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@@ -0,0 +1,3672 @@
+1
+00:00:06,759 --> 00:00:11,920
+the Rocky Mountains the backbone of
+
+2
+00:00:09,599 --> 00:00:11,920
+North
+
+3
+00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:17,480
+America rugged spectacular and
+
+4
+00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:23,480
+Majestic today geologists are cracking
+
+5
+00:00:20,279 --> 00:00:25,720
+open these rocks to expose their
+
+6
+00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,920
+secrets how did the remains of sea
+
+7
+00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:31,960
+creatures end up in mountain peaks
+
+8
+00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,960
+thousands of feet in the air
+
+9
+00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,960
+when did the Rockies form are they still
+
+10
+00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:40,000
+Rising
+
+11
+00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:42,559
+today and if they are could the great
+
+12
+00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:46,160
+forces that built the Rockies one day
+
+13
+00:00:42,559 --> 00:00:46,160
+split North America in
+
+14
+00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:56,880
+[Music]
+
+15
+00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,519
+two
+
+16
+00:01:00,559 --> 00:01:03,680
+the
+
+17
+00:01:01,519 --> 00:01:05,920
+Rockies one of the greatest Mountain
+
+18
+00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:09,039
+chains on
+
+19
+00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:11,159
+Earth they stretch over 2,000 miles from
+
+20
+00:01:09,039 --> 00:01:14,400
+the northern tip of British Columbia to
+
+21
+00:01:11,159 --> 00:01:14,400
+the Rio Grand in New
+
+22
+00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:20,039
+Mexico up to 300 M wide they form the
+
+23
+00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:23,000
+continental
+
+24
+00:01:20,039 --> 00:01:25,280
+divide the Great Barrier between East
+
+25
+00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,280
+and
+
+26
+00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:34,759
+West in Colorado alone there are 58
+
+27
+00:01:31,158 --> 00:01:39,680
+mountain peaks over 14,000 ft
+
+28
+00:01:34,759 --> 00:01:39,680
+tall that's around 2 and 1/2 mil
+
+29
+00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:48,640
+High the Rockies were created by the
+
+30
+00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,640
+most powerful geologic forces on
+
+31
+00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:55,158
+Earth their dramatic story takes us on a
+
+32
+00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:58,320
+journey from north to south through 200
+
+33
+00:01:55,158 --> 00:02:02,000
+million years of geological
+
+34
+00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:04,520
+history from their birth birth place in
+
+35
+00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,960
+Canada to the youngest peaks in the
+
+36
+00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:06,960
+United
+
+37
+00:02:09,318 --> 00:02:15,520
+States it's a journey that takes us back
+
+38
+00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,520
+into the Earth's ancient
+
+39
+00:02:17,319 --> 00:02:24,400
+past 200 million years ago there were no
+
+40
+00:02:21,079 --> 00:02:27,400
+Rockies even the continents looked
+
+41
+00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:30,640
+different there was just one giant land
+
+42
+00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,800
+mass Pangia
+
+43
+00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:36,360
+but not for much
+
+44
+00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:38,959
+longer a vast Rift is opening up tearing
+
+45
+00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:42,120
+this super continent
+
+46
+00:02:38,959 --> 00:02:44,079
+apart over the next few million years
+
+47
+00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,840
+Pangia will break apart into many
+
+48
+00:02:44,079 --> 00:02:46,840
+smaller land
+
+49
+00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,560
+masses eventually forming the
+
+50
+00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:55,079
+present-day continent of North
+
+51
+00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,680
+America earth's surface is broken up
+
+52
+00:02:55,079 --> 00:02:59,840
+into vast pieces called
+
+53
+00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:02,799
+plates they sit on top of the the
+
+54
+00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:06,000
+Earth's warm dense
+
+55
+00:03:02,799 --> 00:03:08,040
+mantle as the planet gradually cools
+
+56
+00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,120
+convection currents in the mantle slowly
+
+57
+00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,239
+move these plates across the surface of
+
+58
+00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,480
+the
+
+59
+00:03:11,239 --> 00:03:17,400
+Earth where plates meet at their edges
+
+60
+00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,760
+there are often immense tectonic
+
+61
+00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:24,360
+forces these tensions can tear
+
+62
+00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:24,360
+continents apart but they also build
+
+63
+00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,120
+mountains Kirk Johnson Chief curator of
+
+64
+00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,159
+the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
+
+65
+00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,200
+explains the action of continents
+
+66
+00:03:32,159 --> 00:03:36,519
+crushing together or continents being
+
+67
+00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:39,680
+hit by oceanic plates those kinds of
+
+68
+00:03:36,519 --> 00:03:42,959
+forces create basically planetary
+
+69
+00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:45,439
+traffic accidents and the wrecks result
+
+70
+00:03:42,959 --> 00:03:45,439
+in Mountain
+
+71
+00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:51,599
+swarming evidence of the power of these
+
+72
+00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,599
+immense forces can be found in one of
+
+73
+00:03:51,599 --> 00:03:54,480
+the oldest and most Northerly parts of
+
+74
+00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:58,680
+the
+
+75
+00:03:54,480 --> 00:04:01,720
+Rockies yo National Park in British
+
+76
+00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:04,200
+Columbia here the fossils of thousands
+
+77
+00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,079
+of peculiar prehistoric creatures lie in
+
+78
+00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:10,640
+a cliff face near the peak of Mount
+
+79
+00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:10,640
+Steven 8,000 ft above sea
+
+80
+00:04:11,079 --> 00:04:16,160
+level geologist and Mountain guide Paul
+
+81
+00:04:13,879 --> 00:04:17,478
+mcneel specializes in the fossils of the
+
+82
+00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,798
+Burgess
+
+83
+00:04:17,478 --> 00:04:22,759
+Shale we see fossils here that we find
+
+84
+00:04:20,798 --> 00:04:26,000
+almost nowhere else in the fossil record
+
+85
+00:04:22,759 --> 00:04:28,800
+and unlike any animal that's alive
+
+86
+00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:31,600
+today this spiny creature is called
+
+87
+00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,600
+hucog Genia
+
+88
+00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:38,320
+and this bizarre specimen we
+
+89
+00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:40,720
+waxia these fossils offer Clues to how
+
+90
+00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:43,000
+the early Northern Rockies
+
+91
+00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,840
+formed because they're not the remains
+
+92
+00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,919
+of mountain dwelling
+
+93
+00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:50,159
+animals but of sea
+
+94
+00:04:47,919 --> 00:04:52,680
+creatures they lived and died in a
+
+95
+00:04:50,159 --> 00:04:54,479
+shallow tropical sea over half a billion
+
+96
+00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,000
+years
+
+97
+00:04:54,479 --> 00:05:01,240
+ago the rocks that contain these
+
+98
+00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:03,840
+extraordinary fossils formed on the sea
+
+99
+00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,680
+floor right around us all of the rocks
+
+100
+00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:09,680
+that we see used to be part of an
+
+101
+00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:12,120
+ancient seabed the limestones were part
+
+102
+00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,240
+of the continental shelf the shells were
+
+103
+00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,919
+part of the deeper ocean waters but it
+
+104
+00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,120
+was all
+
+105
+00:05:15,919 --> 00:05:20,680
+underwater long before the Rockies
+
+106
+00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,840
+formed the west coast of North America
+
+107
+00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:26,520
+was covered by a shallow
+
+108
+00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:29,600
+sea over millions of years clay mud and
+
+109
+00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,680
+gravel settled on this Coastal Shelf
+
+110
+00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:34,440
+trapping and fossilizing tens of
+
+111
+00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:37,000
+thousands of sea
+
+112
+00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:40,319
+creatures layers of sediment solidified
+
+113
+00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:43,400
+into rock up to 12 M
+
+114
+00:05:40,319 --> 00:05:48,199
+thick The Rock layers in this Cliff are
+
+115
+00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:48,199
+made from sediment laid down over 8,000
+
+116
+00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:53,280
+years today these fossils are a mile and
+
+117
+00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:56,479
+a half above sea
+
+118
+00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:58,479
+level but once they were buried 6 miles
+
+119
+00:05:56,479 --> 00:06:01,240
+under other layers of
+
+120
+00:05:58,479 --> 00:06:04,319
+rock at their deepest point these
+
+121
+00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:06,479
+fossils were buried over 10 km under the
+
+122
+00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:09,680
+Earth's crust and since then they've
+
+123
+00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:12,479
+been thrust up to over 2 km up into the
+
+124
+00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:15,800
+air where we actually find them
+
+125
+00:06:12,479 --> 00:06:18,000
+now this ancient rock formed offshore
+
+126
+00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,319
+400 mil west of
+
+127
+00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:23,479
+here so what could have driven this
+
+128
+00:06:20,319 --> 00:06:27,039
+ancient seafloor so far inland and what
+
+129
+00:06:23,479 --> 00:06:28,880
+pushed it up almost 8 mil a force
+
+130
+00:06:27,039 --> 00:06:31,360
+powerful enough to transform a flat
+
+131
+00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:34,360
+ocean FL L into massive
+
+132
+00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,360
+mountains
+
+133
+00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:41,880
+subduction 180 million years ago the
+
+134
+00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:44,240
+North American Plate was moving West
+
+135
+00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:46,960
+driven by the breakup of
+
+136
+00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,120
+Pangia and the Pacific Ocean plate was
+
+137
+00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:53,080
+heading
+
+138
+00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:53,080
+east the two colossal plates met head
+
+139
+00:06:54,159 --> 00:06:59,680
+on in this Clash of the Titans the
+
+140
+00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:01,400
+denser Pacific ocean plate was forced
+
+141
+00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,879
+down beneath the more buoyant North
+
+142
+00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,879
+American
+
+143
+00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:13,199
+Plate professor John Gman from the
+
+144
+00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,199
+University of New Mexico
+
+145
+00:07:13,639 --> 00:07:18,879
+demonstrates what I'm going to do is
+
+146
+00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:21,440
+simply tap on one of the sides and I'm
+
+147
+00:07:18,879 --> 00:07:25,160
+going to create an instability now we
+
+148
+00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:28,639
+have oil starting to
+
+149
+00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,360
+Migrate move its way over the top of the
+
+150
+00:07:28,639 --> 00:07:33,199
+CD
+
+151
+00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:35,319
+ah voila it's happening all by itself I
+
+152
+00:07:33,199 --> 00:07:38,400
+don't have to nudge it anymore if you
+
+153
+00:07:35,319 --> 00:07:41,599
+see the oil moving its way across the CD
+
+154
+00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:45,199
+like so and the CD itself is going to be
+
+155
+00:07:41,599 --> 00:07:47,919
+begin to move like so into the oil and
+
+156
+00:07:45,199 --> 00:07:51,479
+the subduction process is
+
+157
+00:07:47,919 --> 00:07:54,400
+completed it's subducted into the
+
+158
+00:07:51,479 --> 00:07:58,319
+interior of our planet if you will and
+
+159
+00:07:54,400 --> 00:08:01,319
+it's a runaway process you can't stop
+
+160
+00:07:58,319 --> 00:08:01,319
+it
+
+161
+00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,400
+on top of the subducting Pacific Plate
+
+162
+00:08:05,479 --> 00:08:08,400
+sat offshore
+
+163
+00:08:09,479 --> 00:08:16,000
+Islands as the plate was pushed Eastward
+
+164
+00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:18,759
+it carried these islands like a conveyor
+
+165
+00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,599
+belt one particularly large island
+
+166
+00:08:18,759 --> 00:08:23,520
+reached the junction of the two plates
+
+167
+00:08:20,599 --> 00:08:25,680
+and coast of North America but it was
+
+168
+00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:28,039
+too large and buoyant to be pushed down
+
+169
+00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,680
+into the
+
+170
+00:08:28,039 --> 00:08:32,799
+mantle in instead it slammed into the
+
+171
+00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,799
+continental shelf on the western edge of
+
+172
+00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:38,200
+the
+
+173
+00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:41,240
+continent the seabed was shoved Eastward
+
+174
+00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:43,919
+it slowly folded up like a crumpled
+
+175
+00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,839
+carpet the fossils of the bures Shale
+
+176
+00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:49,000
+were pushed thousands of feet into the
+
+177
+00:08:45,839 --> 00:08:49,000
+air and Miles
+
+178
+00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,640
+Inland geologist and author Ben Gad has
+
+179
+00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:55,760
+spent 30 years studying the Rockies here
+
+180
+00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,399
+in British
+
+181
+00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:59,800
+Columbia one way to imagine this whole
+
+182
+00:08:58,399 --> 00:09:02,880
+pushing and shoving business business is
+
+183
+00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:05,279
+to is to uh is to do it on your hands so
+
+184
+00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,920
+you have the the Bony part of your hand
+
+185
+00:09:05,279 --> 00:09:09,279
+and then you have the skin over the top
+
+186
+00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:11,880
+right so imagine that the Bony part is
+
+187
+00:09:09,279 --> 00:09:13,640
+the continental plate and on top of that
+
+188
+00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,519
+you have all the sedimentary layers
+
+189
+00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:19,320
+right that's the Skin So when the big
+
+190
+00:09:16,519 --> 00:09:22,000
+push and shove comes you have the skin
+
+191
+00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:25,440
+being pushed along the Bony layer and as
+
+192
+00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:28,000
+it gets pushed along it wrinkles
+
+193
+00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:31,120
+up that's a good analogy for how the
+
+194
+00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,120
+Rockies were formed
+
+195
+00:09:31,519 --> 00:09:35,600
+the older I get the better this works
+
+196
+00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:38,760
+for some
+
+197
+00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:42,360
+reason over millions of years the plate
+
+198
+00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,360
+Collision forced up the northern
+
+199
+00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,680
+Rockies when the force of this Collision
+
+200
+00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,440
+lost its power the first wave of
+
+201
+00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:54,160
+mountain building came to an end but
+
+202
+00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:56,079
+that's not the end of the story 80
+
+203
+00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:59,000
+million years after the first block of
+
+204
+00:09:56,079 --> 00:10:00,680
+land hit the coast a second one slammed
+
+205
+00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,800
+into into its
+
+206
+00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,690
+back it bulldozed everything Eastward
+
+207
+00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,120
+and
+
+208
+00:10:04,690 --> 00:10:08,760
+[Music]
+
+209
+00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:11,959
+upward layer after layer of rock was
+
+210
+00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,959
+shoved higher and
+
+211
+00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,200
+higher first into Hills and then into
+
+212
+00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:24,640
+mountains gentle folds of rock evolved
+
+213
+00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,640
+into the mighty
+
+214
+00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:32,200
+Rockies today these slabs of land called
+
+215
+00:10:30,079 --> 00:10:35,299
+terrains make up British
+
+216
+00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,299
+[Music]
+
+217
+00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:41,920
+Columbia as they continued to
+
+218
+00:10:39,519 --> 00:10:45,920
+rise the Rockies were continually
+
+219
+00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:48,720
+sculpted by the momentous force of the
+
+220
+00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:51,590
+elements even as they were pushed up
+
+221
+00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:56,219
+erosion was starting to tear them
+
+222
+00:10:51,590 --> 00:10:56,219
+[Music]
+
+223
+00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:04,800
+down the Canadian rocky
+
+224
+00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:07,760
+Jagged Peaks steep Cliffs and razor
+
+225
+00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:10,680
+sharp ridges carved from the sedimentary
+
+226
+00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,680
+rock of an ancient
+
+227
+00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:18,000
+seabed despite being caught in a mighty
+
+228
+00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:21,079
+plate collision and thrust up into
+
+229
+00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:24,000
+towering Peaks the layers of rock in
+
+230
+00:11:21,079 --> 00:11:26,800
+these mountains still lie almost
+
+231
+00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:30,959
+horizontally this provides a clue about
+
+232
+00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,959
+how they rose up
+
+233
+00:11:31,639 --> 00:11:36,240
+as the blocks of land drove into the
+
+234
+00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,399
+coast of North America slabs of
+
+235
+00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:42,399
+sedimentary rock were pressurized and
+
+236
+00:11:38,399 --> 00:11:42,399
+folded so much that they
+
+237
+00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:51,639
+snapped broken sheets of rock up to a
+
+238
+00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:54,200
+mile thick shunted forwards and slid
+
+239
+00:11:51,639 --> 00:11:57,959
+over each other again and again in a
+
+240
+00:11:54,200 --> 00:12:00,959
+process scientists call thrust
+
+241
+00:11:57,959 --> 00:12:00,959
+falting
+
+242
+00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:07,279
+so The Rock has actually been folded to
+
+243
+00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,680
+the point where it can't be folded
+
+244
+00:12:07,279 --> 00:12:11,279
+anymore and at that point the upper part
+
+245
+00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:14,199
+of the fold will literally break and
+
+246
+00:12:11,279 --> 00:12:17,240
+start sliding along that's what we call
+
+247
+00:12:14,199 --> 00:12:20,240
+a thrust fault and it's a a classic kind
+
+248
+00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:22,959
+of fault for the Canadian
+
+249
+00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:25,279
+Rockies sedimentary rock forms when
+
+250
+00:12:22,959 --> 00:12:27,040
+younger layers of sediment settle on top
+
+251
+00:12:25,279 --> 00:12:29,680
+of older
+
+252
+00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:32,480
+layers but here in the rock
+
+253
+00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:35,680
+layers of different ages are jumbled
+
+254
+00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:39,959
+up thrust falting pushed older layers of
+
+255
+00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,959
+sedimentary rock up and over younger
+
+256
+00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:46,440
+layers suppose that uh we think of this
+
+257
+00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:49,199
+book as being a continuation of the
+
+258
+00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:52,000
+layered rock that we see here now in a
+
+259
+00:12:49,199 --> 00:12:55,680
+thrust fault what happens is this part
+
+260
+00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:57,680
+will break up and it will slide along
+
+261
+00:12:55,680 --> 00:13:01,240
+like this and it can go rather a long
+
+262
+00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,560
+way until eventually it stops so now we
+
+263
+00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:06,800
+have layers that were down here pushed
+
+264
+00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:09,160
+up over these layers old rock pushed up
+
+265
+00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:12,519
+an over younger
+
+266
+00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:14,959
+rock in this laboratory sandbox the
+
+267
+00:13:12,519 --> 00:13:18,240
+layers of colored sand represent layers
+
+268
+00:13:14,959 --> 00:13:21,600
+of sedimentary rock as the sand pushes
+
+269
+00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:23,120
+Eastward to the right thrust faults form
+
+270
+00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:26,000
+one in front of the
+
+271
+00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:28,160
+other thrust fating pushes older rock
+
+272
+00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,320
+layers above younger to create the
+
+273
+00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,760
+distinctive Sawtooth ranges of the
+
+274
+00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,760
+northern
+
+275
+00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:38,399
+Rockies these mountains first emerged
+
+276
+00:13:36,639 --> 00:13:41,199
+140 million years
+
+277
+00:13:38,399 --> 00:13:42,279
+ago thrust falting first built the
+
+278
+00:13:41,199 --> 00:13:45,399
+Western
+
+279
+00:13:42,279 --> 00:13:48,680
+ranges and then crept Eastward forming a
+
+280
+00:13:45,399 --> 00:13:48,680
+new Range further in
+
+281
+00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:54,120
+land 120 million years ago the main
+
+282
+00:13:52,839 --> 00:13:57,040
+ranges
+
+283
+00:13:54,120 --> 00:14:01,800
+appeared and then even further east the
+
+284
+00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:01,800
+front ranges 85 5 million years
+
+285
+00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:11,240
+ago thrust fating began to slow down
+
+286
+00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:11,240
+until eventually 50 million years ago it
+
+287
+00:14:13,079 --> 00:14:19,279
+stopped at Mount yusa the mountains and
+
+288
+00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:22,170
+the Foothills meet Beyond lie the flat
+
+289
+00:14:19,279 --> 00:14:24,639
+Plains of Alberta and
+
+290
+00:14:22,170 --> 00:14:27,480
+[Music]
+
+291
+00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:31,070
+Montana immense forces pushed an ancient
+
+292
+00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:34,619
+seabed thousands of feet into the
+
+293
+00:14:31,070 --> 00:14:34,619
+[Music]
+
+294
+00:14:34,639 --> 00:14:41,279
+air but a very different Force sculpted
+
+295
+00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,279
+it into these striking
+
+296
+00:14:41,519 --> 00:14:44,519
+Peaks
+
+297
+00:14:45,279 --> 00:14:49,830
+erosion evidence of erosions power is
+
+298
+00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:53,219
+strewn all over the mountain
+
+299
+00:14:49,830 --> 00:14:53,219
+[Music]
+
+300
+00:14:55,160 --> 00:15:00,680
+side piles of broken shell
+
+301
+00:15:02,079 --> 00:15:06,680
+and heaps of ash-colored sediment called
+
+302
+00:15:08,399 --> 00:15:13,920
+scree erosion has been at least as
+
+303
+00:15:11,519 --> 00:15:16,160
+important uh as the mountain building
+
+304
+00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:18,519
+itself it's the mountain building
+
+305
+00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:20,759
+process the up piling that gives you the
+
+306
+00:15:18,519 --> 00:15:22,880
+elevation to give you the height of the
+
+307
+00:15:20,759 --> 00:15:25,519
+landscape but then the landscape itself
+
+308
+00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:27,480
+is carved downward differentially so
+
+309
+00:15:25,519 --> 00:15:30,839
+erosion is very important it actually
+
+310
+00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,839
+gives us the landscape we
+
+311
+00:15:31,199 --> 00:15:36,920
+see erosion is so powerful that it is
+
+312
+00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,440
+scraped up to 2 miles of solid rock off
+
+313
+00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:44,639
+the top of these mountain
+
+314
+00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:48,480
+peaks and the main force of erosion is
+
+315
+00:15:44,639 --> 00:15:51,560
+water uh water loosens material sends it
+
+316
+00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:54,880
+downhill water dissolves minerals uh
+
+317
+00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:57,440
+water freezes and and breaks up the
+
+318
+00:15:54,880 --> 00:16:00,319
+Rocks the northern Rockies are made of
+
+319
+00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,759
+sedimentary rock like Sandstone Shale
+
+320
+00:16:00,319 --> 00:16:05,120
+and
+
+321
+00:16:01,759 --> 00:16:07,940
+Limestone relatively soft and soluble
+
+322
+00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:11,039
+these are easy prey for
+
+323
+00:16:07,940 --> 00:16:11,039
+[Music]
+
+324
+00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:18,079
+erosion and here in Canada water's
+
+325
+00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,079
+erosive power takes on a new
+
+326
+00:16:19,959 --> 00:16:25,720
+dimension in this cold climate snowfall
+
+327
+00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:29,020
+freezes and compacts to form enormous
+
+328
+00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:35,230
+sheets of ice glaciers
+
+329
+00:16:29,020 --> 00:16:35,230
+[Music]
+
+330
+00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:40,880
+the glaciers here creep forward at 50 ft
+
+331
+00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:46,519
+per
+
+332
+00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:46,519
+year on a geologic time scale this is
+
+333
+00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:53,519
+fast glaciers pick up and carry loose
+
+334
+00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:56,120
+rocks and boulders which scour and
+
+335
+00:16:53,519 --> 00:16:59,279
+scratch the rock beneath
+
+336
+00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:02,840
+them like giant ice cream Scoops
+
+337
+00:16:59,279 --> 00:17:04,199
+glaciers gouge out distinctive u-shaped
+
+338
+00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:07,000
+[Applause]
+
+339
+00:17:04,199 --> 00:17:11,319
+valleys and when they melt they leave
+
+340
+00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,319
+behind deep gorges and steep-sided
+
+341
+00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:22,079
+Peaks erosion has worn down these rocks
+
+342
+00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,079
+over millions of
+
+343
+00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:27,280
+years but the Rockies are fighting
+
+344
+00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:33,320
+back while erosion attacks their Summits
+
+345
+00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:35,679
+deep below ground the mountains are
+
+346
+00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,679
+still
+
+347
+00:17:35,799 --> 00:17:40,600
+growing look at the Rockies and it's
+
+348
+00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:43,520
+like seeing the tip of an
+
+349
+00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:47,640
+iceberg mountains have Roots which can
+
+350
+00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:50,919
+be five or six times deeper than their
+
+351
+00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:54,080
+height this mountain stands over 2 mi
+
+352
+00:17:50,919 --> 00:17:56,159
+high but its hidden rout could extend 13
+
+353
+00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:58,520
+mil
+
+354
+00:17:56,159 --> 00:18:01,230
+underground these roots are the Rocky
+
+355
+00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,319
+secret defense against
+
+356
+00:18:01,230 --> 00:18:04,319
+[Music]
+
+357
+00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:08,640
+erosion structural geologist Carl
+
+358
+00:18:06,919 --> 00:18:11,840
+carlstrom from the University of New
+
+359
+00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:14,159
+Mexico demonstrates using blocks of
+
+360
+00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,200
+ice the red and green ice layers
+
+361
+00:18:14,159 --> 00:18:18,799
+represent the mountains above ground and
+
+362
+00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:21,280
+the white ice their Roots below
+
+363
+00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:23,120
+ground mountains are not static things
+
+364
+00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,080
+the earth's surface is continually being
+
+365
+00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:28,520
+reshaped by erosion by Rivers by
+
+366
+00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,200
+glaciers that tear the mountains down so
+
+367
+00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,159
+let's imagine I'm eroding the mountains
+
+368
+00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,760
+now and I'll just pull one of the blocks
+
+369
+00:18:32,159 --> 00:18:36,120
+off the overall surface has gone down
+
+370
+00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,240
+the continent has gotten thinner its
+
+371
+00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:39,960
+roots come up and now this rock which
+
+372
+00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,520
+was deep in the earth a minute ago
+
+373
+00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,880
+underneath the Green Layer has uh come
+
+374
+00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:47,919
+to the surface that's called Rock uplift
+
+375
+00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:50,520
+so I guess I'll Road off the pink layer
+
+376
+00:18:47,919 --> 00:18:52,159
+2 we're back down to a continent without
+
+377
+00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:56,200
+a without a major mountain belt
+
+378
+00:18:52,159 --> 00:18:58,440
+something like the eastern part of North
+
+379
+00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,880
+America when the heavy weight of the the
+
+380
+00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:02,240
+mountain is eroded away the route
+
+381
+00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,640
+rebounds
+
+382
+00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:09,559
+upward this process means that the
+
+383
+00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:12,880
+Rockies are constantly topped up from
+
+384
+00:19:09,559 --> 00:19:14,840
+beneath in Canada thrust falting and
+
+385
+00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:18,320
+erosion have shaped the
+
+386
+00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:21,080
+mountains but as we travel South this
+
+387
+00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:23,760
+distinctive landscape is about to
+
+388
+00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:26,360
+change just south of the US Border in
+
+389
+00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:30,080
+the state of Montana a new rock appears
+
+390
+00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:32,400
+among the Rockies
+
+391
+00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:35,000
+Granite this is the first clue that the
+
+392
+00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:37,520
+mountains of the American Rockies are
+
+393
+00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,520
+radically
+
+394
+00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:50,520
+different I think that's an interesting
+
+395
+00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:53,000
+thing this one piece will make 52 layers
+
+396
+00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:57,240
+watch on mobile devices or the big
+
+397
+00:19:53,000 --> 00:20:00,240
+screen all for free no subscription
+
+398
+00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,240
+required
+
+399
+00:20:00,770 --> 00:20:05,600
+[Music]
+
+400
+00:20:03,559 --> 00:20:07,720
+on our journey South along the Rocky
+
+401
+00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:09,679
+Mountains we're entering a very
+
+402
+00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:12,720
+different
+
+403
+00:20:09,679 --> 00:20:15,440
+landscape from Montana Southward the
+
+404
+00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:18,120
+Rockies are made from ancient Granite
+
+405
+00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:20,919
+1.7 billion years
+
+406
+00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:23,120
+old Granite makes up much of the deepest
+
+407
+00:20:20,919 --> 00:20:25,880
+part of the continental
+
+408
+00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:30,159
+crust that's why geologists call this
+
+409
+00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:30,159
+rock the basement
+
+410
+00:20:30,799 --> 00:20:34,840
+the Canadian Rockies are built from
+
+411
+00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:36,840
+sedimentary rocks piled up on top of the
+
+412
+00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:39,679
+Continental
+
+413
+00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:43,200
+foundations so why does granite suddenly
+
+414
+00:20:39,679 --> 00:20:43,200
+appear here in the American
+
+415
+00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,720
+Rockies but there's an even greater
+
+416
+00:20:49,919 --> 00:20:55,320
+puzzle mountains usually form close to
+
+417
+00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:57,400
+plate boundaries but the southern
+
+418
+00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:00,120
+Rockies sit a long way from the plate
+
+419
+00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,120
+margin
+
+420
+00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,919
+the Front Range in
+
+421
+00:21:05,159 --> 00:21:10,080
+Colorado is a th000 miles from where the
+
+422
+00:21:07,919 --> 00:21:12,230
+Pacific and North American plates
+
+423
+00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,520
+actually
+
+424
+00:21:12,230 --> 00:21:19,200
+[Music]
+
+425
+00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,200
+meet geologists have come up with an
+
+426
+00:21:19,559 --> 00:21:25,760
+explanation they believe that the
+
+427
+00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,760
+subducting Pacific Ocean plate is
+
+428
+00:21:27,039 --> 00:21:30,799
+responsible
+
+429
+00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:33,000
+ocean crust had been pushed deep into
+
+430
+00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:37,520
+the mantle beneath North America for a
+
+431
+00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:39,400
+100 million years when something unusual
+
+432
+00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:42,400
+[Music]
+
+433
+00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:44,720
+happened 70 million years ago the
+
+434
+00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,960
+Pacific Ocean plate started to subduct
+
+435
+00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:50,480
+at a shallower
+
+436
+00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:53,640
+angle instead of plummeting steeply it
+
+437
+00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:57,039
+sliced beneath North America
+
+438
+00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:59,120
+horizontally this change had dramatic
+
+439
+00:21:57,039 --> 00:22:00,960
+consequences
+
+440
+00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:03,360
+the big oceanic plate in the Pacific
+
+441
+00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:06,559
+didn't go deep down it went in Shallow
+
+442
+00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:08,520
+like a spatula under a pizza so
+
+443
+00:22:06,559 --> 00:22:10,840
+something happened 68 million years ago
+
+444
+00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,120
+over in California that plate drives
+
+445
+00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,640
+under North America but instead of
+
+446
+00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:16,960
+diving deeply it comes in shallow and a
+
+447
+00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:20,400
+thousand miles away from the coast up
+
+448
+00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,400
+from the ground Sprout the Rocky
+
+449
+00:22:21,559 --> 00:22:26,559
+Mountains for millions of years the
+
+450
+00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:29,240
+ocean plate scraped along the underside
+
+451
+00:22:26,559 --> 00:22:31,679
+of North America
+
+452
+00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,559
+it created friction breaking up the
+
+453
+00:22:31,679 --> 00:22:37,159
+basement Granite of the North American
+
+454
+00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:37,159
+Plate and punching it
+
+455
+00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:45,400
+upward structural geologist Carl
+
+456
+00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,279
+carlstrom
+
+457
+00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,360
+demonstrates because it was at a
+
+458
+00:22:47,279 --> 00:22:51,559
+shallower angle beneath North America it
+
+459
+00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:53,760
+was scraping along the base of North
+
+460
+00:22:51,559 --> 00:22:55,600
+America when that happens it puts the
+
+461
+00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,159
+plate under compression like this
+
+462
+00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:01,200
+because it's being both pushed at the
+
+463
+00:22:58,159 --> 00:23:03,159
+end and uh scraped along at the bottom
+
+464
+00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,960
+so it squeezes pushes up the mountains
+
+465
+00:23:03,159 --> 00:23:07,960
+and it transferred this mountain
+
+466
+00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,440
+building from The Edge to Great distance
+
+467
+00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,440
+from the plate
+
+468
+00:23:11,559 --> 00:23:16,720
+margin the shallow angle trajectory of
+
+469
+00:23:14,279 --> 00:23:19,440
+the Pacific Ocean plate explains why
+
+470
+00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:22,279
+these mountains formed so far
+
+471
+00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,960
+inland and it also explains the presence
+
+472
+00:23:22,279 --> 00:23:26,559
+of
+
+473
+00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:29,080
+granite thrust up through layers of
+
+474
+00:23:26,559 --> 00:23:32,760
+sedimentary rock the broken Granite
+
+475
+00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,760
+became the Rocky Mountains of the
+
+476
+00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:41,440
+South Red Rocks park Denver
+
+477
+00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,720
+Colorado a landscape forged by Granite
+
+478
+00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,039
+uplift Kirk Johnson demonstrates how
+
+479
+00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:55,159
+these Granite Peaks punched up through
+
+480
+00:23:52,039 --> 00:23:58,159
+the layers of Red Rock around
+
+481
+00:23:55,159 --> 00:24:01,840
+them I'm going to use my assistance
+
+482
+00:23:58,159 --> 00:24:04,200
+Veronica and Ian to help me explain how
+
+483
+00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,600
+the Rocky Mountains in Colorado formed
+
+484
+00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:09,520
+imagine if you will that Veronica and
+
+485
+00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:13,279
+Ian are composed of 1.7 billion year old
+
+486
+00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:15,960
+metamorphic rocks the basement rock of
+
+487
+00:24:13,279 --> 00:24:19,360
+Colorado before the mountains grew
+
+488
+00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:22,080
+layers of sedimentary rock covered the
+
+489
+00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:25,640
+granite and in about 68 million years
+
+490
+00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:27,720
+ago the mountain where Ian is starts to
+
+491
+00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,159
+break and lift up and move up so you see
+
+492
+00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,520
+the uplift forming and what's happening
+
+493
+00:24:29,159 --> 00:24:32,880
+is that layer of sediments being
+
+494
+00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:36,000
+deformed and bent and these are the flat
+
+495
+00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:39,320
+irons at Red Rocks as the mountain comes
+
+496
+00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:41,679
+up overlying sediments are eroded off
+
+497
+00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:44,640
+and deposited into the adjacent Basin
+
+498
+00:24:41,679 --> 00:24:46,760
+and eventually Ian's granitic back is
+
+499
+00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:49,080
+exposed as the core of the Rocky
+
+500
+00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:51,320
+Mountains Veronica remains deeply buried
+
+501
+00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,039
+beneath Denver still covered with deep
+
+502
+00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,880
+sediments and the sediments eroded off
+
+503
+00:24:53,039 --> 00:24:55,880
+the uplifting Rocky
+
+504
+00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:01,919
+Mountains Johnson is investigating
+
+505
+00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:04,039
+exactly when these events took place he
+
+506
+00:25:01,919 --> 00:25:07,840
+focuses on the Colorado Rockies Front
+
+507
+00:25:04,039 --> 00:25:10,200
+Range which runs 350 M between North and
+
+508
+00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,200
+South
+
+509
+00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:14,440
+Colorado dating the Rockies requires
+
+510
+00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,799
+real detective
+
+511
+00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:19,919
+work and like all detective work you get
+
+512
+00:25:17,799 --> 00:25:21,480
+Clues by digging up
+
+513
+00:25:19,919 --> 00:25:23,240
+dirt yes so it's sort of
+
+514
+00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,799
+counterintuitive to understand mountains
+
+515
+00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,399
+you don't look at the mountains in you
+
+516
+00:25:24,799 --> 00:25:29,200
+look at the debris from those mountains
+
+517
+00:25:27,399 --> 00:25:31,320
+so it's just like a detective would go
+
+518
+00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,799
+through a criminal's garbage can the
+
+519
+00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,600
+Basin adjacent to the mountain range is
+
+520
+00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:36,200
+sort of a garbage can of the adjacent
+
+521
+00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,799
+mountains the mountain goes up it sheds
+
+522
+00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,760
+all its garbage off to the side in this
+
+523
+00:25:38,799 --> 00:25:43,799
+case sedimentary rock and fossils
+
+524
+00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:46,320
+volcanic ash beds layers of lava we can
+
+525
+00:25:43,799 --> 00:25:48,920
+look at that garbage and reconstruct the
+
+526
+00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:52,279
+chronology of the uplifting mountain
+
+527
+00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:55,360
+[Music]
+
+528
+00:25:52,279 --> 00:25:57,960
+range today this debris forms layers of
+
+529
+00:25:55,360 --> 00:26:00,440
+sediment 10,000 ft thick beneath the
+
+530
+00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,440
+city of
+
+531
+00:26:00,919 --> 00:26:06,159
+Denver in their mission to date these
+
+532
+00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:08,600
+massive Peaks Johnson and his colleagues
+
+533
+00:26:06,159 --> 00:26:12,240
+search for the tiniest Clues like
+
+534
+00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,240
+fossilized leaves and
+
+535
+00:26:15,180 --> 00:26:19,440
+[Music]
+
+536
+00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:22,000
+pollen for Doug Nichols from the Denver
+
+537
+00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:24,279
+Museum of Nature and Science these
+
+538
+00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,520
+microscopic grains of pollen provide a
+
+539
+00:26:24,279 --> 00:26:28,799
+valuable
+
+540
+00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:32,120
+lead pollen can be used to date The
+
+541
+00:26:28,799 --> 00:26:34,360
+Uplift of mountains because plants that
+
+542
+00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:36,760
+were living at the time the mountains
+
+543
+00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:39,480
+were coming up were shedding their
+
+544
+00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:41,919
+pollen which was becoming incorporated
+
+545
+00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:44,399
+into sediment which was being eroded
+
+546
+00:26:41,919 --> 00:26:46,480
+from those same mountains and I'm
+
+547
+00:26:44,399 --> 00:26:51,120
+looking for the particular species of
+
+548
+00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:53,960
+pollen that can tell me the age of the
+
+549
+00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:56,600
+sample each sample of sediment can
+
+550
+00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:58,360
+contain thousands of fossilized pollen
+
+551
+00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:01,440
+particles
+
+552
+00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:04,679
+nichels examines a single
+
+553
+00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,919
+grain every plant genus has distinctive
+
+554
+00:27:04,679 --> 00:27:08,760
+shaped
+
+555
+00:27:05,919 --> 00:27:11,399
+pollen so by identifying the species of
+
+556
+00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:14,200
+plant and its age nickels can start to
+
+557
+00:27:11,399 --> 00:27:17,640
+date the exact uplift of Colorado's
+
+558
+00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:21,559
+Rockies we pretty well understand that
+
+559
+00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:25,279
+the uplift began 65 to 70 million years
+
+560
+00:27:21,559 --> 00:27:27,880
+ago because we find distinctive kinds of
+
+561
+00:27:25,279 --> 00:27:32,480
+pollen produced by plants that only
+
+562
+00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:32,480
+lived 65 to 70 million years
+
+563
+00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:41,600
+ago sometime during this 5 milliony year
+
+564
+00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:41,600
+period Colorado's Rockies began to
+
+565
+00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:48,960
+rise but geologists can narrow this
+
+566
+00:27:46,159 --> 00:27:52,559
+window even further thanks to one of the
+
+567
+00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,559
+most catastrophic events in
+
+568
+00:27:56,519 --> 00:28:02,159
+history
+
+569
+00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:02,159
+65.5 million years
+
+570
+00:28:04,519 --> 00:28:09,360
+ago and asteroid smashed into the
+
+571
+00:28:14,039 --> 00:28:19,799
+Earth it wiped out the dinosaurs and
+
+572
+00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,960
+left a distinctive line in the sediments
+
+573
+00:28:19,799 --> 00:28:25,600
+by Colorado's Rocky
+
+574
+00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:30,000
+Mountains this pale yellow layer in the
+
+575
+00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,000
+Rock contains the remains of the a huge
+
+576
+00:28:30,510 --> 00:28:35,240
+[Music]
+
+577
+00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:37,320
+asteroid because it's sandwiched between
+
+578
+00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,600
+layers of debris that eroded off the
+
+579
+00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:41,760
+Rockies we know that the Rockies must
+
+580
+00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:46,960
+have been up and eroding at the time of
+
+581
+00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:46,960
+impact 65.5 million years
+
+582
+00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,799
+ago Kirk Johnson specializes in dating
+
+583
+00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,559
+fossilized
+
+584
+00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:58,640
+leaves he uses them to date the Rocky's
+
+585
+00:28:55,559 --> 00:29:01,360
+birth even more precisely
+
+586
+00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:05,519
+geologists know that 69 million years
+
+587
+00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:08,320
+ago Colorado was covered by a shallow
+
+588
+00:29:05,519 --> 00:29:10,720
+sea but Johnson's fossil leaves show
+
+589
+00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:12,840
+that just a million years later there
+
+590
+00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:15,720
+were plants
+
+591
+00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:18,080
+here Johnson combines his findings with
+
+592
+00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,320
+Nichols pollen evidence to come up with
+
+593
+00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:23,120
+a million-year window during which the
+
+594
+00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,240
+Colorado Rockies must have
+
+595
+00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,320
+[Music]
+
+596
+00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,679
+[Applause]
+
+597
+00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:32,500
+emerged compared with the northern
+
+598
+00:29:28,679 --> 00:29:34,559
+Rockies these mountains grew up
+
+599
+00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:38,279
+[Music]
+
+600
+00:29:34,559 --> 00:29:41,039
+fast we know that 69 million years ago
+
+601
+00:29:38,279 --> 00:29:43,559
+Colorado was covered by a shallow sea we
+
+602
+00:29:41,039 --> 00:29:45,120
+know that at 68 million years ago the
+
+603
+00:29:43,559 --> 00:29:47,760
+Rocky Mountains were up so sometimes in
+
+604
+00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:49,799
+that 1 million period 1 million years
+
+605
+00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,760
+the Rocky Mountains came up it may have
+
+606
+00:29:49,799 --> 00:29:53,799
+taken all the 1 million years it may
+
+607
+00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,600
+have happened in 200,000 years we don't
+
+608
+00:29:53,799 --> 00:29:59,320
+know that yet but we're working on that
+
+609
+00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,320
+particular question
+
+610
+00:30:04,559 --> 00:30:09,720
+although Johnson's team can't yet say
+
+611
+00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:12,760
+how quickly the mountains grew they are
+
+612
+00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,760
+certain of one
+
+613
+00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:20,039
+thing 68 million years ago the American
+
+614
+00:30:17,279 --> 00:30:20,039
+Rockies had
+
+615
+00:30:21,799 --> 00:30:29,240
+arrived as we continue South through the
+
+616
+00:30:24,519 --> 00:30:29,240
+Rockies the landscape evolves once again
+
+617
+00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:35,039
+in 35 million years ago at the southern
+
+618
+00:30:33,559 --> 00:30:38,679
+tip of the mountain
+
+619
+00:30:35,039 --> 00:30:42,880
+chain volcanoes appeared among the Peaks
+
+620
+00:30:38,679 --> 00:30:42,880
+triggered by changes deep beneath
+
+621
+00:30:43,919 --> 00:30:49,279
+America a new explosive era had
+
+622
+00:30:52,919 --> 00:30:58,600
+begun as we travel South 2,000 miles
+
+623
+00:30:56,399 --> 00:31:01,880
+through the Rockies and forward through
+
+624
+00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:04,799
+their 200 milliony year history we reach
+
+625
+00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:07,240
+Albuquerque New
+
+626
+00:31:04,799 --> 00:31:09,039
+Mexico here a dramatic change deep
+
+627
+00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:13,200
+beneath America triggered the most
+
+628
+00:31:09,039 --> 00:31:13,200
+explosive phase in the evolution of the
+
+629
+00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:25,480
+Rockies 70 million years ago the
+
+630
+00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:27,840
+subducting Pacific Ocean plate punched
+
+631
+00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:31,200
+up huge blocks of basement Granite
+
+632
+00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:31,200
+forming the Rockies of New
+
+633
+00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:41,279
+Mexico 35 million years later the
+
+634
+00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:44,600
+Pacific Ocean plate began to peel away
+
+635
+00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:48,080
+from the underside of the North American
+
+636
+00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:50,080
+continent as the ocean plate sunk deeper
+
+637
+00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,639
+warm mantle came into contact with the
+
+638
+00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:55,039
+underside of the North American
+
+639
+00:31:52,639 --> 00:31:59,159
+Plate right underneath parts of the
+
+640
+00:31:55,039 --> 00:31:59,159
+Southern Rocky Mountains
+
+641
+00:32:06,399 --> 00:32:11,080
+just as the burner on a hot air balloon
+
+642
+00:32:08,399 --> 00:32:12,639
+makes the air less dense causing the
+
+643
+00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:15,240
+balloon to float upward through the
+
+644
+00:32:12,639 --> 00:32:18,639
+cooler air around
+
+645
+00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:20,480
+it so warm buoyant mantle rose up
+
+646
+00:32:18,639 --> 00:32:22,600
+through the cooler denser mantle beneath
+
+647
+00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,600
+the
+
+648
+00:32:25,279 --> 00:32:31,159
+mountains Carl Carl thinks that this
+
+649
+00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:32,559
+caused the Rockies to grow even taller
+
+650
+00:32:31,159 --> 00:32:34,919
+well let's think about uplift of
+
+651
+00:32:32,559 --> 00:32:37,399
+mountains in the context of this analogy
+
+652
+00:32:34,919 --> 00:32:39,799
+of a hot air balloon we're floating High
+
+653
+00:32:37,399 --> 00:32:42,279
+because we're more buoyant than the air
+
+654
+00:32:39,799 --> 00:32:44,559
+around us and if we want to go up
+
+655
+00:32:42,279 --> 00:32:47,720
+actually get still higher uh we'll just
+
+656
+00:32:44,559 --> 00:32:50,080
+turn on the burner and uh fire it up and
+
+657
+00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,720
+then the air becomes lighter within the
+
+658
+00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:54,600
+balloon causing a dynamic or an active
+
+659
+00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:57,519
+uplift and we can think of that in the
+
+660
+00:32:54,600 --> 00:33:00,559
+context of mountains as if an upwelling
+
+661
+00:32:57,519 --> 00:33:03,039
+of warm and buoyant mantle is actually
+
+662
+00:33:00,559 --> 00:33:05,039
+pushing up the
+
+663
+00:33:03,039 --> 00:33:07,039
+mountains but it's not just the
+
+664
+00:33:05,039 --> 00:33:09,760
+mountains that were
+
+665
+00:33:07,039 --> 00:33:13,000
+affected the upwelling mantle also
+
+666
+00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,000
+stretched the crust
+
+667
+00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:18,320
+Above This sandbox simulation
+
+668
+00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:21,360
+demonstrates the stretching
+
+669
+00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:23,760
+process as the continent pulled apart
+
+670
+00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:26,240
+the crust thinned and fractured an
+
+671
+00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:29,600
+immense crevice called the Rio Grand
+
+672
+00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:32,440
+Rift opened up in the heart of the
+
+673
+00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:35,720
+Rockies in parts of the Southern Rockies
+
+674
+00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:40,799
+the crust is over 30 m thick but in
+
+675
+00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:43,320
+places beneath the rift it's just 17 Mi
+
+676
+00:33:40,799 --> 00:33:44,600
+thick this thin crust triggered
+
+677
+00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,840
+something
+
+678
+00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:49,279
+[Music]
+
+679
+00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:53,840
+dramatic under immense pressure from
+
+680
+00:33:49,279 --> 00:33:53,840
+rising heat in the mantle it gave
+
+681
+00:33:54,960 --> 00:34:01,120
+Way Red Hot magnet blasted out onto the
+
+682
+00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,120
+New Mexico
+
+683
+00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:08,960
+landscape and volcanos punctured the Rio
+
+684
+00:34:06,519 --> 00:34:08,960
+Grand
+
+685
+00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:16,918
+Rift scientists believe that hot magma
+
+686
+00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:19,560
+has surged up from the mantle many times
+
+687
+00:34:16,918 --> 00:34:22,159
+over the past 35 million
+
+688
+00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:25,760
+years these surges led to renewed
+
+689
+00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:25,760
+volcanism in the Rio Grand
+
+690
+00:34:25,879 --> 00:34:32,000
+Rift
+
+691
+00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:32,000
+but this is not ancient
+
+692
+00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:40,399
+history the last eruption just 1500
+
+693
+00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:45,280
+years ago flooded New Mexico with a
+
+694
+00:34:40,399 --> 00:34:45,280
+river of molten lava 44 miles
+
+695
+00:34:45,918 --> 00:34:50,639
+long could such recent eruptions mean
+
+696
+00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:53,280
+that hot magma is ballooning beneath
+
+697
+00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:56,199
+Earth surface
+
+698
+00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:59,200
+today could the Rockies of New Mexico
+
+699
+00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:59,200
+still be on On The
+
+700
+00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:04,920
+Rise Laura crossy a geologist at the
+
+701
+00:35:02,359 --> 00:35:06,599
+University of New Mexico is on a mission
+
+702
+00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:10,000
+to find
+
+703
+00:35:06,599 --> 00:35:11,880
+out working with Carl carlstrom crossy
+
+704
+00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,960
+is focusing on a fault where the Rio
+
+705
+00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:16,680
+Grand Rift meets the
+
+706
+00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:18,800
+Rockies here hot springs bubble up to
+
+707
+00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:21,480
+the surface from deep
+
+708
+00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:23,800
+below gases in the water can provide a
+
+709
+00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:27,200
+clue to the activity in the
+
+710
+00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,680
+mantle this point along this fault is a
+
+711
+00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,440
+place where these fluids are finding
+
+712
+00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:33,200
+their way to the surface because of the
+
+713
+00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,640
+extension the tectonic activity we're
+
+714
+00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:37,400
+able to come here and have a window into
+
+715
+00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:40,880
+that deep deep
+
+716
+00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:44,040
+world all the way to the
+
+717
+00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:46,200
+mantle beneath earth's surface gases are
+
+718
+00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:49,040
+under immense pressure and dissolve in
+
+719
+00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,520
+water when they reach the surface they
+
+720
+00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:53,079
+escape as
+
+721
+00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:56,160
+bubbles analyzing samples of the gas
+
+722
+00:35:53,079 --> 00:35:58,160
+bubbles crossy discovers carbon dioxide
+
+723
+00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:01,760
+and traces of helium
+
+724
+00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:04,119
+3 carbon dioxide and helium 3 are both
+
+725
+00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:06,560
+byproducts of activity in the
+
+726
+00:36:04,119 --> 00:36:08,720
+mantle their presence indicates that
+
+727
+00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,960
+deep beneath the surface Rock in the
+
+728
+00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:14,440
+mantle is melting and on the
+
+729
+00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:16,839
+move like a rising hot air balloon hot
+
+730
+00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:19,800
+buoyant magma is slowly surging up
+
+731
+00:36:16,839 --> 00:36:22,160
+beneath both the rift and the
+
+732
+00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:24,880
+Rockies this is evidence that here in
+
+733
+00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,720
+New Mexico the Rocky Mountains are far
+
+734
+00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,800
+from
+
+735
+00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:30,200
+dead
+
+736
+00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:33,240
+they could still be growing thrust
+
+737
+00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:33,240
+Higher by Rising
+
+738
+00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:38,319
+mantle carlstrom believes that in the
+
+739
+00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:42,000
+future there will be a wider Rift and
+
+740
+00:36:38,319 --> 00:36:42,000
+taller more spectacular
+
+741
+00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:47,000
+Rockies I think portions of the Rocky
+
+742
+00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,480
+Mountains are going up dynamically and
+
+743
+00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:51,440
+that they were getting higher and the
+
+744
+00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:53,200
+Rockies are getting higher and in
+
+745
+00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:56,680
+certainly in the million-year time frame
+
+746
+00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:59,880
+we will have a more interesting High
+
+747
+00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:02,960
+higher and more rugged mountains I would
+
+748
+00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:04,839
+predict having investigated their past
+
+749
+00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,359
+geologists are now looking to their
+
+750
+00:37:04,839 --> 00:37:10,560
+future and it's
+
+751
+00:37:07,359 --> 00:37:14,480
+Bleak the Rockies are doomed and North
+
+752
+00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:14,480
+America's Destiny hangs in the
+
+753
+00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:22,240
+balance on this journey through the
+
+754
+00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:24,800
+Rocky Mountains 200 milliony year
+
+755
+00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:27,960
+history we've witnessed their dramatic
+
+756
+00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:31,040
+birth and examined their Complex
+
+757
+00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:34,079
+Evolution now we turn to their uncertain
+
+758
+00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:35,560
+future a future that goes hand inand
+
+759
+00:37:34,079 --> 00:37:37,480
+with the fade of the whole North
+
+760
+00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:40,000
+American
+
+761
+00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:42,640
+continent this is the Columbia ice field
+
+762
+00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:46,040
+in Alberta Canada where geologists are
+
+763
+00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:48,880
+already seeing how the mountains are
+
+764
+00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:51,880
+changing within a 100 years it could
+
+765
+00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,880
+look something like
+
+766
+00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:58,720
+this human activity is altering the the
+
+767
+00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:01,440
+course of geological
+
+768
+00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:04,240
+history increasing global temperatures
+
+769
+00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:06,760
+are taking their toll on the mountains
+
+770
+00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:08,839
+glaciers they're
+
+771
+00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:11,240
+melting Brian Luckman from the
+
+772
+00:38:08,839 --> 00:38:14,040
+University of Western Ontario wants to
+
+773
+00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:14,040
+know how
+
+774
+00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:21,640
+fast during the winter glaciers
+
+775
+00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:25,520
+grow an advancing Glacier pushes a pile
+
+776
+00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:27,359
+of eroded Rubble ahead of itself called
+
+777
+00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:29,880
+aine
+
+778
+00:38:27,359 --> 00:38:32,000
+when the glacier shrinks back in summer
+
+779
+00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:35,359
+it leaves behind this pile of debris in
+
+780
+00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:37,640
+its wake it's a Telltale sign that the
+
+781
+00:38:35,359 --> 00:38:40,640
+glacier is melting
+
+782
+00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:42,119
+away because the glacier over time is
+
+783
+00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:45,000
+retreating
+
+784
+00:38:42,119 --> 00:38:48,000
+continuously then what you have left are
+
+785
+00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:50,160
+a series of these annual Marine ridges
+
+786
+00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:53,119
+which Mark the furthest point of Advance
+
+787
+00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:53,119
+during the previous
+
+788
+00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:59,960
+winter Luckman walks between the marins
+
+789
+00:38:57,359 --> 00:39:00,880
+using GPS to map the distance between
+
+790
+00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:03,359
+each
+
+791
+00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:07,359
+one the greater the distance between
+
+792
+00:39:03,359 --> 00:39:07,359
+them the faster the glacier is
+
+793
+00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:13,400
+melting Glaciers are one of the most
+
+794
+00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:15,960
+effective ways to demonstrate the people
+
+795
+00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:19,640
+that the climate is changing you've only
+
+796
+00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:21,680
+got to come here twice or look at some
+
+797
+00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:24,720
+of the older photographs to realize
+
+798
+00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:27,280
+something radically is
+
+799
+00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:30,400
+changing these two photo graphs of the 3
+
+800
+00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:32,359
+and 1/2 Mile Long Athabasca Glacier show
+
+801
+00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,800
+how far it has retreated over the past
+
+802
+00:39:32,359 --> 00:39:36,160
+30
+
+803
+00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,400
+years and these photos of the grenell
+
+804
+00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:41,920
+glacier in Montana show that America's
+
+805
+00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,920
+Glaciers are disappearing as
+
+806
+00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:47,960
+[Music]
+
+807
+00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:50,200
+well one day the glaciers that have
+
+808
+00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:54,160
+shaped these steep-sided Peaks and
+
+809
+00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:54,160
+ushaped valleys will
+
+810
+00:39:55,079 --> 00:39:59,839
+disappear but water erosion will
+
+811
+00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:02,400
+continue to sculpt these mountains
+
+812
+00:39:59,839 --> 00:40:04,839
+beating them down and softening their
+
+813
+00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,839
+Jagged
+
+814
+00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:09,560
+edges the the future of the Rockies is
+
+815
+00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:12,760
+that they're eroding at the rate of
+
+816
+00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:15,040
+about 600s of a millimeter per year this
+
+817
+00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:16,960
+is based on taking a sample of river
+
+818
+00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,720
+water measuring the sediment in it and
+
+819
+00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:21,520
+seeing how fast the Rockies are being
+
+820
+00:40:18,720 --> 00:40:21,520
+carried off to the
+
+821
+00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:27,440
+Sea the Relentless force of erosion has
+
+822
+00:40:25,119 --> 00:40:30,839
+sealed the fade of The Rock mountains
+
+823
+00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,839
+since they first began to
+
+824
+00:40:31,599 --> 00:40:37,760
+rise one day they will erode away to
+
+825
+00:40:37,790 --> 00:40:41,010
+[Music]
+
+826
+00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:46,319
+nothing the Rockies that we see today
+
+827
+00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:48,400
+the beautiful mountains why tourists
+
+828
+00:40:46,319 --> 00:40:51,319
+come here why it's just uh one of the
+
+829
+00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:53,440
+most dramatic places on the earth uh
+
+830
+00:40:51,319 --> 00:40:55,560
+they're eroding away and so if we look
+
+831
+00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:58,119
+at all the rivers draining off of them
+
+832
+00:40:55,560 --> 00:41:02,160
+they're full of silt and sand and that
+
+833
+00:40:58,119 --> 00:41:04,640
+is our Rockies slowly bleeding to
+
+834
+00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:07,200
+death the Rockies will eventually
+
+835
+00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,200
+dissolve
+
+836
+00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:13,839
+away but far in the distant future there
+
+837
+00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:15,839
+could be a final devastating twist to
+
+838
+00:41:13,839 --> 00:41:20,280
+their
+
+839
+00:41:15,839 --> 00:41:20,280
+story a continent ripped in
+
+840
+00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:31,760
+two the future of the Rocky Mountains is
+
+841
+00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:36,119
+inevitable thanks to the Relentless
+
+842
+00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:36,119
+force of erosion they will one day
+
+843
+00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:42,920
+disappear but they will leave a
+
+844
+00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:46,119
+legacy the Rio Grand
+
+845
+00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:48,760
+Rift a great tear in the Earth's
+
+846
+00:41:46,119 --> 00:41:51,599
+crust that could one day split North
+
+847
+00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:51,599
+America in
+
+848
+00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:56,520
+two geologist Mizumi Roy and her
+
+849
+00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,920
+colleague Nicholas George both both from
+
+850
+00:41:56,520 --> 00:42:02,079
+the University of New Mexico are taking
+
+851
+00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:05,280
+part in an ambitious 5-year
+
+852
+00:42:02,079 --> 00:42:08,319
+project its aim to monitor the widening
+
+853
+00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,319
+of the Rio Grand
+
+854
+00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:14,040
+Rift the team is setting up GPS stations
+
+855
+00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:18,640
+along the length of the rift like this
+
+856
+00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:18,640
+one in remote New Mexico 3 hours from
+
+857
+00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:26,480
+Albuquerque the GPS receivers are buried
+
+858
+00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:29,280
+in the Bedrock to a depth of around 5 ft
+
+859
+00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:31,960
+when the Earth moves the receivers move
+
+860
+00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:34,880
+too Roy
+
+861
+00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,880
+explains if you have two GPS stations
+
+862
+00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:39,200
+then you have information about relative
+
+863
+00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:41,440
+motion along a line that connects the
+
+864
+00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:41,440
+two
+
+865
+00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:46,599
+stations a network of GPS stations
+
+866
+00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:49,960
+allows the team to build up a much more
+
+867
+00:42:46,599 --> 00:42:49,960
+detailed map of the rift's
+
+868
+00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:55,839
+Motions by looking at the difference
+
+869
+00:42:53,599 --> 00:42:58,440
+between the coordinates between the GPS
+
+870
+00:42:55,839 --> 00:43:00,680
+station through time we get a good idea
+
+871
+00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:02,599
+of the relative motion between each of
+
+872
+00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:05,880
+these
+
+873
+00:43:02,599 --> 00:43:08,839
+stations the team has set up 24 GPS
+
+874
+00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:12,000
+stations along the Rio Grand
+
+875
+00:43:08,839 --> 00:43:13,559
+Rift it's early days but the team
+
+876
+00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:18,520
+expects to find that the rift is
+
+877
+00:43:13,559 --> 00:43:22,280
+widening between .5 and 2 mm every
+
+878
+00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:25,079
+year it's a very slow
+
+879
+00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:28,079
+process but little by little the
+
+880
+00:43:25,079 --> 00:43:28,079
+continent is being
+
+881
+00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:34,480
+unzipped the r Grand Rift is a rift
+
+882
+00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:37,319
+system that's causing a continent to
+
+883
+00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:39,359
+split and if this process continues uh
+
+884
+00:43:37,319 --> 00:43:41,400
+for tens of millions of years you could
+
+885
+00:43:39,359 --> 00:43:43,200
+eventually Rift the North American
+
+886
+00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,559
+continent
+
+887
+00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:47,400
+apart there's a lot of indications that
+
+888
+00:43:45,559 --> 00:43:49,040
+there's some action happening maybe some
+
+889
+00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:51,440
+more as in the future for the Rocky
+
+890
+00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:53,160
+Mountains and uh another few million
+
+891
+00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:55,319
+years and there will be greater Tales to
+
+892
+00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:57,160
+tell of active tectonism further to the
+
+893
+00:43:55,319 --> 00:43:59,760
+north where this real grand Rift is
+
+894
+00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:02,040
+trying to work its way and crack the
+
+895
+00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,400
+continent I think it'll be unsuccessful
+
+896
+00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:05,559
+in that attempt but it's giving it a
+
+897
+00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:05,559
+good
+
+898
+00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:10,160
+show the story of the Rocky Mountains
+
+899
+00:44:08,599 --> 00:44:12,440
+began with the birth of the North
+
+900
+00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:16,920
+American
+
+901
+00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,920
+continent and it could end with its
+
+902
+00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:24,240
+death one day the real grand Rift May
+
+903
+00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:28,000
+split a continent North America might
+
+904
+00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:28,000
+become east and west
+
+905
+00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:34,280
+America but all this is hundreds of
+
+906
+00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:37,200
+millions of years into the uncertain
+
+907
+00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:41,119
+[Music]
+
+908
+00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:43,330
+future today the iconic Rockies are in
+
+909
+00:44:41,119 --> 00:44:46,520
+their
+
+910
+00:44:43,330 --> 00:44:49,079
+[Music]
+
+911
+00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:53,160
+Prime the mountains that divide a
+
+912
+00:44:49,079 --> 00:44:53,160
+continent unite us all in
+
+913
+00:44:53,559 --> 00:44:58,119
+admiration dramatic and resilient they
+
+914
+00:44:56,319 --> 00:45:02,599
+will remain the backbone of North
+
+915
+00:44:58,119 --> 00:45:02,599
+America for millions of years to
+
+916
+00:45:04,580 --> 00:45:21,789
+[Music]
+
+917
+00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:31,580
+come
+
+918
+00:45:27,370 --> 00:45:31,580
+[Music]
+