Where Did a Billion Years Of Earth's History Go? - The Greatest Mystery In Geology

Did you know that about a quarter of the Earth's geologic history is just... missing?
It's not that we can't find evidence.
It's that the evidence just doesn't exist. Physically.
This is not a joke, or an exaggeration, or a conspiracy.
It's a scientific fact that has an equally mysterious name: The Great Unconformity.
Today you will learn:
Where and why did a 14-kilometer layer of soil disappear without a trace across the planet?
What is the connection between the Grand Canyon and the mountain ranges in Australia?
How did the deadliest winter in the history of the planet become the cradle of vibrant life?
Who turned off Earth's magnetic field 500 million years ago?
We're off to explore the mysteries of the grandest events in planetary history.
The mystery of the Great Unconformity.
#reyouniverse #ryv_earth

[ryv]

Earth's grand cosmic prank: Let's delete a chunk of history and watch scientists squirm!

[moonshinefuel]

I think they could have avoided all of the past climate change cataclysms if they taxed the cavemen appropriately.

[susanssspartymix]

Why are we assuming that the sedimentation was rock which then got deleted? If Antarctica suddenly melted, then that ice record will be gone. This is not telling us that sections of history have been deleted, its telling us how long it was covered in ice and snow. The assumption that sedimentation is only in the form of rock which will last till we observe it is the problem. In cold times, the sedimentation still happens, but it only lasts while its cold enough to stay frozen, because it is made from snow and ice and not rocks/dust.

[juslewissr]

The missing sediment is literally telling us how long these areas were covered in ice. There's no mystery at all and it's actually quite simple, even; Once that frozen layer consisting of mostly ice melts, it leaves a large gap in the sedimentary record, hence the "missing" section.

Everything about this planet is cyclical and it'll freeze over again one day the same way it has many times in the past. And, when that happens, it'll likely last for millions of years and, once again, there'll be another section missing from the sedimentary layers telling how long it stayed that way.

[doctormarazanvose]

This guys pronunciation is off the charts.

I have been introduced to new places like Ootah and new words like chasm.

[gregmanahan]

Earth is so odd. We are all so lucky to be here

[damonsisk]

'If the evidence does not fit the theory, there must be some missing evidence... ' How about a fundamental problem with the theory!

[JariDawnchild]

The earth's inner core rotation changes roughly anywhere between 6 - 70 years (I've heard both numbers so I'm going with anywhere between). Its spin axis wobbles about every 6 - 14 years. The magnetic poles flip on average about every 300, 000 years, with smaller wanderings between. The sun also has it's own cycles, so I'm assuming every other part of...everything that exists does, too.

Ice ages come and go, too, so it may be that the snowball Earth effect is another cycle that's bigger than the average ice age.

As for the technicalities of any of that, I've got no idea.

It makes me think of the pre-Abrahamic myths about the world being made, flourishing, everything being wiped clean with just enough life surviving to continue on once the world is remade; the cycle has repeated, and will repeat again. I'm probably talking out of my ass, but it sounds like we as a species have forgotten a lot of really interesting shit lol.

[richardhopp]

Doesn’t an ice age make sense? Glacier ice would prevent sediment from accumulating, there for preventing rock layers from being made except at divergent plates and volcanoes. There would be almost no animal or plant life, it would also explain why it looks like the surface was scraped clean before the layering began again, after the ice retreated. I’m still listening and they brought up snowball earth, this makes the most sense in my opinion, I went to school to be a geologist but decided to stay with what I was doing already at the time.

[moribund]

That’s the era when cthulhu and his pals ruled the earth, before he went to sleep in R'lyeh at the ground of the pacific ocean, waiting for his return... ^^

[tarnocdoino]

I have snorkeled in Lake Erie, at a place called 18 Mile creek. Here you can see trilobites in the rock at a depth of a few feet, or less than a meter. Directly above it is a Cliff at 130 Feet.
This shows that there was at one time so much more earth above this one place at one time. Variables in the most recent ice age, depth in lake level, and constant water erosion have made these places, just a few feet apart, almost different realms.
How will this locations change in the next 5, 000 years? That’s about when Niagara Falls will eat its way to the mouth of Lake Erie and drain most of the depth of the Great Lakes, making Erie a river.

[lunavarion]

For some reason, I'm reminded of how Final Fantasy 14 rebooted the entire game, including the world itself. Maybe the same thing happened with the simulation of Earth. The world didn't work as expected, so the whole thing was paused until the next version could be booted up.

[Erica_Brenda]

The great nonconformity is located on the east side of Las Vegas NV too. Although it is there for a different reason than expected, It is on the south side of Lake Mead drive just before one leaves Las Vegas. There is a sign at the side of the road telling of it and about it.

[xAV]

Flooding -> sedimentation -> Rock formation, followed by drought -> no sedimentation -> no rock formation, followed by flooding again !🤔🤔🤔🤔

[VeganWithAraygun]

Wow🎉a YouTube video where I actually learned something! How rare.
Thanks again for this marvelous presentation.

[stratometal]

I have a lagoon in my memories of about 9 years. I tell you its horrible to only have vague impressions and snippets of a portion of your life, that you know you lived through but something prevented you from accumulating those memories. You get over it eventually, but you still wonder about all that you don't remember.

[stevo]

I remember Brian Cox saying that there was a period when Jupiter was moving closer to the Sun but then got held back or pulled further out by Saturn. Jupiter cleaned up the asteroids around Mars. Perhaps it had a significant effect upon the Earth as well such as lower gravity. Don't know. Just guessing.

[rezadaneshi]

I’m not the one to point fingers … but



there were no pencils or paper to take notes with

[johnkochen]

Now all we have to do is wait for the History Channel to air a show saying the missing rock was mined by aliens.

[HeDances]

every time the screen went black i was like did my pc crash lmao