Geology of the Sierra Nevada (California, USA)

In this episode of Solomon's Outdoor Adventures, Solomon explains how the Sierra Nevada Mountains were formed, including their bedrock geology, uplift history, and glaciation during the last ice age. This episode covers it all, and you won't want to miss it!

New episodes of Solomon's Outdoor Adventures will be posted every week (Either Sundays or Mid-Week, depending on my schoolwork), so please subscribe and hit that notification bell to never miss an episode!

All footage, photography, audio, and visual animations/diagrams are MY OWN unless otherwise cited, and taking any elements of them without my permission is a breach of copyright law. This channel is a one-man team, and I work hard to do my own research, write my own script, record my own voiceovers, film my own footage, and design my own animations and visuals to get these videos out to everyone. I NEVER use AI in my videos and I DO NOT use stock footage, as I pride myself in my videography. Sources I consulted to research this video will be written out at the end of the video.

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#geology #science #california

[briane]

Any channel that pops up with stories about the geologic history of the Sierra Nevada, I'm ON it. This is my favorite area of California -- the eastern Sierra -- and none more interesting geologically than Owens Valley, Sierra Escarpment, and the Long Valley Caldera. When you realize how it all came to be, and you're there in person to see these fantastic formations and provinces and their size relative to us puny humans, you're instantly humbled.

The graben that is Owens Valley is the best evidence of the magnitude of the magma beneath the extended crust and just how close it is to the surface. From Mono Lake on down to the Coso Volcanic Field, there's abundant evidence of how active it all still is, and how the two normal faults along the White/Inyo and Sierra Nevada ranges have served as a conduit for much of the mafic intrusive volcanic activity that has occurred over the past couple million years. More cinder cones than you can count, and some fantastic lava flows around them.

But the greatest story among them is the birth of the Long Valley Caldera. A genuine supervolcano, and it remains active, especially around the Resurgent Dome and Mammoth Mountain itself, as well as the Inyo/Mono Craters -- a straight line of maars, rhyolite domes, tuff rings, and obsidian domes between Mammoth Mtn and Mono Lake. Plenty of earthquake activity in and around the caldera, which attests to what remains of the magma chamber responsible for Long Valley's eruption. Mammoth Mtn itself is a composite dome complex that is still letting off plenty of fumaroles and CO2 -- tons of it a day. If you're a geology nerd, Long Valley is Disneyland.

[slickwillie]

Your investment in the drone was money well spent. Your videos are improving in quality, content, educational value and entertainment. I'm stuck in Vegas tending to parents and occasionally explore the sites you've covered. Better now than in July.

[prototropo]

I really appreciate the factual, no-jabber delivery of good, solid information.

[Mr.Benson]

Glad you shot most all your own footage. The Sierra Nevada Mt range is one of the most beautiful in the world. It has it all, sking/snow board, climbing, hiking, camping, boating and fishing.

[luvinthejazz]

Thank you for this outstanding presentation. As a geologist, I thoroughly enjoyed it for several reasons: you speak plainly and keep it at a high level while providing important technical details where they are needed, you cover a very broad history concisely, and you focus on the subject rather than yourself and don't get all dramatic. The stunning photography speaks for itself. I subscribed immediately and I'm excited to see more of your presentations.

[johnferreboeuf]

Your channel is brand new to me. I’ve lived in the Sierra Nevada my whole life and no one has explained this to me. I’m very grateful for a greater understanding of the place I love and call home

[NevadaSmith]

This video is incredibly informative. I’ve called these mountains home for my entire life, and I felt like i should be taking notes during this vid!

[joeelliott]

The best simple explanation of the formation of the Sierra Nevada I have ever seen on YouTube. I realized the crest was further east than it is now 9 million years ago, hence the latite lava flow that formed the Dardanelles Cone and Table Mountain near Highway 108. A flow that is about 60 miles long running east to west. I did not realize the 'crest' was well out in Nevada, giving a much larger watershed to the large east to west rivers of today.

[XJapanGonnaGiveItToYa-cdxj]

Nice shot of the new Whitney Portal Road! We were one of the first to go through it when it opened back up. Nice work by the road crew

[GroovyNick]

An amazing video with tons of info in it. As someone who has been to Yosemite, Mammoth, Lake Tahoe and everything in between, I love hearing the history of the mountains. I’ve always wanted to wanted go back in time to “observe” how everything looked back then.

[arianaweinert]

As a California geology nerd, I love this video! The footage was gorgeous. I would love future videos on Franciscan melange or the trinity alps.

[ericchild]

Best Geo-history of the Sierra Nevada Range I have seen that fits within 15 minutes. Well done.

[eegarim]

New subscriber. Excellent presentation. Nice to have the wonderful visuals to go with my favorite book about California Geology, Assembling California, by John McPhee.❤

[windyrotorblast]

Ok, this is worth watching twice. Well done.

[mercerconsulting]

I'll need to watch this more than once in order to understand all that's going on. This is very interesting and useful. Thanks for sharing.

[DanGraydon]

Very well presented. I appreciate that you show the mountains, explaining their history
rather than what too many others do, wasting video footage
on themselves talking to their sticky phone
I look forward to your other works. Thank You...

[Duhble]

Excellent. B&R so well explained. High rates of Sierra Nevada uplift in the last 3 million years is a cool learning, as well as that the B&R bounds are between the Sierra Nevada to the Wasatch mtns. ✅
So much explained in one video, thanks.

[skyepilotte]

Thank you for the geologic tour of the sierras. Always interesting to understand how these mountains were formed.

[johnking]

Millions of anything is possible with that comprehension. Wonderful 🌍✌️🌎

[StgVirus]

Such a great video. Good job 👍Keep up the good work