Yosemite Geology Documentary – History Channel 12/22/09

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Minerals

Social climber

The Deli

Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 16, 2009 - 06:55pm PT

For anyone interested, there will be a documentary on the geology of Yosemite on the History Channel, next Tuesday (12/22) at 9 pm PST. The documentary is part of a series of geology documentaries, titled How The Earth Was Made. I believe that there are three of us from the forum that will be included in the Yosemite documentary - Greg Stock (Yosemite Park Geologist), Cleo, and myself. The geology is presented on a rather basic level, but I found some of the earlier episodes to be entertaining, with great camera work and spectacular landscapes.

History Channel – How The Earth Was Made – Upcoming Episodes:

http://www.history.com/content/how-the-earth-was-made/upcoming-episodes

Check it out if you get the channel; this should be worth at least a few laughs, especially for those who know me!

-Bryan

Captain...or Skully

Social climber

Top of the 5.2-5.12 Boulder

Dec 16, 2009 - 06:57pm PT

Cool, man.
Thanks for the heads up, Bryan.

Rhodo-Router

Gym climber

obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill

Dec 16, 2009 - 06:57pm PT

BLaw pontificating in front of a camera......how many Cobras were killed in the making of this film?

Klimmer

Mountain climber

San Diego

Dec 16, 2009 - 07:16pm PT

Minerals,

Thanks for the heads up on this. Hist. Ch. "How the Earth Was Made" DVD is really good: from 4.56 Billion years ago to several Billion years into Earth's future. Really well done. Covers it all and in pretty good detail. Excellent overview.

Also their "Universe" series is really good. All programs are very up to date. Excellent for all my EarthScience HS classes.

I will make sure to record it, although having the original DVD is so much better.

So you will be in it? Yes?

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Dec 16, 2009 - 07:34pm PT

Somebody remember to bump this one, close before h-hour!

Phil_B

Social climber

Hercules, CA

Dec 16, 2009 - 07:48pm PT

Cool. I'm glad that you posted up. I knew Cleo was in it and was going to post something next week. She's kinda worried that the makers of the film will totally misrepresent her.

Here's some stuff from the History Channel website:
------------

The Sierra Nevada, North America's highest mountain range, contains one of the most awe-inspiring geological features on the planet: Yosemite Valley. Walled by sheer 3,000-foot granite cliffs and made from one of the toughest rocks on earth, it is home to the mighty El Capitan and iconic Half Dome. Yet how this extraordinary valley formed has been the subject of controversy for over 100 years. Was it carved by gigantic glaciers or a cataclysmic rifting of the Earth?
------------

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber

Leading Edge of North American Plate

Dec 16, 2009 - 07:52pm PT

Thanks Minerals. BTW, if you ever have the chance to see Greg Stock live giving a presentation on his ongoing rock fall studies, check it out. He's an excellent speaker and the work he's doing is state of the art...Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), cosmogenic age dating, seismic monitoring, and rock fall simulations.

"Was it carved by gigantic glaciers or a cataclysmic rifting of the Earth?"
This is the classic debate that Josiah Whitney (California State Geologist in 1860) and John Muir had over the origin of Yosemite. Whitney, an arrogant academic, derided John Muir as an ignoramus. Turns out Muir's Glacial origin theory of Yosemite was correct. Whitney never accepted it.

Shack

Big Wall climber

Reno NV

Dec 17, 2009 - 02:46am PT

This is gonna be so cool. I can't wait to see it.
I was sworn to secrecy for months now but since it's official...

"Ladder Dikes RULE!!"

I think Bryan said he even showered for the filming, so it should be really good.

Just kidding Bryan, Way to Go!

Mighty Hiker

climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Dec 17, 2009 - 02:59am PT

Even if it doesn't explain why crystals in Tuolumne grow so darn large, I may have to visit my father's and see this program. (He recently got the History aka Hitler Channel.)

The quote "The Sierra Nevada, North America's highest mountain range" from the blurb posted upthread makes me wonder a little, though. What about the Fairweather Range? The Icefields Ranges? The Alaska Range?

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Dec 17, 2009 - 03:26am PT

'How the earth was made.'

only took six days, how hard could it be, really?

Phil_B

Social climber

Hercules, CA

Dec 17, 2009 - 12:03pm PT

MH, that's why Cleo's worried about what they'll edit her into saying. . .

Mighty Hiker

climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Dec 17, 2009 - 12:36pm PT

And then there are those volcanoes in Mexico, which are also inconveniently much higher than Mt. Whitney, and in North America too.

Phil_B

Social climber

Hercules, CA

Dec 17, 2009 - 12:47pm PT

I think that Cleo spent most of a day trying to get them to see the regional fracturing patterns and how that was different from the exfoliation cracks.

Luckily, they were able to go to Olmstead Pt. instead of schlepping up to her instruments on Middle Brother.

cleo

Social climber

Berkeley, CA

Dec 17, 2009 - 02:17pm PT

Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member

Dec 17, 2009 - 02:19pm PT

yeah B Law! psyched to see you in your element on the tube. I actually dont have TV. Do you know if it will be viewable online?

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Dec 17, 2009 - 02:24pm PT

hey there minerals, say, thanks for the note... dont have tv cable to see tv up here, or, over here... hahah, but i may go visit someone...

oh my---say, jaybro, i saw this last night, with 2? post perhaps and i wanted to "bump it up" so bad, but the ol' computer was stalling big-time and it was so late... and VOILA! it is on front now!!

say, thus, i will remember to bump it up, too... perhaps again by sunday night and monday...

sounds fun, if any of us can see it...

say, cleo, if you step in here again, EMAIL me, please.... thanks so much... :)

klk

Trad climber

cali

Dec 17, 2009 - 02:27pm PT

HaHa! Yes, busted! Two days, very tiring, especially trying to explain foliation joints (note: Royal Arches is a *horrible* place to try and show this because people focus on the arches rather than the sheets. I spent about 4 hours and 2 onions trying to explain this, and in the end, we went to Olmstead Point instead).

I'd be curious how much fun Minerals had!

Hahaha! Welcome to my world! I've bailed out of several of these things because they were so ruthlessly stupid I didn't want my name anywhere near them!

At least with geology, unless they paste in some wing-nut Creationist segment to make you all look like devil worshippers, any treatment they give you has only got to improve the country's geo-historical i.q.

Minerals

Social climber

The Deli

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 17, 2009 - 11:15pm PT

Cool… Glad that there is some interest in this! Thanks for the replies! I figured that some of you would be interested in a little “local” geology. No living creatures were harmed or killed in the making of this film, however I did have some assistance from a couple of kangaroos…

Ahhhh, what are friends for… Thanks, Shack… (I think…)…

Yeah, the initial description of the Yosemite episode could use a little help, but we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out. “Lower-48” might have been more appropriate… Oh, well.

Anders, are megacrysts magmatic, metasomatic, or a combination of the two? ;)

Klimmer and DMT, good to hear that you two have been enjoying this series so far! I wish we had Earth Science in HS when I was a kid! Watching one of these documentaries would be such a cool way to get through 50 minutes of class!

Mr. Tradster, I have yet to see one of Greg’s presentations but would like to at some point! We were able to wander around the El Cap rockfall debris area last month, looking at rock types and discussing ideas, which was fun. I just have to get him up to Tuolumne more often… why are so many glacial erratics of a very specific rock type/texture concentrated in a very small area, when the source area is probably quite a ways away? Uh, oh… tangent…

Cleo, I had a blast that day! Yeah, I know what you and Phil mean, though. On camera, I just said what I was told to say and didn’t worry about it too much (wasn’t allowed to ramble in my own words…). It was difficult to explain things in such simple terms (we were told to address 8-year-olds…), especially when the “volcanic” rock that I was holding is so far beyond “volcanic” that it is really, really difficult NOT to say “metavolcanic”… but hey… It’s supposed to be fun for everyone! ;) I’d like to see my set of bloopers! Ha!!!

Chris, I don’t think there is an online episode; I’m going to bug one of my friends (hey Shack…) to watch it on their TV… although one would expect a Deathstar to be filled with numerous video and radar screens to detect any incoming threats… But, no TV… or radar.

Neebee, yeah, this might be something for “friends with cable and a way to record it”… Hope you find a way to check it out.

Klk… Ahh, so what if viewers get to laugh! So far, I think they (producers and History Channel) have done a good job with the series, although I have just caught a little bit of it. Why not have some fun, especially if there is a chance to explain (or attempt to explain) the wonderful beauty of our planet to the masses? Yeah, it’s simple, and there will be “stupid” things that we geologists may cringe at, but as you say, the more geology we can feed them, the better! Rocks are cool!!!!!

I’ll reserve more comments until after we get to see this rig, but I am psyched to see the camera work – we had some nice light in Dana Meadow later in the day.