The Rocky Mountains Are in the Wrong Place

Mountain ranges usually don't form in the middle of continents. Except for the Rocky Mountains. We'll go into the baffling Laramide Orogeny and a few possible reasons why the Rockies might be in the wrong place.

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[georgeh]

If an orogeny is a mountain building event, then are the areas where mountains start to exist called orogenous zones?

[robertperschau]

Can't recommend enough the lecture on Rocky Mountain formation by Nick Zentner (can be found on Youtube). He goes in depth into the new data from seismic tomography about the weird stuff going on under the North American continent. The Rocky Mountains may actually be the result of a continent-continent collision between North America and an immobile island arc in the prehistoric Pacific, making their formation more similar to the Himalayas!

[californiumblog]

Considering we've only been at this tectonic science for less than 60 years I think we're doing a pretty darn good job.

[stripeybeast]

Studied geology at University of Colorado, so naturally the rockies were a pretty major topic and we did many labs out in the mountains. The prevailing theory for the laramide orogeny (and its location) taught at the time was the bouyant oceanic crust theory that you described towards the end. It was also why we the high planes have such a high elevation. The issue with volcanoes to the west wasn’t a concern since a wet oceanic crust creeping under the continental crust and resulting steam/magma could exploit weaknesses in the crust and create hot spots which would produce volcanoes regardless of any mountain building event. This was 15 years ago though, so take that with a grain of salt as i’m relying on memory, and certainly new data has emerged since.

[LambentLark]

My dad had a remote lodge in Alaska. To get there we flew through a pass in the Alaska range. There is a mountain that one side is a sheer face. You can see all the ribbon of layers of rock pushed, folded, and rippled, along its sheer face. It has always fascinated me. It looks like clay that hasn'tbeen kneeded for long. When you cut a side off. The swirls. Same thing but, on a masive scale. Those mountains make you feel minuscule. And in comparison I was.
I saw this area 100s of times. It was always engaging. Even now decades later I still think about it.

[shanerooney]

The American tectonic plates got confused because the instructions used the metric system.

[brentgroen]

This is why i love sci show
Its just pure information about subjects that usually never get on radar.
It keeps your mind thinking

[Praisethesunson]

Someone should tell the Rockies they are being mountains wrong.

I just like them cause they give the U.S some extra geographic flavor.

[mccloysong]

at 4:23 I thought Yellowstone Park was an inactive but massive potential super volcano with an enormous caldera boiling underneath

[BobwMorford]

I like how he says the Rocky mountains are smack in the middle of the continent but shows a map that clearly shows it's in the western side of the continent

[SMTRodent]

"...which we call that because of a notable lack of volcanoes and volcano-shaped objects" has me rolling. (Also, this is a very engaging and informative video!)

[NX]

Nick Zentner with Central Washington University has several high-level overviews intended for laymen that goes over a lot of what the current thinking is with the Rockies and the possibly-related Baja BC theories. Highly recommend watching his videos here on YouTube. I'm nowhere near being a geologist, but I could easily follow along.

[stephenorourke]

I just love how quick and concise these possibilities and explanations are presented. We are not slowly dragged through points that are easily comprehended at a rapid manner.

[johnmcnulty]

I love the mystery surrounding my favorite mountain range. Living in a cabin in the Sangre de Cristo range for a summer was one of the best times in my life!

[alexbourdeau]

Would second the comment on Nick Zentner's YT lecture regarding the Rockies. Seems by far the most likely explanation and more in line with what we see in every other thrust fault mountain range.

[osmia]

I live west of the Rockies in BC Canada. Never knew there was any mystery about how they formed until now. Learning something new everyday. Thanks @SciShow :)

[masamune]

Considering the beautiful Rocky Mountains are right outside my window, I believe they are actually EXACTLY in the right place. 🙂

[andrewcovington]

The rocky mountains being in the wrong place is also a major factor in giving the great plains so many dang tornadoes.

[christianlassen]

I was under the impression that the continent west of the rockies is mostly new stuff that just got piled onto the edge of the continent as the farillon plate slipped under north america. Anything sitting on top of tje playe just got smunched and stacked and piled up against each other, hence all the parallels ranges in Nevada. Then a different process takes over and you get all the crazy fault lines of CA. I remember seeing that Mt Diablo CA used to be a pacific island that just got smushed against the then-current coastline. Also remember hearing that Vancouver Island has a lot more in common with New Zealand geology than with North American geology.

[oracleofdelphi]

You know, if I had some geography test and I answered "The Rocky Mountains are in the wrong place", the professor would also probably check to see if I spelled my own name correctly.