The Nautilus: An odd and geologically different slot canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Utah

  Рет қаралды 14,399

Shawn Willsey

Shawn Willsey

2 жыл бұрын

Check out the Nautilus, an enigmatic slot canyon, with geology professor Shawn Willsey. Unlike most slot canyons carved by flash flood events, this short slot canyon was carved by a very different process. Investigate the compelling evidence and scenic beauty of this cool location on the Paria Plateau near highway 89 and within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument of southern Utah.
I love doing these videos and will continue to do so but if you want to provide support or much appreciated gas money, you can send support via Venmo @Shawn-Willsey (be sure to put two L's in last name)
or PayPal: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
or a good ol' fashioned check to this address:
Shawn Willsey
College of Southern Idaho
315 Falls Avenue
Twin Falls, ID 83303

Пікірлер: 58
@TerryBollinger
@TerryBollinger 4 ай бұрын
Natural sandblasting! This one totally surprised me, but it instantly makes sense once you explained it. Thank you!
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 4 ай бұрын
Glad it was helpful!
@anitapaulsen3282
@anitapaulsen3282 2 ай бұрын
@TerryBollinger Same
@nitawynn9538
@nitawynn9538 6 ай бұрын
The nautilus is really beautifully shaped. Thanks.
@joannekellam191
@joannekellam191 4 ай бұрын
Woo hoo! I got it! Thanks for another super-interesting video!
@anitapaulsen3282
@anitapaulsen3282 2 ай бұрын
I saw a hikers video of this place. An aerial view from above and his hike walking through. I never knew this place existed and am completely enamored and transfixed by the beauty of this place and the corkscrew shape of this national monument. So I did a search to see if you had done any videos here and found three. So interesting that there is a mini corkscrew feature within the huge corkscrew shape of this place. So very cool. Thank you.
@shlby69m
@shlby69m Жыл бұрын
The Nautilus is an amazing marine creature that's fun to watch.
@donfrank3049
@donfrank3049 Жыл бұрын
Many wonderful formations in that huge area. I've seen many cut by the sand driven wind. Thanks for sharing!
@markomalizani7751
@markomalizani7751 2 жыл бұрын
This was informative sir, thank you, God Bless
@JanetClancey
@JanetClancey 4 ай бұрын
What an amazing feature thank you
@bjnslc
@bjnslc 2 жыл бұрын
I did a screen grab and used iNaturalist's AI to get an insect ID. The clarity of the enhanced screen grab was poor, but this looks like a pretty good ID. Capnobotes fuliginosus (sooty longwing, a desert katydid).
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Nice. Yeah, I was trying to wrap up the filming so didn't want to get too distracted. Then I forgot about it when I was done. A katydid makes sense based on the quick glance I had.
@themainediverschannel4495
@themainediverschannel4495 2 жыл бұрын
Fascinating
@jamessmelcer616
@jamessmelcer616 2 жыл бұрын
Another good one Shawn! Thank you brother.
@MrFmiller
@MrFmiller Жыл бұрын
I love learning.
@chrisjerome8731
@chrisjerome8731 2 жыл бұрын
Interesting vid, and it's a pretty neat little spot. Still, I beg you to take down the GPS coords... unfortunately a lot of lesser known off the grid gems are getting "loved to death" by more and more people. With little to no management or supervision, a lot of these are being destroyed. I hate to say it, but I am very careful these days about giving exact locations for "secret" spots because I've seen too many get ruined over the last 30 years. Sad.
@3xHermes
@3xHermes 2 ай бұрын
Interesting location and story
@lunkerjunkie
@lunkerjunkie 2 жыл бұрын
spent a season working over there. most amazing place nobody knows about.
@J0hnC0ltrane
@J0hnC0ltrane 6 ай бұрын
Interesting place. Like a natural wind tunnel or vorticity.
@johnlaforte700
@johnlaforte700 Жыл бұрын
You are a wealth of knowledge, and I really appreciate these videos. Thank you. 🌄
@mikekilian5403
@mikekilian5403 2 жыл бұрын
Love this video. I did buy your book and that is very interesting and informative.
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Great news. Glad you are enjoying it!
@adventurelifewithbob2960
@adventurelifewithbob2960 2 жыл бұрын
Great video! I love exploring and living in Utah.
@RJB
@RJB 2 жыл бұрын
Great video! The Vermillion area is my favorite place on earth. Would love if you ever got to the Wave area and showed around there. Was there in 2020 and it's an amazing place.
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching. Yeah, The Wave is some nice colorful cross bedded Navajo Sandstone. Nearby Buckskin Gulch is a great slot canyon.
@Skank_and_Gutterboy
@Skank_and_Gutterboy Жыл бұрын
That's the cool thing, you've got Grand Staircase sandwiched right up with Vermillion Cliffs NM and there's a ton cool things to check out in that area.
@MaxPixUT
@MaxPixUT Жыл бұрын
After being in Vermillion cliffs during windy weather, especially the canyon near the Wave, the sandblasting is impressive in that area. The best sculptures I saw are the Bone Yard rocks, the Alcove and the Grotto up on top of that ridge above the wave; so amazing!
@lisaloy2011
@lisaloy2011 Жыл бұрын
Loved the topography in this video. Beautiful. These videos would be, and probably are, interesting in your class lectures. You bring it too them instead of a photo in a text. Love it.
@davidk7324
@davidk7324 Жыл бұрын
I guess there is usually a combination of factors that contribute to the results we see today. Wind has been and continues to be the main player here given the sandstone substrate and topography. Thanks for this--
@kellypeters8330
@kellypeters8330 Жыл бұрын
Love this....thx
@edwardhanson3664
@edwardhanson3664 3 ай бұрын
No, I think it's fantastic.
@NigelNaughton
@NigelNaughton 2 жыл бұрын
Super cool!
@stevew5212
@stevew5212 2 жыл бұрын
that's incredible. Can you imagine how long that took the wind to do that.
@michaelpuett6358
@michaelpuett6358 Жыл бұрын
Nice video! I heard about this nautilus but decided not to hike to it when I was in the area (too tired from buckskin hike)
@2Goiz_1ShanDA
@2Goiz_1ShanDA Жыл бұрын
Ive been watching you for a while now. I did a lot of hard study but I've always been a Hands-On kind of guy so i respond to this approach, even in your class environment & I'm supposed to be 'the unreachable kid'🤷 like "dangerous Minds"😂 So ur great @ teaching👌 I Can't do much so I'm liking all your videos im watchin & subd! Yeah u would be a awesome friend to have im sure they enjoy ur company bro!👍
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey Жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoy the content.
@MarekandAllan
@MarekandAllan 2 жыл бұрын
very good! You're easy to listen to.
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching and learning with me. Look for my geology videos soon.
@anitapaulsen3282
@anitapaulsen3282 2 ай бұрын
😍
@sandramorey2529
@sandramorey2529 2 жыл бұрын
Very informative. Are you old enough to have spent any time in the canyons of Glen Canyon before it was confiscated to make Lake Powell & the G.C. Dam?
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Nope. Born in 1972. Would have loved to see Glen Canyon before Lake Powell filled it.
@GrandmaBev64
@GrandmaBev64 2 жыл бұрын
When I was a kid, my dad took us through Nevada, Arizona, Utah and California. Near where You are at, there are Dinosaur footprints, that form bath tubs when it rains. Do You know where they are?
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Hi there. There are several areas of dinosaur trackways in the Colorado Plateau (4 corners region). None are in Nevada or California but there are several sites in Utah and Arizona. You might try Johnson Farm near St George, Red Gulch near Vernal, near Tuba City, AZ, and several sites near Moab. There are, of course, others as well but these are among the best known sites.
@johnbollenbacher6715
@johnbollenbacher6715 Жыл бұрын
As a completely untrained geologist I would suggest the erosion is caused both by wind and water carrying little sand particles. But maybe that’s what you were trying to say and I just didn’t get it.
@jasonlambert5552
@jasonlambert5552 2 жыл бұрын
Great video, that place is wild! Is there any explanation for the two "cuts" into the left wall facing into the Nautilus? They're like 60 degrees sloping left to right and visible at the 4:49 mark of the video here... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aOCqn9uVnae0hHk.html almost look like saw cuts into the rock
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Nice observation. I didn't notice these in the field. I looked at this spot on Google Earth and it looks like there are fractures running NW-SE that match the cuts you notice. Good eye!
@AndrewGrey22
@AndrewGrey22 2 жыл бұрын
Are these slots completely devoid of life? It doesn't look like there is so much as an insect around there. And how long ago was there any significant water flowing through there causing this erosion? (meaning the non-wind eroded parts) (a bug at the end! lol)
@TheDanEdwards
@TheDanEdwards 2 жыл бұрын
"a bug at the end! " - was it a spider?
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
@@TheDanEdwards Apparently it was a katydid.
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
In my slot canyon exploits, I've seen toads, rattlesnakes, and even a great horned owl. Oh, and sometimes carcasses washed in from floods.
@jagers4xford471
@jagers4xford471 2 жыл бұрын
Looks the result of a massive flood. Water coming off the cliffs had practically nothing to do with this cut.
@stewartbrands
@stewartbrands 2 жыл бұрын
It appears that the spiral sandstone structure was caused by the huge and forcefull melt waters of the glaciers to the North. Then when the water had carved the tube the wind etched the surfaces, The iron oxide being harder caused a turbulence in the uniform wind. The water created the tube for the wind action.
@knightclan4
@knightclan4 2 жыл бұрын
Question for you Shawn Have you really considered a single catastrophic global flood versus many smaller catastrophes that create the sedimentary layers?
@shawnwillsey
@shawnwillsey 2 жыл бұрын
Many of the layers in the area are too fine grained or have other sedimentary structures indicative of other environments like lakes, dunes, etc.
@knightclan4
@knightclan4 2 жыл бұрын
@@shawnwillsey How do you explain folded mountains.
@daleeason9687
@daleeason9687 2 жыл бұрын
I like the information you give about the geology. However you really need to work on your Video presentation skills. There is way to much movement making me car sick. In my opinion you spend too little time pointing at the feature you are presenting and way to much time pointing the camera at your face while you describe the feature instead of spending the video time pointing at the feature. I'm more interested in the feature than seeing you talk. For example when you first present the Nautilus (the topic of you talk) you pan to it a little but then right away pan back to your face. Then spend much time panned back to your face talking about it with it being off to the side and not the center of the screen and mostly obscured. Bottom line is I watch to see the geology and not watch you talking about it. Keep working at it and you will get better. Thanks for posting.
@gregknipe8772
@gregknipe8772 2 жыл бұрын
sandblasting. I turned off the sound and simply looked. ventifaction. hoodoo.
@gladysseaman4346
@gladysseaman4346 2 жыл бұрын
Fascinating
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