I love the way Darrell expresses himself, so direct and precise, but softened with the language of a teacher.

I was having a coughing attack due to my lung cancer and took some medication to calm it down. And low and behold this video had just been posted. So I actually relaxed and enjoyed the video as I always enjoy your work. These vide have inspired me to look at my local geology. We are having road works and it has exposed some great lava flows that are 5 million years old. Keep up the good work.

This is an amazing vlog Nick!! Darrel is a treasure! So full of knowledge that he can convey to a layman like me! What a gift!!

That was an amazing experience to have a personal guided tour by Darrel Cowan! I really loved how Professor Cowan took the time to explain the San Juan Island geology to fellow visitors to the island! Thanks for sharing the experience and knowledge with us Nick and Prof. Cowan!

What a delightful compensation for a missed midweek holiday! Stuck at home with a bad cold, but now I'm no longer complaining. 🙂

Thank you professor 👍🏼

I walk by those pillow lava/limestone deposits at Lime Kiln every day. Great to take that walk with someone who knows...and can clearly explain.... what I'm seeing and walking on. Might want to tour through the old quarries that are perched above the shoreline sometime as well. Thank you.

Thank you Professor Zentner

Darrel is a gem. Have the privilege of working with him to have students studying at Death Valley! Great Video.

The Darrel Cowan-Nick Zentner team is awesome. Great geology!!🎃

My Washington-state tourism dream has become just sitting at a table, taking in the scenary, then Prof Nick walks by talking incredible rocks. See you soon Washington, from Australia. (We might avoid the cold weather though if you don't mind). :)

I look several times a day hoping for a video, thank you!

As John Junge said below, it's great how your guests with "deep" knowledge are beginning to pick up on some of your "broad", making-connections terminology, pizza boxes and all! As informative and engaging as your lectures and videos from five or ten years ago are, the amount of excitement, enthusiasm, new learning, and communicative expertise incorporating wonderful guests that you have launched into in the last three years is enormously exhilarating! And it's a two-way street: you are exposing your guests to a broader popular audience and your guests are picking up on your techniques of engaging those broader audiences. So fun to watch and be a small part of!

Just started watching, but had to say congrats on that nice, slow rotation to get it started. "Ya gotta love it!"

So excited to see this video of another location near and dear to my heart. Love finally knowing more about the geology of at least a portion this magical island. Thank you Nick and Darrel for unraveling another thread of this complex tapestry of rocks we call home.

I like Darrell. He’s a warehouse of knowledge and has a good sense of humor. This is a very informative video. Thanks Nick and Darrel.

My Mom grew up on San Juan in the 1920's - 1930's. A lot of the area is really familiar from many times visiting grandparents.

I like how Darrel referred to your Pizza boxes! lol He makes the structure of the formation easy to follow. Great stuff

#nick zentner you are a treasure! I have been watching your videos for a couple of years and have greatly enjoyed them. You have taught me a great deal and inspired me to go on and learn more from many other sources. I think that is the greatest measure of a great teacher. Thank you! This video is particularly yummy. A wonderful topic very well presented and Darrel Cowan is the ideal guide/companion/guest. Darrel, thank you as well. This content will again launch me on a reading binge to better understand how these rocks describe the processes that formed them.

Great video; excellent ending. Humbling to learn of one’s own seeming insignificance. Just so you know, NZ: WE Know! You continue to Rock our Universe!

Always good to see Nick and Darrel: both such nice people.

The rate of spin at the opener is Just right. Keep tuning your style and presentation, I think that helps draw in newcomers with the pleasing and satisfying views.

Great walk, talk and everything else. Nick you do a wonderful job.

Damn, Nick, that was superb! If we didn’t have Cowan where in heck would we be?

Fascinating video. Preparation for the Baja-BC A to Z series.

Darrell rocks. And what a great day to be out there. Thanks for taking us along.

This guy is the bomb! Extremely knowledgeable!

I love the clarity of explanation. Not dry and uninteresting. The location is one of the best examples of accretion I’ve seen. Kind of mind blowing!

I wish to run into you Professor Zentner, Dr. Cowan, and other expert guests on one of Washington's trails someday. What a wealth of knowledge! The best thing is, you are very enthusiastic to share. New knowledge learned - San Juan was like Hawaii/Galapagos. I'll use it to impress someone when we go to that area for hikes ;)

Appreciate the work Mr. Cowan has done to help provide info on the geologic history of the Pacific NW.

As usual I am humbled by these kind and knowledgeable people you meet. These workers (I love how you call each other 'workers') who are walking encyclopedias and who are happy to share their knowledge with others and explain difficult principles in human language. Each of your videos, be it you on your own or together with someone else, is a treat to behold. As I am preparing for the 'Baja - BC a to z' series by revisiting the 'exotic terranes a to z' series (taking notes of course) this was great to get some extra insights into the matter. Thanks again for all you do! Love from The Netherlands to you and your loved ones.

gosh, how beautiful. thank you Professor Zentner and Mr. Cowan

Very interesting video, Thanks Nick!

Oh so fascinating! Will have to watch this one a few times to get it straight in my mind. Wish there was a Canadian continuation

My first adventure as a new UW grad student back in the 1990s was a field trip to the San Juans. (I learned a lot of geology and met my spouse on that trip!) What wonderful memories. Darrel is such a treasure! ~Gwyn Jones (married to Rob Viens)

Nick Zentner and his very interesting colleagues and friends make these video so very entertaining and informational! Thank you for sharing this Nick Zentner! Blessed Be and Stay Well!

In anticipation of Nick's upcoming Baja BC series, I have been reviewing the videos and my notes from the Exotic Terranes A to Z. The combination (or 'correlation') of the back-yard videos and outcrop videos is really helpful. My thanks to Nick and the other professionals who share their time and knowledge in the field.

At the very least the Washington State Bureau of Tourism should fund any and all travel and recording expenses in the making of these videos. Fantastic once again, thanks to all involved.

*WOW!* If you want to tour by the roadside geology guide book, why not tag along with the professor who wrote it? Awesome video, Nick. Thanks again.

A treasure of information, a "rock" star!

Teaching Geology to strangers on the beach Pretty cool answering questions Yes telling others about geology This was a good video I really like how he explain things to the layman

Pretty lighthouse. In 1957, our family knew the lighthouse keeper well and his wife and I remember a group of square dancers dancing inside the lighthouse. Thinking back to those early years, I was pretty lucky to have lived there. I was always more interested in metallic ores, but once on the beach, I found a-fair. sized jade arrowhead. Thanks again for your video from a 78-year old now living in the western foothills of the Bitterroot Mountain range. Road-gravel from basalt has bits of opal in it.

One of he best yet - thanks Nick -- and Thanks Darrel!

7:40 - Whale watching boat passes in the background...

I can't wait for the new A-Z. Gonna be rewatching the Exotic Terranes again. But having had the background with you, this walk with Dr, Cowan snapped a bunch of things into place. Darrel, I'm so glad you watch Nick's videos as well and I LOVED the pizza box reference!

Totally excellent. What a rich history of jumbled rocks...

That deserves a double thumbs up. Both of you are passionate about you work, and it shows! good job, thank you ALL stay safe

Thanks to Nick I understand what Darrel is discussing and how it works/ fits in with the rest of the Pacific Northwest Geology and Geography.

I've been watching the exotic terrane videos for the first time. Just watched Quesnellia today and looking forward to seeing the rest. Also, newly arrived to my house is a copy of the book you were referring to in this video: Roadside Geology of Washington Second Addition by Marli Miller and your guest today Darrel Cowan. Never thought that I would be so into geology! You make it so interesting. So, thank you Nick.

Professor Cowan really delves into this particular part of the island at Lime Kiln State Park. What a learning experience it was Nick. Thanks for bringing him with you to this island.

san juan islands glacial lake? I just got into the lidar last week and there are bathtub rings every where on the islands that are composed of soil. I see them up to 300 feet above see level and presumably sea level was lower so that suggests a lot of water. I hope someone is studying this.

Other than the "official content" I do enjoying hearing the conversation from curious bystanders. Instead of shooing them away it's a small way for public outreach and science communications. Then again, if I saw Nick and friends, I'd be a nosey stalker myself.

Super. Just super. And the weather to match! Thank you and cheers from a soggy, grey England.

This is mind blowing. Love it. Also so peaceful there.

Hello from Vancouver Island. Thanks for the great video. Just added the app Rockd to my phone for these types of walk about. Highly recommend this app for us rock nerds

When I grew up there, I remember exploring limestone caves with my friend who lived nearby. I was around 15. The caves weren't long but they were not far from Sportsman Lake. I used to gather rocks on the beach and cut them with my diamond saw, I being a rock collector then, which would have been around 1960. Whenever my family drove Chuckanut Drive to Bellingham we would look at palm leaves in the road bank.

Yeah San Juan stuff!

Really fascinating. Thank you so much. ❤❤❤

My favorite geological part of Washington. Just so many various types of scraped and scrap terrain remnants.

Great video lessons Nick with my favorite Geologist Darrell. Darrell if you read this keep teaching geology even if you fully retire. Even though I just a amateur Geologists I just can't get enough information on geology and I'm a Zentner junkie and have been for over 5 years Love ya Nick and Darrell

I so love how these gentlemen share their knowledge.

I just downloaded several pdfs on San Juan geology. Thank you!

Very cool outcrop! I was a bit confused by what Darrel said about Cache Creek and not being part of the Insular terrane, because in my mind, and according to the correspondences of terraces I’ve compiled, Deadman Bay Volcanics is at least partially correlative with Cache Creek/Bridge River/Calaveras Complex. I say partially correlative, because it’s clear that the rocks you were looking at in Deadman’s Bay are not ground up into a subduction mélange. But in every other respect, lithology, age, paleontology, paleomagnetism, they seem correlative, in that they perhaps at least represent pieces of the same paleo ocean basin. In my opinion, the difference may be that while Cache Creek and related terraces represent continuous subduction of this ocean basin, and the resulting mélanges represent all the “gunk” scraped off the lower plate and added to the upper plate, the Deadman Bay Volcanics represents a more collisional/accretionary event, perhaps where a chain of seamounts, like an ancient Hawaiian-Emperor islands chain, was located in that ocean basin, and due to the size of those deposits, they were accreted to North America rather than subducted, during the same subduction event that produced Cache Creek, Bridge River et al, the closing of an intervening ocean basin between two rotating halves of the Intermontane Superterrane “string bean”, Quesnelia and Stikinia. Another interesting point in this video was the presence of aragonite (well, pseudomorphs thereof) and bryozoans can potentially be an indicator of paleo cold water climate, as opposed to tropical reefs. The oceans themselves go through long cycles of “calcite seas” vs. “aragonite seas” over geological time, where the former indicates global hothouse conditions, and the latter, global icehouse. Indeed, the Permian period was partially glaciated, as part of the Karoo ice age. Fantastic seeing Darrel again. What a legend! Must have been a really special trip.

What a spectacular treat! 280 MA rock from far away. The video really helped cement the idea of waves of exotic terranes accreting and nearly accreting to our continent. Thank you.

Thanks, Nick and Darrel! Bummer the paleomag study didn't show any good new data. 😕 The hole may already have a wild occupant, so they won't fill it in yet....🦀 I thought I remembered some limestone in Washington, but it had to come in from elsewhere! Must have run across it when my Scout troop did our camping trip there many moons ago. We were there in Friday Harbor for a bit, and while biking San Juan, rested where you guys are! Thanks for letting us see it in a new light! So cool seeing all the different basalts for one!

gentlemen heartfelt thanks, I’ve added this spot to my bucket list. very clearly explained…amazing knowledge

This was so interesting! Thanks Darrel and Nick. Never been to the San Juan’s.

Learned something new today! So, thank you.

Thank you Nick and Darrel..

I was just at Lime Kiln Park the day this video was released. Thanks so much for this video…probably a good thing it was released after my visit I might have bored my companions with all this new fascinating information. Not everyone finds it as fascinating as I do.

You had me at 'exotic terranes' Perfection!

I enjoyed this video and Darrel has such a soothing voice as he explains what we’re viewing. Mad respect for you both. 😊

Thank you Nick and Darrel! This was awesome!!

Wow, what a special, special treat. Thank-you Drs Cowan and Zentner for your fascinating insights. I live on Whidbey Island and get out to the San Juans about once a year, and will now for sure revisit Lime Kiln SP to take a much closer look at the geology.

Glad Darrell and Nick made it to the San Juan Islands together. Hope they can come back though as there's a ton of other interesting geology under foot as well as visible from a well placed lawn chair. A couple miles southeast of Lime Kiln at Eagles Cove and South Beach are beautiful exposures of the thrust system along the shoreline between the Deadmans Bay-Orcas Chert and Constitution Fm. with the enigmatic Garrison Schist sandwiched in between. Above South Beach on a clear day if you do a 360 , not only do you see Siletzia and Wrangalia, but also Turtleback Fm. high on Orcas Island, Canadian Coast Plutonic Complex, Cascade volcanoes Baker/Rainier, Twin Sisters Ophiolite, plus Nanaimo overlay sequence, glacial erratics and gorgeous elevated terraces amounting to over 700' of isostatic rebound (according to Ned Brown). So much geology in such a small place! I too am confused about what may be insular v. intermontane out here. Based on old zircons, seems like Turtleback is most similar to Alexander Terrane (Insular from N. Europe?). But it's adjacent to the Deadman Bay with its Tethys forams (Intermontane from China?)! And what about the Garrison schist? Very thin but widespread zone of highly metamorphosed green/blue schist that seems to define one of the major thrust zones. Lots of unanswered questions! How about another field trip, GSA or otherwise, in these parts? And conveniently located for our Canadian pals. I'll bring snacks! Thanks again Nick and Darrell for another informative and entertaining video!

Knew where you were. Even been to the top of Hurricane Ridge and Victoria. Had no idea what I missed. Special accounts by Darrel. Far away now but maybe someday I’ll get back there. Thank you both for taking that beautiful trip out there.

Another wonderful video - could listen to both of you all day! I also was at SJI/Lime Kiln like 2 days before you two, so having this video to learn from so shortly after visiting is beyond wonderful - thank you both again!

I have seen limestone associated with basalt in an oceanic setting. While living on Guam, a basaltic island in the vast Pacific Ocean, I recognized that the island's northern half was mostly the remains of a high and dry and quite thick limestone reef, complete with its own caves. But those ancient reefs were built on cooled basalt and had nothing to do with pillow lavas. Guam also has a modern encircling reef.

Thanks for this video. After I graduated from HS and went to college at WSU, in 1963. I studied geology for 2 or 3 years before changing to education, so your terminology is familiar to me. I have in front of me crystalline limestone, probably from the Roche Harbor area. My dad built the hearth on his fireplace from limestone in that area. But this rock or mineral calcite is white and is part of a vein an inch or more wide. It has a much smaller vein through the parent rock. The limestone scratches with a knife, but the parent material will not. I know it was from the Island because I still have my rock collection number printed on it. The limestone vein is white as snow.

thanks Nick. In my young days we camped all over that part of the Island. I guess this explains the Limestone kilns in Roche Harbor!

Darrel! I recently found this channel, and it was a very nice surprise to see a familiar face! Thanks for the content you are producing, and please keep it up!

Nick & Darrel….. What a wonderful surprise to see this and watch this today.The “ bucket “ of my bucket list keeps getting larger and larger. Darrel’s set up of the “ view “ across the the water and the significance of the locale, just spectacular.

An informative walk❤. Thanks to you both!

Fantastic! What a treasure to see & learn about this - thank you!

This was fabulous! Thank you Darrel and Nick. I would pay good money to be able to tag along with these two professors for a day. The way these experienced teachers relay their knowlede to us common folk is priceless! Thanks again. I am curious as to whether Darrel still teaches or does public speaking engagements.

Love Lime Kiln State Park. I have stood at that very spot and ate lunch at this spot at least 20 times.

You had a perfect day to ride the ferries. I've visited San Juan and Orcas Islands often (and Lime Kiln Point). What a special treat to see it all within a geological construct. More pieces of the puzzle. So interesting and fun to have you and Darrel show us around. Thank you, Nick.

Thank you gentlemen.

That is such an amazing spot. Limestone intermingling with Basalt. So cool!

Very informative. Thank you very much.

Would've loved to hear Darrell's take on the old lime kiln operation, and the remnants of limestone quarries around it. But it's a bit of a hike beyond the lighthouse, and evidently you had a Lopez Island ferry to catch -- looking forward to the next Exotic San Juan episode!

I also want to take you to a place where I found a large mammal fossil. likely a baleen whale. But the bluffs where its located is fascinating and would make a great conversation or lecture topic. I love the shows, keep it up Professor Nick!

Amazing! Thank you, Professor!

I'm so excited. I'm making my first visit to SJI since the exotic terrane series next weekend. SO much rock exposure.

Oh man, wish I knew you were there. so if you go back, there is a fairly small white granite erratic that I noticed thanks to you, and your lectures. It is at the San Juan County Park. If you walk out on the basalt at the shore(not the beach there is a granite block that is trapped and you can see the flat surface on the basalt that the granite has ground down. I always wish you could see it every time im there. Thanks for exciting the geologist in me. I have always loved the stuff, just didnt know anything about it. Now... (Yesterday at the Ape Caves) Im telling others about the round granite river rock suspended in what looked to be iron rich (red soil) mudslide that had to have formed as the magma was receding. My date thinks Im all smart and stuff, thanks for that. lol

Amazing amazing..On my list now of not to be missed geo side trips. Thank you Darrel Cowen. Hands on, feet on the ground look at a years series or two of Nick's Washington Geology courses

Oh wow! This is awesome. Thank you Darrel and Nick. Coincidentally, I just finished review of your presentation on Exotic San Juan Islands yesterday preparing for Baja- BC lectures!

I was just at Deadman's Cove/Limekiln Point last year. Imagining a chance encounter with Darrel or Nick? In my opinion this is the most beautiful place on earth.

Very cool video. I like how Darrell makes casual conversation with folks about the local geology, and the scenery is lovely. However, I don’t think I have the travel budget to visit all these beautiful places you’ve shown in your vids.

Excellent! Thanks Nick!🤗 Michigan