North Carolina's South Mountains adjacent to the Blue Ridge. That area is called a melange, a French word meaning Mixture. My pet name for it is melnage à trois because of the three orogeny events the were the cause.

[@pmm1044]

Excellent graphics

[@jaykirschenman]

Hello from the Giles County Seismic Zone. Good to learn more about what makes it that.

[@TheGeoModels]

Thanks! Might have to do one about the Giles County Zone...that fault is down in the gray basement rock. I'll definitely have a New River video talking about structure under Pearisburg and Bane down the road.

[@jaykirschenman]

@@TheGeoModels I live less than a mile from the hustle and bustle of downtown Bane. I read on the aclu blog (i think) that they did some drilling at the edge of the bane dome back in the day but it didn't produce. Something about hitting the same layer of rock 2 miles down that they started in at the surface...you might have written that article, now that i think about it!

[@TheGeoModels]

@@jaykirschenman Yep that sounds like me! Would have been AGU (American Geophysical Union). Sadly they scrapped all that blog stuff and it's a thing of the past. There is so much limestone/dolomite stacked up under Bane that gravity is "microscopically" greater there because there's so much dense rock. I never did find exactly where they drilled that well back in the day, but they did it with a cable-tool rig instead of a modern, rotary type drill!

[@jaykirschenman]

@@TheGeoModels Lol, not sure where I got aclu! I really enjoyed the agu and the "geoblogosphere" back in it's heyday. I took geo to satisfy my sci req at va tech and asked a prof about assembling california (the book) and he tried to get me to change majors. Boy do wish I had, but I was a semester or so from an ed degree. Anyway, i think they drilled out in wv on the edge of the dome and i think they drilled a test well off rt 100 in Bane proper. Pretty sure it's called prospect dale road. Getting tl;dr here. I'm out.

[@GrumpyGamerGuy]

I did not know I needed to know this. Thanks!

[@TheGeoModels]

It's cool to think about, for sure!

[@jdst1042]

Hey man, I enjoy your videos and geology. I am in east TN. Are there any groups that do field visits?

[@hi-if7lj]

What a wonderful planet we have been given to live on.

[@guytech7310]

Question: How did all of the red clay form\deposit east of the Appalachian mountains? I know it has iron, but what process cause it to be deposited the Piedmont region?

[@CrushTheCups]

Fantastic lovely content. Do you have a discord server or similar type of community? Keep up the good work. Geology is so cool.

[@Daniel-yc5js]

Amazing! A pushing under B making those loops tuning the stacks upside down! Have you tried it the other way around?

[@mellissadalby1402]

When mountains are formed (in this way and any other way) is it always called an "Orogeny" or is it an Orogeny only when it involves tectonic plates smashing together to form mountains as in this case in point?

[@chrisdavis469]

Can you do a video on the Marcellus Shale?

[@lastinlastout4318]

The Smokies have a lot of seismic activity. If there is a minor quake in East Tennessee you will feel a thump. There was a 3.5 on the NC side. This is how it played out. There was a sound of an explosion and then immediately followed by another with a shock wave. Then the shaking and a sound of kinda like propeller driven airplane badly out of sync ran down through the fault line. The smell of periodic grinding rocks and the smell of rotten eggs occasionally exhibit its presence. I check the USGS earthquake map all ranges periodically for patterns.

[@ethanolmstead2857]

Great video! Great Channel! How do these diagrams change if you were to do them for the Northern Appalachians? Specifically New Hampshire?

[@TheGeoModels]

Probly worthy challenge! There will be one for northern Virginia/southern Maryland tomorrow...comparing it to this video is interesting. Once you get up towards the Hudson Valley and north, things do change quite a bit. I'll have to try to put one together. New Hampshire is pretty much all the "gray stuff," in the since it's igneous and metamorphic. Vermont and west have some of the "overthrust" geometry, but it's not as wide of a belt. I'll see what I can do down the road. There's some interesting stuff up into Quebec that is well studied and generally represents the concept. Thanks for the idea...stay tuned!

[@IanZainea1990]

1:25 Dolomite is its name?

[@TheGeoModels]

Yep, just like Rudy Ray...but before him. Don't think it was his inspiration. It's probably more appropriate to call it "dolostone," but dolomite is very much convention worldwide for the rock type

[@overtoke]

hopefully the "earth digital twin" that AI will give us will include 30,000+ feet deep.

[@TheGeoModels]

If it could tighten up 15-30,000 in most places I'd be excited to see it...

[@lazyman2604]

But what's under that 🤔 epic video. I learned alot

[@joekuder]

back in the late 1970's early 1980's i was deer hunting in the eastern shore of virginia and i remember seeing a crew working around the area sending sonic vibrations into the ground. i was told they were looking for gas and oil under the ground

[@TheGeoModels]

Yep, sounds about right! They were after it like crazy on the east coast around that time. It got pretty serious west of Richmond. I'll try to do a video about it--I've worked out there doing geo mapping. Lots of folks remember the exploration, much like you do. I think it was early-mid 80s.

[@tedgunderson67]

The Appalachian mountain range doesn’t run through there at all, Tennessee?

[@LouisEmery]

That headline was teasing me. Is it gold? That's really all I want to know.

[@TheGeoModels]

Haha not here. Might be a bit of gas down there, but doubt anyone will ever poke a hole and find out!

[@FinalFront]

why is there so much gold in the rocky mountains but not the appalachian?

[@JimmyMatis-h9y]

because the Anunnaki mined it all out of the Appalachians 🤭

[@interstellarsurfer]

Gold is concentrated by geothermal features. There are few existing geothermal features at the surface of the Appalachians. They're nearly all eroded away or buried.

[@timothyconover9805]

Those are some mad MS Paint skills. Seems like there would be a way to do this with baked goods. Maybe a rustic sourdough. 😉

[@TheGeoModels]

I think I'll have to stick to geologic structure for now! Thanks for watching and for the comment!

[@StyxBoyd]

I think the stuff you're doing is super interesting, but hiring an editor could prolly help pull out the the details and make this a little more concise.

[@TheGeoModels]

I'll see what I can rustle up in the couch cushions but it will be tough!

[@captnjim44smith74]

I am an amateur in geology, but I see two or three flattened areas south of Pigeon Forge. Old volcano calderas ?

[@TheGeoModels]

Geologic "windows"....they expose the limestone that's underneath the harder rocks making the Smokey Mountains. Might also be a good video!

[@fortisrisuspater]

Are there any granite rocks found in the Shenandoah Valley?

[@vegasbright]

Great video. Can the same structures be seen north of the region in northern VA?

[@TheGeoModels]

Like Loudoun, Clarke, Fauquier, Warren, I-81 corridor type of area? If so, yes...it's sort of the same idea, just a few hundred miles up the range. I could flip a video around pretty quick on that topic. Might give it a shot tomorrow if that's your area of interest!

[@vegasbright]

@@TheGeoModels Apologies for not seeing this earlier. That would be amazing if you would. If you ever need an area to film the upper Catoctin I've got exposed bedrock with roadcut-level exposure.

[@mikelong9638]

It's interesting that they eveidently spent so much money on seismic and then never tried exploratory wells.

[@deweycollins8354]

Being the oldest range in the world, I wonder how many different types of monsters are trapped in caves that have been separated from the surface for,,, several hundreds of millions of years!!! Hollow earth anyone???

[@BryonLape]

I live about an hour east of Johnson Ciry

[@neilrusling-je6zo]

Are the Appalachians and the Grampians in Britain part of the same range at one time?

[@mellissadalby1402]

While I think that CO2 capture and sequestration is a good idea, I wonder if it might also cause some of the same geologic instabilities as Fracking? Certainly CO2 gas is less dense than the Fracking liquids, but under enough pressure might it not also get to that point (causing earthquakes like what they have been having in Fracking areas such as Oklahoma)? Something to be mindful of I think.

[@kenwhittington5879]

What does the gold color represent ? I have property in the Appalachian Mountains. around 3000 feet along the Monongahelia National Forest. Is their the possibility of there being any gold since it's in Virginia and Georgia and South Carolina.

[@TheGeoModels]

It's just a color used to make the dolomite/quartzite (Shady and Chilhowee Group) layer really stand out. There isn't much to gold to speak of in this region...got to go south and east, deeper into the "gray" part of the model.

[@russellarmer-ml1ir]

this metamorphic rock in mined in parts of sw arkansas its near the surface

[@JimmyMatis-h9y]

like RunDMC said, "so I learned to rock like a dolomite" 😁

[@rickb06]

Its really freakin obvious whats under the Appalachian Mountains... Duh, it is a high technology vast alien shopping mall oriented like the "Mall of America", except several hundred miles in approximate radius. Come on guys, it wasn't that hard.

[@TheGeoModels]

I've been to it and the food court is awesome. They got Sbarro AND Sarku Japan

[@rickb06]

@@TheGeoModels thank you for having a wonderful sense of humor!! Also, damn it, you now have me CRAVING Sbarro!!!! Haven't had one of their freakin' GLORIOUS CALZONES in FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TheGeoModels]

@@rickb06 seeing that sign in the food court is a distinct childhood memory, for sure. I admit I always went to the chick fil a next to it, til Sarku showed up.

[@concernedcitizen780]

Where are the gold mines in those mountains?

[@TheGeoModels]

Not many of them in this view...need to be further southeast and deeper into the "gray stuff" as it is portrayed in the model. McDowell County and Rutherford County sort of south and east of this area have a good history; they would be in the "gray stuff," though a slightly different rock type. The purple layers would indeed be down under the gold bearing rocks a few miles, but they don't contribute to the presence of the gold.

[@concernedcitizen780]

@@TheGeoModels Thank you for your reply. Gold was also found up in Byron Maine. I believe these are also a part of the appellation mountains .

[@ryankm48]

Thanks. I have a visual representation of why America is sinking.👍 i live in cinci so we live on the edge where that purple layer is on the surface. Cincinnati is geological ridge made up of ordovician limestone and shale... part of cincinnati arch. An ancient moutain range formed over a billion years ago from Alabama to Michigain.

[@rezzer7918]

Am more confused than ever by your 2D sketches

[@frankwolf3860]

Tell us about pegmatites..!

[@TheGeoModels]

Good topic...I see it in the future at some point! Got some cool pegmatite-based mica mining material from down in NC

[@thirstfast1025]

😁👍 Agreed! Especially lithium pegmatites! Who could ask for more than gigantic crystals?!

[@winnieg100]

What about all the continents that butted into Our continent?What about the Laurasia ? What mountains bigger than Everest? What about the erosion that makes the Appelacians the way they are now?Is B supposed to be Africa?

[@TheGeoModels]

Diagram at 13:00 is the mature, much larger Appalachians of old. Diagram at 13:30 is the same diagram with huge amounts removed to show what is left today. An average of miles of erosional loss across the range. Biggest mountains were over areas east of what is shown in this video...maybe around Marion, North Carolina? Just a comparison to Himalayas and diagnostic features near Everest. Africa proper (Gondwana) would be off the screen to the right past B. B would be a collection of island arcs and sediment scraped up off the far Laurentian margin. That sketch is mostly just a concept of how the thrust faulting is concentrated in the layered sedimentary rock, not the deep continental crust like Wind River, Bighorns, Black Hills, etc. out west.

[@steveburch5113]

wunnerful

[@michaelbowden7695]

What about earthquakes ?

[@TheGeoModels]

When all this was forming (what was shown in the first sketch), somewhere just southeast of this area probably had some good ones (equivalent to where the big one in Nepal happened under the Himalayas.). It's mostly a thing of the past today, but the Appalachians do have some tectonic stress on them that occasionally produces moderate earthquakes when one of these old faults or a properly oriented fracture slips a bit. That said, the stress that is associated with actively growing mountains just isn't there, so the overall earthquake hazard is less...though not zero, as we occasionally see!

[@hokie6384]

Love the orange and maroon … Go HOKIES!

[@lostpony4885]

I was guessing appals.

[@TheGeoModels]

as long as there are atchuns too

[@MikeHacker]

Coal

[@slevinkelevra5540]

but wheres big foot

[@TheGeoModels]

DM me I will let you know!

[@bethtanner5047]

Uh..please tell me Bigfoot is NOT hanging out around Watauga Lake?

[@TheGeoModels]

@@bethtanner5047 he might be well hid. Wait til the leaves fall and you might could get a photo!

[@stevenweaver3386]

20,000 feet down in their inner world habitat, of course.

[@shable1436]

He is riding with the aliens in UFOs, thought everyone has seen star wars

[@Artist369phd]

USGS props up a failing home insurance industry. True or untrue?

[@TheGeoModels]

Sounds dangerous...Do you mean in terms of establishing risk in certain areas to drive up rates?

[@sussybawka9999]

Rocks

[@TheGeoModels]

I was actually going to lead off with that....

[@bruceanderson7762]

Ophiolite?😮

[@TheGeoModels]

Not here, but there are components of one further back in the "gray" and a bit to the south. It's too deformed and much is lost to erosion, but the general suite of rock types are present. The are shown in this vid is later in the collisional cycle with only continental margin stuff stacked on top of itself. You ever look at Oman in Google Earth? I think it has the most visible ophiolite, and apparently the preservation is about the best there is.

[@bruceanderson7762]

There are so.e nice opiolites in the Cal. Coast ra ges, I favor the del Puerto one...lol @TheGeoModels

[@richb2229]

This is grade school level thrust fault geology but it doesn’t talk about the volcanos. The history of the Appalachian mountains is far more interesting and complicated. The Himalayan, mountains, and Appalachian mountains have a very similar development and aging history. But the Appalachians are much older and have been eroded to where they are at today.

[@TheGeoModels]

Hey that antiformal stack is at least like 20th grade or something like that!

[@greggsenne1268]

Jimmy Hoffa?

[@michaelpatrick6950]

I really wanted to watch this as I follow about 5 other KZbin geology explainers. But watching him monkey around with Paint just became unbearable. I guess it’s my inner cat as I got caught up in watching the jumping cursor. Great content. Just get a whiteboard like Jason on Engineering Explained.

[@TheGeoModels]

Sorry you didn't like it! Thanks for giving it a try!

[@seangambogi7901]

Appalachians are some of the worst mountains. Not a lot of people are willing to say that, but I don't care.

[@thomasbernecky2078]

and I thought this wouldn't be boring?

[@jameslewis1605]

I fell asleep during this.

[@TheGeoModels]

Wake up and get that natty gas money!!!$$$$

[@williambock1821]

Is it really worth it to be curious about the universe these days? If it doesn’t make you a lot of money, how can it have any value?

[@TheGeoModels]

Fair question! I'd say that the training in pattern recognition that it provides is valuable throughout life. 3-D visualization, identifying rational patterns in a "noisy" natural background, etc. are probably good for helping someone think effectively. It would be like doing squats for good sports performance. You might not specifically get under a squat rack in your sport, but having spent time on one makes you perform better in the sport. Visualizing what's under the ground from surface clues might help you visualize in other aspects of your day-to-day. Also, in the more concrete sense, geology like this is so huge that if it turns out to have an as-yet unknown application, you will win BIG if you have the valuable idea in your mind already.

[@ryanburton1456]

All of the billionaire I see on TV are unhappy, complaining about stupid petty things.

[@TheGeoModels]

@@ryanburton1456 they need to cruise some awesome Earth geology and hold off on Mars for a while!

[@Rllasley]

Wake up..Jesus Loves You...

[@JosephAStill-mc1rd]

YEE pissed off the WRONG MARINE!!! 👁️🦀👁️