Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau with Wayne Ranney
Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau with Wayne Ranney
Geologist Wayne Ranney describes the history of the Colorado Plateau. With illustrations and excerpts from the book he Co-authored, Wayne Ranney explains live on the plateau over the last 500 million years. Presented by Grand Canyon Trust, and the University of Utah Environmental Humanities Graduate Program, supported by The Nature Conservancy, SUWA, and the Pax Natura Foundation.
Was there an ancient river that flowed thru el paso Texas? I’ve seen rounded rock deposits that are in the hills below the Franklin mountains…. always been curious about how they got here
There is a similar book for the western U.S. coast as it was created over time. Also extremely fascinating.
Great lecture! Thanks.
“The history of our planet is contained in that strata “ “Every one of those layers used to be the surface of the earth“ One major problem with that hypothesis: we have one deep gouge cut into those layers but no evidence of erosion or similar gouges or canyons or the Cliffs Inside of those layers oh indicating erosion in the past before this last most recent massive excavation called the Grand Canyon!
mexico it’s been always beautiful, whether occupied or not
Awesome Presentation !!! I’m getting the book !
To bad Dr. Geologist Wayne Ranney does NOT talk about the Colorado or Arizona part of Colorado Plateau instead he only focuses on Utah. The very top of the Grand Canyon is the Colorado National Monument/Grand Valley landscape comprised of the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. The Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West.
To bad Dr. Geologist Wayne Ranney does NOT talk about the Colorado or Arizona part of Colorado Plateau instead he only focuses on Utah. The very top of the Grand Canyon is the Colorado National Monument/Grand Valley landscape comprised of the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. The Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West.
There are rocks 1.8 billion years old in the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, and Mojave Desert similar to some found in the Grand Canyon.
Excellent discussion of basic Colorado Plateau stratigraphy
Very interesting. I hope to visit the US and Canada one day. The landscapes, are breathtaking, awesome, inspiring.
I wish this could be done for the 2 billion years old Magaliesburg Mountains. That would be amazing.
That’s real cute. I’m on beer eleven, and it’s not only three o’clock. I’m going to touch myself inappropriately now and take a nap. Don’t fuck with me anymore using nicotine patches and gimmick tricks, the people will be free, and there is not a fucking thing you can do about it. Judge me as you may.
To bad Dr. Geologist Wayne Ranney does NOT talk about the Colorado or Arizona part of Colorado Plateau instead he only focuses on Utah. The very top of the Grand Canyon is the Colorado National Monument/Grand Valley landscape comprised of the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. The Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West.
Great video! But it was not just rivers, it was water erosion through bedrock from hardstone to soft stone to collapse of hardstone above it, such as the Coconino above the Hermit, that created so many of the deep amphitheaters of the Grand Canyon.
I live in North Eastern Arizona. It’s so amazing to know that I live in a area of rich history underneath my feet. This is really cool.
I am a big fan of the geology of Frenchman Mt. Wish there were more details as to the age of the various layors of rocks. There are so many layers of sediment, I wonder if there are any graphs or articles about it. Have found partial descriptions.
These layers of history can be found on planet mars
The biggest idea I am trying to express is tunneling aqueducts from the coast, in this case the west coast of the USA inland to feed combination geothermal power and sea water desalination plants. The idea seems to be so big that no one has considered it possible but I believe it is not only possible but it is necessary. For over a century the fossil water contained in aquifers has been pumped out to feed agriculture, industry and municipal water needs. The natural water cycle cant refill fossil water deposits that were filled 10,000 years ago when the glaciers melted after the last ice age. Without refilling these aquifers there is not much of a future for the region of the United states. As a result ground levels in some areas of the San Joaquin Valley have subsided by more than 30 feet. Similar fossil water depletion is happening in other regions all around the world. TBM and tunneling technology has matured and further developments in the industry are poised to speed up the tunneling process and it’s these tunnels that are the only way to move large volumes of water from the ocean inland. The water is moved inland to areas where it can be desalinated in geothermal plants producing clean water and power. In many cases the water will recharge surface reservoirs where it will be used first to make more hydro power before being released into rivers and canal systems. It’s very important however to not stop tunneling at these first stops but to continue several legs until the water has traveled from the ocean under mountain ranges to interior states. Along the way water will flow down grade through tunnels and rise in geothermal loops to fill mountain top pumped hydro batteries several times before eventually recharging several major aquifers. What I am proposing is essentially reversing the flow of the Colorado River Compact. Bringing water from the coast of California first to mountaintop reservoirs then to the deserts of Nevada and Arizona and on to Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. This big idea looks past any individual city or states problems and looks at the whole and by using first principles identifies the actual problem and only solution.
Thank you for your time, I would like the opportunity to explain in further detail and answer any questions.
A better future is possible,
Does anybody know the location of the Navajo Sandstone outcroppings near Tucson?
All of this being said,
Where would concentrations of gold be found?
Bravo on making Erosion cool.
Incredible!!
A good presentation. Any chance of a higher quality / resolution upload?
I do NOT agree with his statement that every horizon you can see in the Grand Canyon (horizontal layers) were once the surface of the Earth. Come on, really? And I wanted to watch this with so much intent excitement! We’ll see how the rest of the video goes i guess……
Fascinating information! Feeling fortunate to have been born and raised in the southwest, it’s beauty never ceases to amaze me! Thanks for sharing!
This was highly educational. We have the book on display for people to look at in the Museum of the San Rafael in Castle Dale. Really wonderful! Thank you!
Awesome! I used to work for the Forest Service north of the Grand Canyon in the late 1970’s and would fly to Williams for meetings and fly both north and south of the canyon for fire patrol in the summers. I wish I would have seen this first!
The bird is the word.
Sandy rocks.
Love from Michigan
Super video. I have the book you mention. I will reread it and watch this video again. Just love it!
At 22:20 the screen shows 272 million years ago and he says we had an ocean come in from the west and flood part of the Grand Canyon…weird thing is that the Grand Canyon is said to have started forming around 5-6 million years ago, so what came first, the Colorado river or the ocean?
loved to hear this lecture after visiting most of the Colorado Plateau region.
I have Ancient Landscapes, and I’d really like a version with the formation names on the map.
At 23:20 – How the Paleogeographic Maps Are Made.
Dr. Ron Blakey distilling thousands of land surveys, into an accessible easy to use tool.
Amazing effort.
Wayne, you’re making my job difficult by calling the Colorado Plateau an arid region. The plateau is primarily a woodland-steppes biome, about 10 to 18 inches of precipitation. I want to make this clear as I create Ecological Systems on the Plateau for agriculture. Don’t get me wrong though. I deeply appreciate your work.
The Niagara escarpment is a close match, unfortunately it is buried under glacial moraines.
Just awesome!!!!!
I just subscribe!..
I wish you would use a pointer to illustrate what areas and directions you are talking about. Thanks for video.
just damn, air quality isn’t going to impact "landscapes".