Be sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. 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
Hey Shawn, love your videos, especially if the Sierra Nevada! Maybe I missed it but can you do a video of Eastern Sierra glaciation? Such as the moraines at Convict, balancing rock at June and other erratics, etc? There's a lot of awesome features in the high country also. Thanks again!
Thanks for braving the crowds to show us those incredible formations! It did look like a few people were watching you from further down but that’s just because you’re a TH-cam SUPERSTAR!!!
Thank you so much. I can't say it enough. I am 71, and I have had MS for 43 yrs. I love that you take us to places I have not heard about. I can still walk a bit. However, climbing is out, long walks too. I do use my electric chair on trails and for getting closer to the beach. I love adventure, and you do provide it nicely. I will say you scare my heart when you do the slip and slide..lol. Thank you and your family for sharing with us.❣️🦋❣️⛰️🪨🏔🥰
It's surprising the forms that eruption materials can take. And each form seems to have a story behind why it took that form. Volcanology just becomes more interesting the more you learn.
I am so jazzed that I stumbled on your channel. I have always enjoyed neat rocks and now I am gaining a bit of education from your channel, thank you. Take good care
Totally appreciate the getting away from crowds. Farther away, the better. (Be careful out there) Another beautiful site I haven’t heard of before. Thanks!
Hard to get to with a two wheel driven auto , definitely need a 4X4 to access the location along the lake. Otherwise it is a two mile hike here but you are rewarded with something quite special. From what I understand the tuff fell during a six day explosion from a volcano that collapsed and became the Long Valley Caldera . The tuff blew out and away as far as western Iowa. This formation is pretty rare especially in the USA. Thanks for the walk and showing it professor.
3:04 Shawn's superhero origin story. Kidding. This glacial till midwesterner didn't give a hoot for geology before watching Nick Z's downtown lecture series. And then I found all these great excursions where Shawn actually brings us along for the hike. The highest point in my state is about 50' higher than my desk chair.
It looks like there's some sort of layering or bedding. Was that from a series of pyroclastic flows atop one another, or some other process? Really interesting video as always, thanks Shawn.
Just minutes ago I saw a video clip of a fluidized bed powder coating process (in a metal fabrication plant) and this formation makes a lot more sense to me now.
Thanks for informing us about this cool oddity! I am reminded how high heat is involved in the blending and mixing of the raw ingredients for Portland cement, much like the Romans using volcanic tuff in their concrete constructions. (new subscriber, Virginia)👍
Cool video. Thanks! Interesting that the columns are so uniformly cylindrical. I would have expected more variation. Why do they stop so abruptly at the water's edge? If the lake had eroded or dissolved them away I would expect to see rubble in the water. While I was watching this I was wondering how long before someone said this was the ruins of an ancient city. Less than an hour after you put the video up. No sense of wonder for the remarkable things that can form entirely without human intervention. Whoever built these "ruins" clearly didn't measure first to see if the furniture would fit. 😂
I was wondering if you were going to slide into the lake. BTW, as I understand it, the lake is lowest from December through April, and you can walk out to the columns that are now underwater. This depends on the rainfall and such. And it will be cold during those months.
Hi! Professor Willsey: Your theory of the water coming up from the bottom, sounds better than the earlier story I heard years ago, that the water flowed down through the tuff. There is another area, away from water today, that you can find smaller columns just pushing up through the top of a layer of reddish clay or maybe tuff. It is today private property so I won't state where it is on this channel. Thanks for the update.
It is wonderful that geologists can document and share their experiences due to modern video and internet. Versus the past when lonely geologists were out with only pencil, paper, and a still camera. Even an Earth enthusiast like me can produce high-definition video of the geology of Nevada with a GoPro fastened to the tail of my airplane - something only possible with Hollywood-level equipment a few years ago.
A bit weird but while on a tour to Snaefellsness yesterday & I was looking at rocks etc. I thought what would Shawn say! Saw tons of lava rocks everywhere, so maybe it was Pyroclastic flow remnants? Anyway, it was a brilliant trip & Kirkyufell (? Spelling) was just awesome inspiring 😊
Tahoe is another fascinating geological story, and it turns out to be quite seismically active. But I'll save the deets for when Shawn decides to do a video on Tahoe.
There are columns that are shaped in a way like this in Borgarfjörður Iceland. They dont stand individually, more like a hexagonals but are like they have been stacked like these. Often wondered how they formed. Next time I am there I will try to look at them up close and see if it resembles.
Yeah prior to the epic winter they had last year Crowley Lake was low enough to where people could walk right up to the pillars that look like pilings holding up the tuff. Crowley's about as high as I've seen it, which is a GOOD thing -- because so much water went through the aqueduct down Owens Valley it collapsed a portion of the aqueduct and sent 100s of 1,000s of acre feet of water into Owens Lake. Owens lake is ordinarily a dry lake, almost a playa; but since last winter it has retained water and helped to almost eliminate the noxious alkaline dust that normally gets blown around by the high winds there.
Owens lake is ordinarily a massive lake, collecting snowmelt from Sierras. When euroamericans arrived, they found silver on northeast and easterly sides. Then, large ferries brought silver, and took people and food et cetera across to the now defunct towns servicing the mines. It was the NONordinary building of hundreds of miles of aqueduct that caused that lake to become dry with its fungus spores, which when stirred by storm winds, find a very appealing habitat in lungs, so that the spores can come alive, creating Coccidioidomycosis.
Way cool! Just guessing that the columns were exposed by wave action. Wonder if higher up there are exposed columns when the lake was deeper during the last ice age.
Interesting. My first guess was as follows: Volcano erupts, causing pyroclastic flow that deposits around the palm trunks, which die them rot/burn away, leaving skeletal holes. Next time volcano erupts, the pyroclastic flow fills the columnar holes, but has a slightly different composition that sets harder when it rains. After 7,000,000 years the initial layer starts to erode, leaving the columns. Was I very far off the mark?
Be sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. 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
Superb scenery too. No wonder that it's a popular place. Thanks for introducing it to us. 🙂👍
Hey Shawn, love your videos, especially if the Sierra Nevada! Maybe I missed it but can you do a video of Eastern Sierra glaciation? Such as the moraines at Convict, balancing rock at June and other erratics, etc? There's a lot of awesome features in the high country also. Thanks again!
I was just thinking “would be nice if Shawn did a video on the Crowley Columns” and voila here it is! You are awesome!
The description of how the columns formed (mordenite) is cool to visualize. Nifty close ups. Fun to venture out with you. 😊❤
Thanks for braving the crowds to show us those incredible formations! It did look like a few people were watching you from further down but that’s just because you’re a TH-cam SUPERSTAR!!!
Thank you so much. I can't say it enough. I am 71, and I have had MS for 43 yrs. I love that you take us to places I have not heard about. I can still walk a bit. However, climbing is out, long walks too. I do use my electric chair on trails and for getting closer to the beach. I love adventure, and you do provide it nicely. I will say you scare my heart when you do the slip and slide..lol. Thank you and your family for sharing with us.❣️🦋❣️⛰️🪨🏔🥰
So much to see in and around Owens Lake. thank you all stay safe
It's surprising the forms that eruption materials can take. And each form seems to have a story behind why it took that form. Volcanology just becomes more interesting the more you learn.
I am so jazzed that I stumbled on your channel. I have always enjoyed neat rocks and now I am gaining a bit of education from your channel, thank you. Take good care
Totally appreciate the getting away from crowds. Farther away, the better. (Be careful out there)
Another beautiful site I haven’t heard of before. Thanks!
Very cool area. Thanks for the field trip Shawn!
What a cool place! Beautiful scenery! Great explanation, as always 🙌🏼
Hard to get to with a two wheel driven auto , definitely need a 4X4 to access the location along the lake. Otherwise it is
a two mile hike here but you are rewarded with something quite special. From what I understand the tuff fell during a six
day explosion from a volcano that collapsed and became the Long Valley Caldera . The tuff blew out and away as far as western Iowa. This formation is pretty rare especially in the USA. Thanks for the walk and showing it professor.
Fascinating never seen anything quite like these thanks
3:04 Shawn's superhero origin story.
Kidding. This glacial till midwesterner didn't give a hoot for geology before watching Nick Z's downtown lecture series. And then I found all these great excursions where Shawn actually brings us along for the hike. The highest point in my state is about 50' higher than my desk chair.
Thank you Shawn great video very informative video
Thanks for the effort to make this one! Interesting!
It looks like there's some sort of layering or bedding. Was that from a series of pyroclastic flows atop one another, or some other process? Really interesting video as always, thanks Shawn.
Just minutes ago I saw a video clip of a fluidized bed powder coating process (in a metal fabrication plant) and this formation makes a lot more sense to me now.
N here I was just recently hopin' that Shawn Willsey would explain this mystery spot-Thanks.
Me too! And voilà here it is!
Thanks for informing us about this cool oddity! I am reminded how high heat is involved in the blending and mixing of the raw ingredients for Portland cement, much like the Romans using volcanic tuff in their concrete constructions. (new subscriber, Virginia)👍
Went fishing on the lake with my dad some 50+ years ago. I wasn’t old enough to notice such things that now interest me.
Fascinating!
Interesting! Thank you.
Cool video. Thanks!
Interesting that the columns are so uniformly cylindrical. I would have expected more variation. Why do they stop so abruptly at the water's edge? If the lake had eroded or dissolved them away I would expect to see rubble in the water.
While I was watching this I was wondering how long before someone said this was the ruins of an ancient city. Less than an hour after you put the video up. No sense of wonder for the remarkable things that can form entirely without human intervention. Whoever built these "ruins" clearly didn't measure first to see if the furniture would fit. 😂
I was wondering if you were going to slide into the lake. BTW, as I understand it, the lake is lowest from December through April, and you can walk out to the columns that are now underwater. This depends on the rainfall and such. And it will be cold during those months.
Hi! Professor Willsey: Your theory of the water coming up from the bottom, sounds better than the earlier story I heard years ago, that the water flowed down through the tuff.
There is another area, away from water today, that you can find smaller columns just pushing up through the top of a layer of reddish clay or maybe tuff. It is today private property so I won't state where it is on this channel. Thanks for the update.
so what caused the layering?? gases or impurities ? it seems like big bubbles of gas etc. pretty cool. i'm putting that location on my list.
Thanks for the great explanation, I had heard of this place before, just never had gone to see them, Now, I will go next summer! :-)
Thanks Shawne for the explanation of how they formed. That wouldn’t have been the place to be 750k years ago but it looks fun now.
It is wonderful that geologists can document and share their experiences due to modern video and internet. Versus the past when lonely geologists were out with only pencil, paper, and a still camera. Even an Earth enthusiast like me can produce high-definition video of the geology of Nevada with a GoPro fastened to the tail of my airplane - something only possible with Hollywood-level equipment a few years ago.
A bit weird but while on a tour to Snaefellsness yesterday & I was looking at rocks etc. I thought what would Shawn say! Saw tons of lava rocks everywhere, so maybe it was Pyroclastic flow remnants? Anyway, it was a brilliant trip & Kirkyufell (? Spelling) was just awesome inspiring 😊
Is there any chance we can get a comprehensive take on the formation of Lake Tahoe?
Tahoe is another fascinating geological story, and it turns out to be quite seismically active. But I'll save the deets for when Shawn decides to do a video on Tahoe.
This was fantastic! I did not know these existed or I would have gone when I lived in California!😢
Hey -- Thanks for another look at an unusual, remarkable formation. They look layered -- does that mean there were separate, successive events?
There are columns that are shaped in a way like this in Borgarfjörður Iceland. They dont stand individually, more like a hexagonals but are like they have been stacked like these. Often wondered how they formed. Next time I am there I will try to look at them up close and see if it resembles.
Hey Shawn the next time you go to Crowley, rent a boat and you can get spectacular views of the columns from boat
Shy? I saw a Shawn Willsey livestream with 35k viewers.
Wow the lake is really full.
Cool stuff
Thx Prof ✌🏻
Yeah prior to the epic winter they had last year Crowley Lake was low enough to where people could walk right up to the pillars that look like pilings holding up the tuff. Crowley's about as high as I've seen it, which is a GOOD thing -- because so much water went through the aqueduct down Owens Valley it collapsed a portion of the aqueduct and sent 100s of 1,000s of acre feet of water into Owens Lake. Owens lake is ordinarily a dry lake, almost a playa; but since last winter it has retained water and helped to almost eliminate the noxious alkaline dust that normally gets blown around by the high winds there.
Owens lake is ordinarily a massive lake, collecting snowmelt from Sierras.
When euroamericans arrived, they found silver on northeast and easterly sides.
Then, large ferries brought silver, and took people and food et cetera across to the now defunct towns servicing the mines.
It was the NONordinary building of hundreds of miles of aqueduct that caused that lake to become dry with its fungus spores, which when stirred by storm winds, find a very appealing habitat in lungs, so that the spores can come alive, creating Coccidioidomycosis.
Remarkable! 😮. They look more man made even than the giants causeway basaltic columns. Beautiful.
Way cool!
Just guessing that the columns were exposed by wave action. Wonder if higher up there are exposed columns when the lake was deeper during the last ice age.
Would the tops of them possibly define the high water level or close to it?
Is this similar formation cause as the basalt columns in Northern Ireland? Aka Giants Causeway
Mind blown!
Interesting. My first guess was as follows: Volcano erupts, causing pyroclastic flow that deposits around the palm trunks, which die them rot/burn away, leaving skeletal holes. Next time volcano erupts, the pyroclastic flow fills the columnar holes, but has a slightly different composition that sets harder when it rains. After 7,000,000 years the initial layer starts to erode, leaving the columns. Was I very far off the mark?
This is cool! Even with the crowds hehe ❤
Another one awesome
I am not too keen on crowds either. Beautiful place.
Will those columns bubble if acid is applied.?? Thanks again……
No.
So I am not a scientist of any type so I still don’t understand why the columns were made . Were there vertical holes or something like that?
767,000 years is roughly 30,000 human generations. My great-great-great (X30,000) grandfather remembers this eruption.
Was it a ash flow ?
Yes. Pyroclastic flows.
Looks like the Giant's Causeway 😁 in Northern Ireland.
Too bad the water level was too high to get a close look at the really cool ones. I hope you will go back someday.
Looks like super aged columnar jointing, due to mineral type? Of course volcanic! Now i watch your vid to see.
Zeolite is a type of clay
Careful there. You’re about to unseat Nick Zentner as TH-cam’s favorite geologist 🙀😝
Could you talk about the eastern part of Africa and why that crack is growing so fast
Nice work again...however...maybe "stickier" boots would be in order...sliding off into the lake would have entertaining but glad you didn't!!
I thought they were stromatolites
think equalizers...lol
🤔 you tell us a story but have no evidence to show...
Please prove your theory...
Looks more like ancient architecture to me...
Bad design. No room for furniture, or even a family squatting around a fire eating supper.