PacNW Geology Videos – Nick Zentner

Do you want to learn about the fascinating general geology of the Pacific Northwest? Well, perhaps the easiest and one of the most ways to do that is to watch some of the many videos Nick Zentner and his film crews have made and posted on YouTube. Nick has been the host of a dizzying number of short (2 Minute Geology) to long (1+ hour free public lecture) videos covering everything PacNW geologic from 40+ million year old continental accretion to ice-age floods, flood basalts to our awesome volcanoes, huge landslides, and even earthquakes yet to happen. Nick is an award-winning professor of geology at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. His is an ongoing crusade to bring the drama of Northwest geology to life for everyone – not just academics and die-hard rock hounds. Pacing and narrating with gee-whiz enthusiasm, Nick combines simplicity and scientific rigor, presenting his subject matter in a way that’s stimulating, fun and educational to students and the general public. Here are links to some of his YouTube channels and the topics you’ll find there: Huge Floods Channel – 2-Minute Geology Series – 13 videos including: Geology Video Blooper – Columnar Basalt – 0:54 Columnar Basalt – Geologist explains spectacular stone columns – 2:31 What is a Coulee? 2:36 Erratic Boulders – Rafted in Icebergs by the Ice Age Floods – 2:37 Giant Current Ripples Created by the Ice Age Floods – 2:51 Pillow Basalt (Lavas) and Palagonite. Result of lava flowing into water – 2:52 Columbia River Basalt Group – Related to Cascade Volcanoes? 2:59 The White Bluffs at Hanford Reach – Columbia River Free Flowing Stretch – 3:00 What is a meander – Geologist describes meandering streams, rivers and oxbow lakes – 3:02 Petrified Wood – 15 million-year-old Petrified Tree – 3:31 Seattle Earthquake Fault – Beneath Largest City in the Pacific Northwest 3:42 Wenatchee Washington – Ice Age Floods Geology – 4:34 Palouse Falls and the Palouse River Canyon – Ice Age Floods Features – 5:12 Nick Zentner Channel – Roadside Geology Series – 7 videos including: Frenchman Coulee: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #1 – 10:48 Vantage Erratics: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #2 – 11:55 Yakima River Rocks: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #3 – 10:36 Yakima River Canyon: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #4 – 11:55 Thorp Moraine: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #5 – 8:38 Thorp Lahars: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #6 – 9:37 Dry Falls: Central Rocks – Roadside Geology #7 – 9:50 Nick On The Rocks – 18 videos, including: Seattle Fault – 4:01 Yakima River Canyon – 4:16 Lake Chelan — Battle of the Ice Sheets – 4:24 Puget Sound’s Exotic Terranes – 4:25 Dry Falls – 4:37 Chasing Ancient Rivers – 4:42 Ice Age Mystery of Lake Lewis – 4:42 Bridge of the Gods Landslide – 4:44 Steamboat in the Desert – 4:50 Mt Rainier’s Osceola MudFlow – 4:51 Ghost Forests – 4:54 Ancient Cascades Volcanoes – 5:01 Columns of Basalt Lava – 5:01 Giant Lava Flows – 5:06 Liberty Gold Mines – 5:07 Mount Stuart – From Mexico? – 5:11 Giant Ripples in the Scablands – 5:11 Goldilocks Miracle of the Palouse – 5:20 Downtown Geology Lectures – CWU Geology Series – 14 videos, including: Supercontinents and the Pacific Northwest – 56:33 Ancient Rivers of the Pacific Northwest – 57:17 Liberty Gold and the Yellowstone Hotspot – 58:05 Tsunami In Our Future – 59:09 “Bing Crosby, the Sunset Highway and the Channeled Scablands” – 1:01:24 Flood Basalts of the Pacific Northwest – 1:02:35 Great Earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest – 1:04:01 Hells Canyon and the Ringold Formation – 1:04:35 Bridge of the Gods Landslide – 1:05:22 Mount Rainier’s Osceola Mudflow – 1:05:52 Lake Chelan Geology – 1:07:18 Exotic Terranes of the Pacific Northwest – 1:09:23 Floods of Lava and Water – 1:10:18 Supervolcanoes in the Pacific Northwest – 1:10:50 Ghost Volcanoes in the Cascades – 1:11:15 Plant Fossils in the Pacific Northwest – 1:13:17 Dating the Ice Age Floods – 1:26:23 TEDxYakimaSalon | Nick Zentner Sharing Geology
Oral/Pictorial Video History of the Palouse Area

This 1/2-hour video begins with the Ice Age Floods impact on the Palouse area, then goes on with a fascinating oral and pictorial history of the area. The video was produced by Mortimore Productions for the Whitman County Library with materials and information provided by a bevy of contributors, including several IAFI members. This is a must view if you’re planning to travel to the Palouse Falls Chapter. In this stunning video you’ll learn about the Floods impact, early settlers, mule trains, sheep herders, and so much more that will make the event ever more personal and relevant. Whitman County Library – Ice Age v06 from Mortimore Productions on Vimeo.
6 New ‘Nick On The Rocks’ Episodes
6 new short episodes of ’Nick On The Rocks’ aired on PBS this past winter! Each of these gems are short enough to be taken in by even the busiest of us, and yet have enough information to whet the appetite of even the most intensive of us. Nick is masterful in his presentations and who he draws in to help. Watch them all, you won’t be disappointed. Lake Chelan – Battle of the Ice Sheets (w/ Chris Mattinson) Click HERE to watch. 5 minutes. Chasing Ancient Rivers (w/ Steve Reidel) Click HERE to watch. 5 minutes. Seattle Fault (w/ Sandi Doughton) Click HERE to watch. 5 minutes. Bridge of the Gods Landslide (w/ Jim O’Connor) Click HERE to watch. 5 minutes. Columns of Basalt Lava Click HERE to watch. 5 minutes. Ancient Volcanoes in the Cascades (w/ Daryl Gusey) Click HERE to watch. 5 minutes.
New Ellensburg Chapter Webpage
The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute has a new webpage with presentation videos and field trip guides. The Ellensburg Chapter was created in 2007 by Tom Foster, Karl Lillquist, & Nick Zentner. The chapter has offered free events for a solid decade and counting! Optional membership has supported the lectures and field trips. Thank you to our supporters! Our old field trip guides can now be viewed/downloaded from the webpage! Karl & Nick alternate leading 4 field trips per year. Note the contrasting styles of trip guides by Karl Lillquist (CWU Geography) and Nick Zentner (CWU Geology). Email Nick if you’d like to be added to the Ellensburg Chapter email list! nick@geology.cwu.edu [weaver_iframe src=’http://www.nickzentner.com/#/ellensburg-chapter-iafi/’ height=600 percent=100]
Bretz and His Floods Story – National Geographic

National Geographic has published an outstanding article, “Formed by Megafloods, This Place Fooled Scientists for Decades”, about J Harlan Bretz and his outrageous, fantastical theories of a landscape shaped by huge floods. Most Ice Age Floods aficionados are generally aware of the story, but this one is so detailed and well written it’s worth reading for the story-telling value alone. Please see: This National Geographic site:
Washington’s Ice Age Floods – ESRI Story Map

The Washington Geological Survey (formerly the Division of Geology and Earth Resources) has just released an ESRI story map about the Ice Age Floods in Washington. The story map: “tells the story of cataclysmic outburst floods that shaped the landscape of the Pacific Northwest during the last ice age. With imagery, maps and video, this story map follows the devastating deluge of the Missoula floods as it tore across the landscape, from its origins in western Montana to its terminus at the Pacific Ocean. Sites along the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail are featured, with an emphasis on flood features in Washington State.” Entitled Washington’s Ice Age Floods, it is best viewed on a desktop or laptop computer. Mobile devices will not show all of the content. It is navigated by scrolling your mouse through the slides. There are a few animated sections that may take a second or two to load. [weaver_iframe src=’https://wadnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=84ea4016ce124bd9a546c5cbc58f9e29′ height=600 percent=100]
CWU’s Geology of Washington Course: Free
People of all ages and backgrounds are welcome and invited to attend any of these lectures free: Geology of Washington (GEOL 101 section 02) 10:00 – 10:50 am MTRF (no lectures on Wednesdays) CWU’s new Science II building – room 103 Fall Quarter Sept 22 – Dec 6, 2016 Instructor: Nick Zentner This is the 15th quarter we’ve had a handful of “townies” in addition to the CWU students. Plenty of room for you and friends. For the “townies”…we’re real casual. No registration, no auditing, no reserving seats, etc. Come whenever you’re in the mood. Take the whole class or just a few lectures. Free parking is handy just north of Memorial Park on E. 7th Avenue. The new Science II Building (Geology & Physics) – room 103 – is just a couple of buildings north of Lind Hall (our old home). See attached map. Our first class is Thursday, Sept 22 at 10:00 am.
Ice Age Floods – Giant Current Ripples

Check out this 2-Minute Geology expedition with Nick Zentner and Tom Foster exploring the Giant Current Ripples at West Bar and Camas Prairie. Ice age floodwater 650 feet deep – moving at 65 miles per hour – left Giant Current Ripples along the Columbia River at West Bar! The ripples at West Bar are 20 feet high, spaced up to 100 yards apart. Giant Current Ripples at Camas Prairie, Montana are also described. The Montana ripples helped Joseph Pardee understand that Glacial Lake Missoula had emptied suddenly. Learn more about Glacial Lake Missoula, Lake Bonneville and the Ice Age Floods at http://hugefloods.com/
Ice Age Floods Facebook Page
You may want to ‘Like‘ the Ice Age Floods Institute Facebook page to stay abreast of all the News and Shares coming out from the Institute. We’re sharing news and articles well beyond the Floods, including geology, natural history, general articles about the area, videoed talks, events, and any number of articles of general interest. Floods of water, floods of lava, rockin’ rocks, 2-Minute Geology, paleontology, and the mystical birth of the universe all get their 15+ seconds of fame. We’ll keep our eyes open to find and share items of interest to you, and of course you can share with us too.