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When I was a kid,
I had this globe next to my bed,

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00:00:44,461 --> 00:00:46,296
And when I couldn't sleep,
sometimes I'd turn it on

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And just kinda explore the world,

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Feel the mountains
and the ocean floors,

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The country borders,
the lakes and seas.

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It was all very interesting to me.

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And I couldn't help but wonder
why it looked this way.

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Did it always look like this?
Did it once look different?

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Why does Madagascar look like
somebody chiseled it off of Africa?

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For that matter,
why does Africa's west coast

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Have almost the exact same outline
as South America's east coast?

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Why is there a ridge
on the ocean floor

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That follows the same path
almost exactly halfway between 'em?

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I began to see the world
as a bunch of puzzle pieces

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That came together
to be what it is today.

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I didn't know how
these things happened.

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I didn't know why.

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Nobody had ever said anything
to me about plate tectonics,

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But I inherently knew about it

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Because of the hours I spent
staring at this globe.

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And I think this might have been

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One of those formative
experiences for me,

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Just made me think differently
about the Earth and geology.

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And later when I did learn
about plate tectonics

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And the billions of years
that it's been going on,

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Well, that only added
to the fascination.

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A few years back,
I traveled to Sedona, Arizona.

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I found myself marveling
at the rock formations

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And pondering
the millions of years of wind

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It took to carve that out,
just one grain of sand at a time.

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People talk about Sedona
being a spiritual place.

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But I can't even argue with that

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Because it forces you to think
on unfathomable timescales,

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And it kinda breaks your brain.

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While at the same time,
in volcanic areas around the world,

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New rock is produced every day
in sudden and violent outbursts.

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Rock that later becomes fertile soil
and explodes with life.

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We live on an ancient planet
that's constantly remaking itself,

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And that's a concept I've
always wanted to explore.

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So somewhere along the way,
an idea got embedded in my brain.

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What if instead of talking about it,

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I actually went to the places
that best illustrated that?

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What could I learn?
What kind of story would that tell?

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What if I traveled to the oldest
and newest places on planet Earth?

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This is my producer, Cooper,

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And I'm about
to wreck his world.

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This is the face of someone

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Who just wasted
three months of his life.

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Three months that he
had spent planning

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A very complicated trip
to Australia.

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Because in 2014,
it was reported

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That researchers had
found zircon crystals

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In the Jack Hills of Australia

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Dating back to
4.4 billion years old,

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Making these the oldest rocks
on planet Earth.

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There was just one catch.

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These crystals are
literally microscopic.

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And we had certain parameters
with this project.

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One, it has to be
rock that I can stand on.

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That's the gag here.

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I stand on the oldest
and newest rocks.

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Two, it has to be
a natural formation,

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Not behind a case in
some museum somewhere.

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That's too easy.

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And too hard –
I'd probably get arrested.

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And three, it has
to originate from Earth

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And be the result of
some geologic process.

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So, some meteorite fragment
that's as old as the solar system,

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That doesn't count.

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Now, I knew that the zircons
were too small to stand on,

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But I assumed the rocks
that they were found in

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Would be just as old, right?

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Right?

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So in 2023,
we made preparations

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To visit the Jack Hills
in Western Australia,

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Which is super remote,
super inhospitable, not near a road.

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This was gonna require working
with an outfitter and a guide.

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We needed satellite phone.
This was a whole thing.

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And just to be thorough,

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I thought I could
interview the geologist

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A geologist from UC Boulder
named Dr. Steven Mojzsis.

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And amazingly, he responded.

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He says the Jack Hills zircons

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Are the oldest minerals
on Earth.

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While it is true that they're
upwards of 4.38 billion years old,

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They're weathered from older rocks
as sedimentary detritus,

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And a younger assemblage that
occupied a sedimentary basin.

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00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,347
- He's speaking like a scientist here.
- Right, right.

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- Around 3.3 billion years ago.
- Right.

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So the rock itself is
3.3 billion years.

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Yeah, that's
what I was reading.

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Yeah. So he said that's—

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That is still a long time ago,
but not the oldest place on Earth.

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...Yeah.

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What I was asking him was like,
is it Pilbara or Jack Hills?

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- And he was like, neither.
- Kinda.

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Yeah, we were looking
in the wrong place.

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According to Dr.  Mojzsis,

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The actual place that
we're looking for was called

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The Acasta Gneiss Complex
in far north Canada.

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So instead of going down here,

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We are actually needing
to go way up here.

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It's not the same place.

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And unlike the Jack Hills,

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Where you can just kinda drive
most of the way out to it,

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The Acasta Gneiss Complex

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Is in the middle of
absolute nowhere.

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There are no roads for
hundreds of kilometers,

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And the landscape is insane.

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It's on the edge of a lake,

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But the area is dotted with
literally thousands of lakes.

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The only defining feature is
an island in the middle of it

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That kinda looks
a little bit like Snoopy.

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In fact, the geologists
call it "Snoopy Island".

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I cannot tell you
how many hours I spent

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Scouring the maps
looking for Snoopy Island.

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It was like a hellish geological
version of Where's Waldo.

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So our plans had to change.
Drastically.

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And since it was
approaching fall,

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The temperatures in the area

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Were already dipping into
fairly dangerous territory, so...

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We were gonna have
to wait another year.

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This was not the last thing
that went wrong.

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So while Cooper began looking

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Into how exactly we get
to this new location,

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I began considering
the "newest" rocks on Earth.

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I'll be honest, this choice was
always a bit arbitrary

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Because technically new land
is being created all the time

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In volcanic hotspots
around the world,

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Of which there are currently 46,

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According to the Smithsonian's
Global Volcanism Program.

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And there's no shortage
of young land masses

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Created by these volcanic
hotspots around the world,

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Any of which would work, but...

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When it came down to it,
one stood out amongst all the rest:

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The Big Island of Hawaii.

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00:07:05,758 --> 00:07:08,010
Not only is the Big Island
only half a million years old,

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It's almost always erupting.

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Plus it's a US state.

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So there was no language barrier,
no currency exchange.

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There's an infrastructure
and a national park right there,

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And besides, it's freaking Hawaii.
Who wouldn't want to go there?

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So, Hawaii it would be.

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With our locations chosen,
the team went to work

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Planning out our
epic adventure in 2023.

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Nothing was gonna stop us
this time.

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In the summer of 2023,

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Just as we started
finalizing our plans,

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A massive wave of wildfires
swept across Canada.

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The smoke from these fires drifted
over the northern United States,

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Blanketing many major US cities.

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It quickly became
international news.

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Just devastating fires

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That are clearly linked to
human-caused climate change.

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But the scale of
the human impact in Canada

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Is quite concerning.

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There's many fires
burning at once,

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And some of them are further north
than we would typically expect.

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So more so into the tundra,
which is very uncommon.

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And right in the middle of it
was the town of Yellowknife,

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Which was the closest town
to the outcrop

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And where we were planning to stay.

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It also was the home

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Of the Northwest Territories
Geological Survey,

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Who had helped us out
tremendously with our planning.

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All of our plans were on hold

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As we waited
for the fires to subside.

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But that didn't happen.

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In fact, it only got worse.

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By mid-August,
two major fires had reached

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The outskirts of Yellowknife,
and the order was given to evacuate.

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My contacts at the Geological Survey
suddenly became unavailable

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As they and the other
20,000 people in Yellowknife

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Fled for their lives.

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Over the next couple of weeks,

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Through a combination
of human intervention

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And just dumb luck,
the winds changed,

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The fires were diverted,
and the town was saved.

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But Yellowknife was pretty much
a ghost town at that point.

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It would take months for
the residents to trickle back in

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And for the town to
become functional again.

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And by that point,

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Our opportunity was
pretty much gone.

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By the way, you might
remember that in 2023,

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Hawaii suffered through
some devastating wildfires,

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Especially on the island of Maui,

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Where 102 people died
in the town of Lahaina.

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So yeah, both places we
wanted to go to were on fire.

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In the spring of 2024,
one of my contacts

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From the Northwest Territories
Geological Survey

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00:09:15,846 --> 00:09:17,181
Put me in touch with this guy.

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This is Jesse Reimink,
a geologist from Penn State

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00:09:19,934 --> 00:09:22,228
And co-host of
the PlanetGeo Podcast

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And just happens to be
one of the world's top experts

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In the Acasta Gneiss Complex.

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And it just so happened

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That he was planning
another trip in July

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00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:31,779
With this guy.
This is Mike Ackerson.

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00:09:31,779 --> 00:09:33,864
He's a geologist with
the Smithsonian Institution,

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00:09:33,864 --> 00:09:36,158
Who's leading a team of
researchers, including Jesse,

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00:09:36,158 --> 00:09:37,326
To study the outcrop.

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00:09:37,326 --> 00:09:40,288
And to our utter
shock and surprise,

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00:09:40,538 --> 00:09:41,998
They invited us to join them.

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00:09:42,206 --> 00:09:45,251
This... was actually happening.

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00:09:45,501 --> 00:09:48,379
After three years of missteps
and natural disasters,

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00:09:48,379 --> 00:09:51,215
We had just a few weeks
to plan the journey of a lifetime.

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00:09:51,215 --> 00:09:53,509
We'll be flying from Dallas
to Denver to Calgary

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00:09:53,509 --> 00:09:55,720
To Yellowknife in
the Northwest Territories.

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00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,221
Then we'll have to
charter a float plane

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00:09:57,221 --> 00:10:00,266
To fly out to the outcrop,
for a total of four flights

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00:10:00,266 --> 00:10:03,894
And 4,500 kilometers
– 3000 miles.

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00:10:04,353 --> 00:10:07,398
With me will be Cooper,
who somehow didn't leave the project

215
00:10:07,398 --> 00:10:09,025
After the Australian mishap.

216
00:10:09,025 --> 00:10:10,401
We've got
our boarding tickets,

217
00:10:10,401 --> 00:10:12,737
Which I printed out
because I have flight anxiety,

218
00:10:12,737 --> 00:10:15,239
And my passport,
and they have to be in my hands

219
00:10:15,239 --> 00:10:17,742
The entire time
or I lose my mind.

220
00:10:17,908 --> 00:10:20,202
Hi, I'm Cooper, field producer.

221
00:10:20,202 --> 00:10:22,913
Cooper, what are you hoping
to get out of this trip?

222
00:10:22,913 --> 00:10:24,957
Outside of just
good footage and stuff?

223
00:10:25,416 --> 00:10:26,417
Paid!

224
00:10:27,084 --> 00:10:28,586
I don't know,
the sense of adventure.

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00:10:28,586 --> 00:10:31,964
I think it's really cool
in the fact that we're going to

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00:10:32,715 --> 00:10:34,383
...such a unique space.

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00:10:34,383 --> 00:10:37,136
I feel like it's kinda like
going to the Moon on Earth

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00:10:37,136 --> 00:10:38,888
Or like the bottom of the ocean.

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00:10:38,888 --> 00:10:41,599
It's like the nth degree
of something, you know?

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00:10:41,849 --> 00:10:43,017
And he's bringing along Kyle,

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00:10:43,017 --> 00:10:45,102
Our director of photography
and cameraman.

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00:10:45,436 --> 00:10:47,396
Kyle's got plenty of travel
documentary experience,

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00:10:47,396 --> 00:10:49,398
And we've worked on several
projects with him in the past.

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00:10:49,523 --> 00:10:51,108
Well, it's so great
to go somewhere

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00:10:51,108 --> 00:10:54,862
For that... exploratory purpose.

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00:10:54,862 --> 00:10:56,489
To be there with the Smithsonian.

237
00:10:56,489 --> 00:10:58,157
- But this is like...
- This is out there.

238
00:10:58,157 --> 00:11:00,201
Yeah. I was actually thinking,
you were talking about

239
00:11:00,201 --> 00:11:02,370
Getting like a guide through a city
or something like that.

240
00:11:02,370 --> 00:11:04,246
We're getting guides through time.

241
00:11:04,664 --> 00:11:05,498
Yeah.

242
00:11:05,498 --> 00:11:06,957
Like the geologists
are like gonna guide us

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00:11:06,957 --> 00:11:09,043
Through the history of the Earth.

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00:11:09,043 --> 00:11:11,212
In the oldest place
that exists on planet Earth.

245
00:11:11,212 --> 00:11:12,380
I mean, like...

246
00:11:12,380 --> 00:11:14,799
I'm kinda having trouble
even processing that sometimes.

247
00:11:18,803 --> 00:11:21,055
You should travel with the best.

248
00:11:21,055 --> 00:11:22,973
Oh, that is hot!

249
00:11:22,973 --> 00:11:23,849
Scalding.

250
00:11:30,314 --> 00:11:33,734
This is where I flip my shit!

251
00:11:44,620 --> 00:11:46,455
Oh, hi. Welcome to Canada.

252
00:12:03,347 --> 00:12:05,850
- What time is it?
- It's 11:30.

253
00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:09,186
11:30, sun's still out.
Here we go!

254
00:12:11,689 --> 00:12:13,023
Welcome to Yellowknife.

255
00:12:17,611 --> 00:12:18,988
It's 1 am.

256
00:12:21,449 --> 00:12:22,783
Over the last 36 hours,

257
00:12:22,783 --> 00:12:27,997
I've been traveling for
about 25 of those hours?

258
00:12:28,205 --> 00:12:30,750
Counting the vacation
that I had before this.

259
00:12:30,750 --> 00:12:33,502
So, I'm pretty much spent.

260
00:12:33,836 --> 00:12:35,463
Completely bloody exhausted.

261
00:12:35,463 --> 00:12:38,174
But, I'm glad to be here,

262
00:12:38,174 --> 00:12:40,593
And it's been a hell of a day.

263
00:12:40,593 --> 00:12:42,970
One thing that stood out
as we were flying

264
00:12:42,970 --> 00:12:44,722
From Calgary to Yellowknife

265
00:12:44,722 --> 00:12:48,058
On a prop engine plane,
which was cool,

266
00:12:48,058 --> 00:12:50,019
Was that at one point,

267
00:12:50,019 --> 00:12:51,562
I thought that we were
flying into fog.

268
00:12:51,562 --> 00:12:53,147
Like, it looked like low lying fog,

269
00:12:53,147 --> 00:12:55,274
Like you just couldn't
see the ground anymore.

270
00:12:55,274 --> 00:12:56,901
And then we wound up
flying through it,

271
00:12:56,901 --> 00:13:00,529
And it was only then that
I could smell the smoke.

272
00:13:00,529 --> 00:13:02,072
And I realized, oh...

273
00:13:02,656 --> 00:13:04,658
That's not fog, that's smoke.

274
00:13:04,867 --> 00:13:06,160
Those are wildfires.

275
00:13:06,327 --> 00:13:09,163
I spotted two
on my side of the plane.

276
00:13:09,163 --> 00:13:11,582
Cooper spotted he said
up to seven or eight

277
00:13:11,582 --> 00:13:13,334
On his side of the plane.

278
00:13:13,334 --> 00:13:14,502
This was the very thing

279
00:13:14,502 --> 00:13:16,670
That kept us from
coming here last year,

280
00:13:16,670 --> 00:13:18,547
And they're still happening?

281
00:13:18,881 --> 00:13:20,925
I'm not gonna make this
about climate change.

282
00:13:20,925 --> 00:13:23,761
I'm not, I'm not gonna make
this about climate change.

283
00:13:23,761 --> 00:13:25,012
But today was a really long day.

284
00:13:25,012 --> 00:13:26,514
Tomorrow's gonna be
a little bit lighter.

285
00:13:26,514 --> 00:13:28,098
We're just kind of
exploring Yellowknife.

286
00:13:28,182 --> 00:13:30,142
So I'm gonna close
these blackout curtains

287
00:13:30,142 --> 00:13:33,103
That are clearly required
in this town

288
00:13:33,103 --> 00:13:34,980
And get myself some sleep.

289
00:13:35,648 --> 00:13:36,816
Our first day in Yellowknife

290
00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:38,776
Was really all about
orienting ourselves

291
00:13:38,776 --> 00:13:41,111
And locking down the plans
for the rest of the trip.

292
00:13:41,111 --> 00:13:43,072
Not to mention trying
poutine for the first time

293
00:13:43,072 --> 00:13:45,616
And eating the biggest
egg roll on the planet.

294
00:13:46,659 --> 00:13:49,078
Also, maybe the hottest
egg roll on the planet.

295
00:13:49,328 --> 00:13:51,497
Yellowknife sits at the top
of the Great Slave Lake,

296
00:13:51,497 --> 00:13:52,998
And chances are,
if you've heard of it,

297
00:13:52,998 --> 00:13:55,042
It's from the show
Ice Road Truckers,

298
00:13:55,042 --> 00:13:57,044
Which as somebody who's lived
his whole life in Texas,

299
00:13:57,044 --> 00:14:00,130
The idea that it gets so cold
that you can drive on top of a lake

300
00:14:00,130 --> 00:14:01,924
Is insane to me.

301
00:14:02,132 --> 00:14:05,052
Even ice skating on top
of a lake is insane to me.

302
00:14:05,052 --> 00:14:06,637
But that's in the winter.

303
00:14:06,637 --> 00:14:10,057
And this is July,
and it's actually kinda balmy.

304
00:14:10,599 --> 00:14:12,184
Wave hi, boys.

305
00:14:13,435 --> 00:14:16,105
So we're going down to
Old Town, Yellowknife,

306
00:14:16,105 --> 00:14:19,400
Which is right by the bay,
which as we get closer,

307
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,778
The temperature has dropped
15 degrees, you think?

308
00:14:22,987 --> 00:14:24,822
- Yep, I'd say that.
- It's...

309
00:14:25,072 --> 00:14:26,407
- Like a microclimate.
- It's super nice here.

310
00:14:26,407 --> 00:14:28,409
I wish we were hanging out
here the whole time.

311
00:14:28,409 --> 00:14:29,451
In the summer months,

312
00:14:29,451 --> 00:14:31,203
Instead of catering
to Ice Road Truckers,

313
00:14:31,203 --> 00:14:33,330
The main attraction here
is hunting and fishing

314
00:14:33,330 --> 00:14:35,791
And just the beauty of
Old Town Yellowknife.

315
00:14:36,041 --> 00:14:37,918
And there are many places
to fish up here.

316
00:14:37,918 --> 00:14:38,919
On the flight in,

317
00:14:38,919 --> 00:14:40,796
I was just mesmerized
by the landscape,

318
00:14:40,796 --> 00:14:42,923
Watching the fields
and forests around Calgary

319
00:14:42,923 --> 00:14:45,384
Slowly change into
the endless vista of rock

320
00:14:45,384 --> 00:14:47,678
Dotted by countless
thousands of lakes.

321
00:14:47,678 --> 00:14:50,431
Like I'd seen it on maps,
but it still hadn't prepared me

322
00:14:50,431 --> 00:14:52,308
For what it was like to
actually see it from a plane.

323
00:14:52,308 --> 00:14:55,519
It was bizarre,
even alien-looking to me.

324
00:14:55,519 --> 00:14:57,438
But it was only when I was
on the ground in Yellowknife

325
00:14:57,438 --> 00:14:58,981
That it really sunk in.

326
00:14:59,273 --> 00:15:01,025
Everything is rock.

327
00:15:01,025 --> 00:15:03,903
The empty field outside my hotel
is just a field of rock.

328
00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:05,487
People don't have yards
in front of their house.

329
00:15:05,487 --> 00:15:06,655
They just have rock.

330
00:15:06,655 --> 00:15:09,033
Highways don't have shoulders.
It's just rock.

331
00:15:09,033 --> 00:15:10,492
Hey, you wanna have
a little garden?

332
00:15:10,492 --> 00:15:11,994
Maybe grow a little
squash or strawberries?

333
00:15:11,994 --> 00:15:13,829
Well, you can't
'cause it's all rock!

334
00:15:13,913 --> 00:15:16,707
And I'm not saying "rocks".
I'm using the singular on purpose.

335
00:15:16,707 --> 00:15:21,128
It's like the entire area
is on top of one giant rock.

336
00:15:21,128 --> 00:15:22,880
It's like somebody
just etched a town

337
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,091
Into the top of a giant boulder.
Which made me wonder...

338
00:15:26,342 --> 00:15:28,010
What kind of people lived here?

339
00:15:28,344 --> 00:15:29,553
What culture was formed

340
00:15:29,553 --> 00:15:31,597
On top of the oldest
rocks in the world?

341
00:15:31,972 --> 00:15:33,641
Luckily there was a place
right down the road

342
00:15:33,641 --> 00:15:34,934
Where we could find out.

343
00:15:43,859 --> 00:15:45,402
On the way.

344
00:15:46,403 --> 00:15:47,571
Boom!

345
00:15:49,156 --> 00:15:51,116
About 100 kilometers
northwest of Yellowknife

346
00:15:51,116 --> 00:15:52,534
Sits the town of Behchokǫ̀,

347
00:15:52,534 --> 00:15:54,870
The seat of government
for the Tłı̨chǫ people.

348
00:15:54,870 --> 00:15:56,914
The Tłı̨chǫ are
a First Nations tribe

349
00:15:56,914 --> 00:15:58,624
Whose name translates
to "Dogrib",

350
00:15:58,916 --> 00:16:00,459
And in 2005, they negotiated

351
00:16:00,459 --> 00:16:02,544
A landmark treaty with
the Canadian government

352
00:16:02,544 --> 00:16:04,797
That gave them full autonomy
over their land.

353
00:16:05,005 --> 00:16:06,757
This isn't the Tłı̨chǫ "reservation".

354
00:16:07,216 --> 00:16:09,051
This is the Tłı̨chǫ Nation.

355
00:16:09,051 --> 00:16:10,844
And I had the honor of meeting
with one of the people

356
00:16:10,844 --> 00:16:14,765
Dr. John Zoe.

357
00:16:15,432 --> 00:16:18,394
Dr. Zoe was heavily involved
in researching and reestablishing

358
00:16:18,394 --> 00:16:20,896
The traditional Tłı̨chǫ
place names on their land,

359
00:16:21,021 --> 00:16:22,898
Essentially removing
the westernized names

360
00:16:22,898 --> 00:16:24,400
That were brought in
by the European settlers

361
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:25,609
And fur traders and miners

362
00:16:25,609 --> 00:16:27,111
Over the last
couple hundred years.

363
00:16:27,111 --> 00:16:28,904
How far back do those go,
those names?

364
00:16:28,904 --> 00:16:30,823
Like, you said
thousands of years earlier.

365
00:16:30,823 --> 00:16:32,825
- Like do you know specifically?
- Yeah.

366
00:16:32,825 --> 00:16:33,784
How far back?

367
00:16:34,368 --> 00:16:38,205
Well, I would say,
at the time of giant animals.

368
00:16:39,164 --> 00:16:44,712
And... that's why
the first set of place names

369
00:16:44,712 --> 00:16:46,880
Is the oldest, that had to do

370
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,967
With where the larger animals
would dwell.

371
00:16:49,967 --> 00:16:52,803
You talking about like
mammoths and mastodons?

372
00:16:52,970 --> 00:16:55,848
Well, it's— we just
call them large animals.

373
00:16:55,848 --> 00:17:00,894
And one of the things
that we got to know is...

374
00:17:02,021 --> 00:17:05,399
That our landscape holds

375
00:17:05,607 --> 00:17:08,193
Probably the oldest rock
in the world.

376
00:17:08,193 --> 00:17:12,740
We were debating about
what can we do in a community,

377
00:17:12,740 --> 00:17:15,534
So that we don't forget
our own history?

378
00:17:16,577 --> 00:17:20,748
And they say, "Well...
well go back on the land.

379
00:17:20,748 --> 00:17:22,708
That's the only way to do it."

380
00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:26,754
And so,
almost every step we make,

381
00:17:26,754 --> 00:17:28,172
There was a story.

382
00:17:28,172 --> 00:17:31,050
There were old campgrounds.

383
00:17:31,050 --> 00:17:35,512
There's burial sites.
And there's place names galore.

384
00:17:35,804 --> 00:17:37,347
Now to a westerner,

385
00:17:37,347 --> 00:17:39,266
All this removing of
European influence

386
00:17:39,266 --> 00:17:42,811
Might come off as unnecessary
or even vengeful or performative.

387
00:17:42,811 --> 00:17:46,356
But as Dr. Zoe explained,
it's a lot more important than that.

388
00:17:46,899 --> 00:17:50,069
Language is
very important because...

389
00:17:50,611 --> 00:17:53,655
It takes us back to the source

390
00:17:53,655 --> 00:17:55,616
Of what we're accustomed to.

391
00:17:56,075 --> 00:17:58,452
And we just need to reapply it

392
00:17:58,452 --> 00:18:04,708
So that we continue it
in today's modern world,

393
00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:08,128
- Using the original terms.
- Mm.

394
00:18:08,128 --> 00:18:11,131
Rather than relying too much

395
00:18:11,131 --> 00:18:14,301
On describing...

396
00:18:15,010 --> 00:18:19,264
Something that cannot
be described...

397
00:18:21,141 --> 00:18:22,976
- In your own world.
- Mhm.

398
00:18:23,435 --> 00:18:25,145
Except for your own world.

399
00:18:25,395 --> 00:18:27,606
And it's a link back
to their oldest ancestors.

400
00:18:27,606 --> 00:18:30,818
The very history of their people
can be found in their place names.

401
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:32,903
By just hearing the name,

402
00:18:32,903 --> 00:18:34,780
You knew it was a place
where you could find trout,

403
00:18:34,780 --> 00:18:37,032
Or wood for canoes,
or beaver pelts,

404
00:18:37,032 --> 00:18:39,576
Or the right stones
for knives and weapons.

405
00:18:39,576 --> 00:18:40,953
These names made it possible

406
00:18:40,953 --> 00:18:43,163
To navigate the vast
and insane landscape

407
00:18:43,163 --> 00:18:44,665
Of the Canadian Shield.

408
00:18:44,873 --> 00:18:47,626
On that note, could I get you
to say something in your language?

409
00:18:47,626 --> 00:18:48,794
I don't know—

410
00:18:48,794 --> 00:18:50,712
I don't wanna give you
something to say necessarily,

411
00:18:50,712 --> 00:18:52,047
But I'd love to hear it.

412
00:19:18,866 --> 00:19:20,200
And it's funny
'cause I'm sitting here

413
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,870
And I'm thinking about, you know,
looking at it from above,

414
00:19:22,870 --> 00:19:25,164
How complex all this is,

415
00:19:25,372 --> 00:19:26,665
But when you're...

416
00:19:27,291 --> 00:19:28,959
At— you know, in it...

417
00:19:30,752 --> 00:19:32,546
How do you navigate that?

418
00:19:33,755 --> 00:19:35,966
A lot of it is from memory.

419
00:19:36,717 --> 00:19:38,302
Like through storytelling.

420
00:19:38,302 --> 00:19:40,596
I mean, it makes sense.

421
00:19:40,596 --> 00:19:42,055
Yeah, so it—

422
00:19:42,055 --> 00:19:43,557
Each place name has—

423
00:19:43,557 --> 00:19:46,310
Is really a story of...

424
00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:49,021
- Right.
- What's available in that area

425
00:19:49,438 --> 00:19:51,523
And the method of harvesting.

426
00:19:51,899 --> 00:19:54,985
We drove past
a lot of burnt out forests

427
00:19:54,985 --> 00:19:57,404
And flew through smoke so thick,

428
00:19:57,404 --> 00:19:59,489
You couldn't hardly
even see anything.

429
00:19:59,489 --> 00:20:01,825
Is— You've lived here
your whole life, right?

430
00:20:01,825 --> 00:20:03,869
Is that— Has this
always been like that?

431
00:20:03,869 --> 00:20:07,080
This is probably
the first time.

432
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:07,831
Really?

433
00:20:07,831 --> 00:20:10,876
That it's gone
to the scale of...

434
00:20:12,002 --> 00:20:13,795
The wildfires last summer.

435
00:20:13,795 --> 00:20:14,963
Uh-huh, yeah.

436
00:20:15,380 --> 00:20:18,884
And, was also the first time

437
00:20:19,468 --> 00:20:23,263
That we had to
evacuate this community

438
00:20:23,639 --> 00:20:27,976
Since its establishment
here in 1904.

439
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,520
This isn't
a climate change video.

440
00:20:30,854 --> 00:20:32,606
This isn't
a climate change video.

441
00:20:42,783 --> 00:20:45,327
Oh yeah. Soot on the foot.

442
00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,539
This is what kept us
from going last year.

443
00:20:58,882 --> 00:21:01,593
While Yellowknife was
mercifully spared by the wildfires,

444
00:21:01,593 --> 00:21:04,304
Behchokǫ̀ and many living around it
weren't so lucky.

445
00:21:04,513 --> 00:21:05,847
Dozens of Tłı̨chǫ citizens

446
00:21:05,847 --> 00:21:07,724
Lost their homes and
businesses to the flames

447
00:21:07,724 --> 00:21:09,851
And are still recovering
a year later.

448
00:21:09,851 --> 00:21:12,062
This landscape
that's seen so much change

449
00:21:12,062 --> 00:21:13,355
Over its billions of years

450
00:21:13,355 --> 00:21:15,315
Is now experiencing
changing weather patterns

451
00:21:15,315 --> 00:21:17,776
That's lowered rainfall
and increased heat,

452
00:21:17,776 --> 00:21:19,778
Leading to dangerously dry forests

453
00:21:19,778 --> 00:21:22,364
In a landscape of tinder
just waiting to go off.

454
00:21:22,364 --> 00:21:24,700
Rocks that were once
buried under miles of ice

455
00:21:24,700 --> 00:21:25,951
Now set ablaze,

456
00:21:25,951 --> 00:21:28,161
Filling the sky with
a thick layer of smoke

457
00:21:28,161 --> 00:21:30,956
That turn the sunlight
a deep hue of orange-red.

458
00:21:30,956 --> 00:21:33,834
It was especially bad
on the day we flew to the outcrop.

459
00:21:43,260 --> 00:21:46,054
So while the crew's back there
getting our plane ready,

460
00:21:46,054 --> 00:21:48,181
Our tiny float plane,

461
00:21:48,390 --> 00:21:50,309
Just thought I would
stand here for a second

462
00:21:50,309 --> 00:21:51,810
And take it all in.

463
00:21:51,810 --> 00:21:54,104
I've been planning this
for three years...

464
00:21:54,688 --> 00:21:57,107
And the day's finally here.

465
00:21:57,733 --> 00:22:00,736
I'm not as nervous
as I thought I would be.

466
00:22:01,153 --> 00:22:03,363
Although nervous isn't
really even the right word.

467
00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:05,741
Just excited to get out there.

468
00:22:05,741 --> 00:22:07,617
I've talked to Jesse and Mike
on Zoom many times,

469
00:22:07,617 --> 00:22:08,869
But I've never met them in person.

470
00:22:08,869 --> 00:22:10,454
So it's gonna be kind of like
meeting old friends

471
00:22:10,454 --> 00:22:11,330
For the first time.

472
00:22:11,997 --> 00:22:13,206
In areas like this,

473
00:22:13,206 --> 00:22:16,293
Where the communities are
few and very far between,

474
00:22:16,293 --> 00:22:18,628
The only way to get around
is by float plane.

475
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,923
So we had to weigh ourselves
and all of our gear

476
00:22:21,923 --> 00:22:23,467
So that we have
the right amount of fuel

477
00:22:23,467 --> 00:22:25,344
To get there, because...

478
00:22:26,053 --> 00:22:27,929
- These are tiny planes.
- We're taking on a bunch of gear.

479
00:22:27,929 --> 00:22:30,515
- Hey!
- We're traveling pretty light.

480
00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:34,186
Our pilot's name is Sofie,
who is a total badass.

481
00:22:34,186 --> 00:22:35,979
She actually rode into work
on a bike.

482
00:22:35,979 --> 00:22:37,564
And this plane was old school.

483
00:22:37,564 --> 00:22:39,983
According to Sofie,
the plane was made in the 1950s,

484
00:22:39,983 --> 00:22:43,945
And the only thing electronic on it
is the radio and the GPS system.

485
00:22:43,945 --> 00:22:46,031
This is 100% manual flying.

486
00:22:46,031 --> 00:22:48,116
For the next two hours.
I'll be honest.

487
00:22:48,116 --> 00:22:50,077
I was kinda nervous
about this flight.

488
00:22:50,077 --> 00:22:51,620
I don't normally get nervous flying

489
00:22:51,620 --> 00:22:53,080
Because it's kind of
a really big deal

490
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,206
When a plane goes down,

491
00:22:54,206 --> 00:22:56,249
And you really don't hear
about them that often,

492
00:22:56,249 --> 00:22:58,502
Considering the thousands of flights
that take place every day.

493
00:22:58,502 --> 00:23:00,170
So you know
how often they happen.

494
00:23:00,170 --> 00:23:02,297
But little private planes like this?

495
00:23:02,297 --> 00:23:03,882
This wouldn't even make the news.

496
00:23:03,882 --> 00:23:05,842
I have no idea
how many of these go down.

497
00:23:05,842 --> 00:23:07,344
And the only time
they do make the news

498
00:23:07,344 --> 00:23:09,304
Is when some celebrity is on board.

499
00:23:09,596 --> 00:23:12,599
Like, say, a beloved YouTuber.

500
00:23:15,894 --> 00:23:18,021
Also we're taking off
and landing in water,

501
00:23:18,021 --> 00:23:19,439
And I've never done that before.

502
00:23:19,439 --> 00:23:21,358
It kind of feels like
it would be rough

503
00:23:21,358 --> 00:23:23,443
With it bouncing off the tops
of the waves in the water.

504
00:23:23,610 --> 00:23:25,529
But thankfully it was
in fact a smooth ride

505
00:23:25,529 --> 00:23:27,531
And more like driving
through the sky.

506
00:23:27,531 --> 00:23:28,949
We even rode
with the windows cracked.

507
00:23:29,491 --> 00:23:31,993
- Like butter.
- Woo!

508
00:23:32,452 --> 00:23:34,079
Gave out a Texas woo.

509
00:23:47,342 --> 00:23:49,261
I was as giddy as a schoolboy

510
00:23:49,261 --> 00:23:52,347
And mesmerized by
the alien landscape,

511
00:23:52,347 --> 00:23:55,475
A landscape that was dotted
with even more wildfires.

512
00:23:55,475 --> 00:23:57,477
In fact, at one point,
we entered a smoke cloud

513
00:23:57,477 --> 00:23:59,479
And briefly lost all visibility.

514
00:23:59,479 --> 00:24:01,815
This is a literal
land of fire and ice.

515
00:24:01,982 --> 00:24:03,525
After a couple of hours of flying

516
00:24:03,525 --> 00:24:05,610
And passing by thousands
of lakes and streams,

517
00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:07,028
The time had arrived.

518
00:24:07,237 --> 00:24:10,031
As the plane began to circle
to find the right angle to land,

519
00:24:10,198 --> 00:24:12,659
I saw it. Snoopy Island.

520
00:24:16,121 --> 00:24:17,414
After spending countless hours

521
00:24:17,414 --> 00:24:19,708
Searching maps
for this distinctive island,

522
00:24:19,875 --> 00:24:22,127
There it was, right below me.

523
00:24:22,461 --> 00:24:23,879
It was surreal.

524
00:24:25,964 --> 00:24:29,301
Somewhere down there was
the oldest rock on planet Earth.

525
00:24:29,593 --> 00:24:31,052
And I was ready to meet it.

526
00:24:32,262 --> 00:24:34,222
The landing was smooth
as butter, by the way.

527
00:24:36,224 --> 00:24:39,436
As we pulled out to the beach
– yes, Snoopy Island has a beach –

528
00:24:39,436 --> 00:24:41,605
Jesse and Mike appeared
and waded out to the plane

529
00:24:41,605 --> 00:24:44,274
And literally helped pull
the plane toward the sand.

530
00:24:44,274 --> 00:24:45,942
They drove a stake
in the ground to secure it,

531
00:24:45,942 --> 00:24:48,904
And then Sofie tied it off
like a horse at a saloon.

532
00:24:49,154 --> 00:24:50,363
And the jet bridge
was one of the worst

533
00:24:50,363 --> 00:24:52,032
I've ever experienced at an airport.

534
00:24:52,032 --> 00:24:54,075
I generally don't
wanna get my feet wet

535
00:24:54,075 --> 00:24:56,578
When I'm disembarking.
Zero stars.

536
00:24:56,953 --> 00:24:58,413
- Nice to meet you, man.
- Good to see you.

537
00:24:58,663 --> 00:25:00,499
- Thanks for having us out.
- Oh, of course.

538
00:25:00,499 --> 00:25:01,875
- Oh, of course.
- Welcome.

539
00:25:02,042 --> 00:25:03,710
You brought the smoke with you.

540
00:25:03,710 --> 00:25:05,253
Base camp was pretty basic.

541
00:25:05,253 --> 00:25:08,798
Well stocked kitchen tent,
work tent, bags of rock collections.

542
00:25:08,798 --> 00:25:10,425
You might be thinking
it looks like a lot of stuff

543
00:25:10,425 --> 00:25:12,219
For just a couple of guys.

544
00:25:12,219 --> 00:25:13,428
Well, that's because
they actually have

545
00:25:13,428 --> 00:25:15,180
A whole team of people
on this expedition,

546
00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:17,724
But that particular day,
they were actually out in the field,

547
00:25:17,724 --> 00:25:20,435
So Mike and Jesse stayed back
to hang out with us.

548
00:25:20,435 --> 00:25:22,938
So we'll be—
We'll go to this outcrop here,

549
00:25:22,938 --> 00:25:24,606
That you can see the cliff,

550
00:25:24,606 --> 00:25:27,567
Then basically past the cliff
to the land over there

551
00:25:27,567 --> 00:25:29,861
Is where the oldest part is for sure

552
00:25:29,861 --> 00:25:32,822
That I mapped in my PhD.

553
00:25:32,822 --> 00:25:34,991
Wow, I'm gonna learn
so much today.

554
00:25:35,242 --> 00:25:36,910
That's the plan.

555
00:25:37,244 --> 00:25:38,703
- Taking y'all with me!
- We all will.

556
00:25:38,703 --> 00:25:40,997
- Be prepared to nerd out.
- You know, well...

557
00:25:41,873 --> 00:25:44,209
That's the quote of
the day right there.

558
00:25:44,209 --> 00:25:46,419
Yeah, you described
yourself on Zoom as...

559
00:25:46,545 --> 00:25:48,547
You're the keeper of
the nation's rock collection.

560
00:25:48,713 --> 00:25:50,924
Mhm, yeah, yeah.
One of three of 'em, yeah.

561
00:25:50,924 --> 00:25:54,344
We have three people
who are all PhD scientists

562
00:25:54,344 --> 00:25:58,515
Whose job it is to ensure that
this wealth of information

563
00:25:58,515 --> 00:26:00,225
That's retained in rocks

564
00:26:00,225 --> 00:26:02,018
That people have
worked on for decades,

565
00:26:02,018 --> 00:26:03,979
Remains something
that people can use.

566
00:26:03,979 --> 00:26:06,189
Which is part of the reason
we're out here...

567
00:26:06,481 --> 00:26:08,858
Is to collect some rocks to bring
them back to the collections.

568
00:26:08,858 --> 00:26:10,193
I know the bugs are gonna get you.

569
00:26:10,193 --> 00:26:11,611
- I know, well...
- Yeah.

570
00:26:11,611 --> 00:26:12,904
Just gonna have to deal
with it, I guess, I dunno.

571
00:26:12,904 --> 00:26:13,572
Yep.

572
00:26:13,572 --> 00:26:15,782
Well, as the keeper of
the nation's rock collection—

573
00:26:15,782 --> 00:26:17,325
That sounds like something that

574
00:26:17,325 --> 00:26:21,454
Nicholas Cage would be trying
to break into at some point.

575
00:26:21,454 --> 00:26:23,832
Yeah, we're right across
from the National Archives too.

576
00:26:23,832 --> 00:26:25,667
So I'm always like,
"Hmm, I don't know.

577
00:26:25,667 --> 00:26:27,919
If they don't want the Constitution,
they could come for the rocks."

578
00:26:27,919 --> 00:26:30,088
Yeah, well...

579
00:26:30,755 --> 00:26:33,425
One of the best things
I've heard people talk about rocks

580
00:26:33,425 --> 00:26:37,846
In terms of being a geologist,
which is that rocks are like books,

581
00:26:37,846 --> 00:26:39,889
And that you don't
really look at a book

582
00:26:39,889 --> 00:26:41,683
And say, "Wow, what a great book."

583
00:26:41,683 --> 00:26:44,561
It's the story inside the book
that you care about.

584
00:26:44,561 --> 00:26:46,021
It's the same thing with rocks.

585
00:26:46,021 --> 00:26:47,480
Well, I wanted to give
you a chance to talk about

586
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,400
Specifically what you guys
are researching right now.

587
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,152
Is there a specific goal
for this trip?

588
00:26:52,152 --> 00:26:53,153
Absolutely, yeah.

589
00:26:53,153 --> 00:26:54,946
So, you know, these rocks

590
00:26:54,946 --> 00:26:56,573
That we're
about to be standing on

591
00:26:56,573 --> 00:26:59,451
Are the oldest known
rocks on the planet.

592
00:26:59,451 --> 00:27:01,244
A lot of the work
that Jesse and other people

593
00:27:01,244 --> 00:27:05,248
Have been doing
points back in time

594
00:27:05,248 --> 00:27:08,585
To the potential for rocks
that are— might be even older.

595
00:27:08,585 --> 00:27:11,087
So we think, based on
the geochemical evidence

596
00:27:11,087 --> 00:27:13,798
That Jesse and others
have produced,

597
00:27:14,215 --> 00:27:15,550
That there should be rocks

598
00:27:15,550 --> 00:27:18,470
That are older than
4 billion years out here.

599
00:27:18,470 --> 00:27:20,138
And so we're hoping,

600
00:27:20,138 --> 00:27:24,225
If we have an outstanding,
amazing success,

601
00:27:24,225 --> 00:27:26,186
We will have discovered
rocks that are—

602
00:27:26,186 --> 00:27:29,648
Or at least crystals that are older
than 4 billion years out here.

603
00:27:29,648 --> 00:27:31,358
And we only have
one data point

604
00:27:31,358 --> 00:27:33,401
From beyond 4 billion years.

605
00:27:33,401 --> 00:27:36,696
So our hope is that we're going to
be able to add another data point

606
00:27:36,696 --> 00:27:40,533
And try to compare and contrast
how the rocks here

607
00:27:40,867 --> 00:27:42,994
Might have told a different story
about the early Earth

608
00:27:42,994 --> 00:27:45,372
Than the rocks that
are currently residing

609
00:27:45,372 --> 00:27:46,831
On the other side of the planet.

610
00:27:46,831 --> 00:27:48,249
That's one of our main goals,

611
00:27:48,249 --> 00:27:52,545
Is to try to investigate
and hopefully discover something

612
00:27:52,545 --> 00:27:53,838
That's older than
4 billion years old.

613
00:27:53,838 --> 00:27:56,007
But that's a pipe dream.

614
00:27:56,216 --> 00:27:58,301
Chances of success are low,

615
00:27:58,301 --> 00:28:01,763
But the opportunity for
human knowledge advancement

616
00:28:01,763 --> 00:28:03,848
Is extremely high, so...

617
00:28:04,265 --> 00:28:05,892
It's the way—
that's the place to be.

618
00:28:06,101 --> 00:28:08,019
To accomplish this,
they need to bring in somebody

619
00:28:08,019 --> 00:28:09,979
Who had spent extensive
time on these rocks

620
00:28:09,979 --> 00:28:11,481
And mapped them thoroughly.

621
00:28:11,481 --> 00:28:13,274
Someone like this guy.

622
00:28:13,274 --> 00:28:14,776
I mean, I'm just...

623
00:28:14,776 --> 00:28:16,069
One of the more recent

624
00:28:16,069 --> 00:28:18,446
Of a long line of people
who've worked in these rocks.

625
00:28:18,446 --> 00:28:21,408
I mean, these are famous rocks
in geological circles,

626
00:28:21,616 --> 00:28:24,577
Since the late '80s when they
were discovered to be old.

627
00:28:25,036 --> 00:28:27,455
And various people have
mapped at various scales.

628
00:28:27,455 --> 00:28:30,500
Some people would take this outcrop
and produce a map of it.

629
00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:34,003
Some people would map in
over 30 square kilometers here

630
00:28:34,003 --> 00:28:36,131
And produce a map of that area.

631
00:28:36,131 --> 00:28:38,550
And what I did was kind of
in between those two.

632
00:28:38,550 --> 00:28:41,052
It was this island
and the peninsula over there.

633
00:28:41,052 --> 00:28:43,221
- We'll go, we discovered some—
- The hook.

634
00:28:43,221 --> 00:28:45,849
The hook one, yep, exactly.
We'll go park on those.

635
00:28:45,849 --> 00:28:48,184
Those are the ones that we mapped

636
00:28:48,184 --> 00:28:52,605
As this 4.02 billion year old unit
where it starts there,

637
00:28:52,605 --> 00:28:54,232
It ends there,
and it goes up into the hill,

638
00:28:54,232 --> 00:28:55,775
And you could map it as a unit.

639
00:28:55,775 --> 00:28:58,903
So that kind of intermediate scale
was what my PhD was on.

640
00:28:58,903 --> 00:29:01,865
But there's decades of people
who've mapped

641
00:29:01,865 --> 00:29:05,285
This complex,
this suite of rocks

642
00:29:05,285 --> 00:29:07,287
In this 50 square kilometer
area here.

643
00:29:07,287 --> 00:29:08,788
So this 50 square kilometer area

644
00:29:08,788 --> 00:29:10,623
Is like the oldest spot?

645
00:29:10,623 --> 00:29:13,710
There are parts of it
that are the oldest.

646
00:29:13,710 --> 00:29:16,629
This rock you're sitting on is
a 3.6 billion year old rock.

647
00:29:16,629 --> 00:29:19,299
So it's not the oldest part,
unfortunately.

648
00:29:19,299 --> 00:29:21,092
- Still pretty old.
- It's still very—

649
00:29:21,092 --> 00:29:24,095
I mean, there's maybe...

650
00:29:24,095 --> 00:29:25,680
What, I'm gonna
make up a number here,

651
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,349
Ten places on Earth
that have rocks that old.

652
00:29:28,641 --> 00:29:31,478
So it is one of
the oldest rocks on Earth.

653
00:29:31,478 --> 00:29:33,271
- It's not the oldest though.
- Yeah.

654
00:29:33,271 --> 00:29:34,898
So, so in this complex,

655
00:29:34,898 --> 00:29:37,567
If you look, all these hills
you can see around us,

656
00:29:37,567 --> 00:29:41,613
They'll be rocks
ranging from 4 billion years

657
00:29:42,489 --> 00:29:45,784
To 2.9 billion years,
are the age of the rocks.

658
00:29:45,784 --> 00:29:47,869
And then they were
all metamorphosed

659
00:29:47,869 --> 00:29:49,412
1.9 billion years.

660
00:29:49,412 --> 00:29:51,039
And that's the deformation,

661
00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:53,124
The sort of structural pattern
we can see to these rocks.

662
00:29:53,124 --> 00:29:56,836
That was a later feature
that squished them together.

663
00:29:57,045 --> 00:30:00,256
Is there a difference
between like continental crust

664
00:30:00,256 --> 00:30:01,758
And ocean crust?

665
00:30:01,758 --> 00:30:03,051
Mm, oh, great question.

666
00:30:03,051 --> 00:30:04,093
Or is it just
that there's a dip,

667
00:30:04,093 --> 00:30:05,303
And that's where the water goes?

668
00:30:05,470 --> 00:30:08,181
The rocks that we're on
are continental crust.

669
00:30:08,181 --> 00:30:09,724
They make up the continents.

670
00:30:09,933 --> 00:30:13,019
They're lighter in terms of density,

671
00:30:13,019 --> 00:30:15,855
And they're functionally
more buoyant

672
00:30:16,231 --> 00:30:17,941
Than the oceanic floors,

673
00:30:17,941 --> 00:30:19,943
- Which are a denser rock.
- Oh, okay.

674
00:30:19,943 --> 00:30:21,194
So...

675
00:30:22,195 --> 00:30:25,073
Most ocean plateaus are made
up of rocks that are denser,

676
00:30:25,073 --> 00:30:27,534
And they're actually—
the crust there is much thinner.

677
00:30:27,617 --> 00:30:29,118
- Okay.
- It's a couple of kilometers

678
00:30:29,118 --> 00:30:33,122
Versus maybe 40, 50, 60
kilometers below us here.

679
00:30:33,706 --> 00:30:36,251
So these
continental crust rocks,

680
00:30:36,251 --> 00:30:39,254
At least now,
are rising above the oceans,

681
00:30:39,254 --> 00:30:41,381
And they chemically weather,

682
00:30:41,381 --> 00:30:45,218
And they form the composition
of our atmosphere.

683
00:30:45,218 --> 00:30:50,056
They stabilize the atmosphere.
They stabilize our ocean chemistry.

684
00:30:50,390 --> 00:30:52,433
They're a really
unique feature to Earth

685
00:30:52,433 --> 00:30:54,477
That no other planetary body has.

686
00:30:54,477 --> 00:30:56,020
As we were flying in,
and I was looking at it,

687
00:30:56,020 --> 00:30:57,772
And I was like thinking about

688
00:30:57,772 --> 00:31:00,650
All the glacial periods
that have happened up here,

689
00:31:00,650 --> 00:31:03,111
And I'm sitting here thinking about
how old these rocks are,

690
00:31:03,111 --> 00:31:04,696
And it occurred to me that...

691
00:31:05,196 --> 00:31:07,740
That's like the—
a blink of an eye.

692
00:31:07,740 --> 00:31:09,951
And the age of these rocks,
that's just nothing!

693
00:31:09,951 --> 00:31:11,828
So the significant thing
about the glaciers

694
00:31:11,828 --> 00:31:15,039
Was it— could it have been just
that kind of cleared the rocks off

695
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:17,333
And brought this up to
where it's exposed now?

696
00:31:17,333 --> 00:31:18,793
Yeah, I think it's...

697
00:31:19,419 --> 00:31:23,006
It's probably the former, certainly.
Probably not the latter.

698
00:31:23,006 --> 00:31:26,259
So the rocks were probably
at or near sea level,

699
00:31:26,259 --> 00:31:28,553
Or at, you know,
in their current elevation

700
00:31:28,553 --> 00:31:30,138
Relative to the deeper rocks

701
00:31:30,138 --> 00:31:33,057
For a long time, for hundreds
of millions of years.

702
00:31:33,057 --> 00:31:35,393
And the glaciers, as you said,
are just the most recent thing

703
00:31:35,393 --> 00:31:36,436
- In the last...
- Yeah.

704
00:31:36,436 --> 00:31:37,770
Few, tens of
thousands of years.

705
00:31:37,770 --> 00:31:40,732
But they cleaned them off,
scraped the stuff off,

706
00:31:40,732 --> 00:31:42,775
Exposed them, and—

707
00:31:42,775 --> 00:31:44,569
But these rocks,
people have gone around

708
00:31:44,569 --> 00:31:46,070
And tried to understand
how did they—

709
00:31:46,070 --> 00:31:49,032
When did they rise
to the surface or near surface?

710
00:31:49,032 --> 00:31:50,992
And that was an old
phenomenon as well.

711
00:31:50,992 --> 00:31:52,535
So hundreds of millions
of years at least

712
00:31:52,535 --> 00:31:54,370
Since these things
were deep down.

713
00:31:54,621 --> 00:31:56,789
So they've been
kinda just riding high

714
00:31:56,789 --> 00:31:58,791
Right near the surface for...

715
00:31:59,208 --> 00:32:01,127
Several hundred million years
to billions of years.

716
00:32:01,336 --> 00:32:02,503
Educate me on cratons.

717
00:32:02,503 --> 00:32:03,504
Cratons.

718
00:32:03,504 --> 00:32:04,422
First of all,
am I saying it right?

719
00:32:04,422 --> 00:32:05,673
- Yes, you are.
- Okay, good.

720
00:32:05,673 --> 00:32:07,425
If you're English
or British school,

721
00:32:07,425 --> 00:32:08,760
- You'd say 'KRAHT-ons', but—
- KRAHT-ons.

722
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,054
Yeah, exactly, yeah.
If you wanna sound smart.

723
00:32:11,554 --> 00:32:14,223
But 'CRAYT-ons', that's what I say.
'CRAYT-ons', so that's good.

724
00:32:14,223 --> 00:32:15,934
Cratons are the—

725
00:32:15,934 --> 00:32:17,852
You can think of them as
the interior of continents.

726
00:32:17,852 --> 00:32:19,020
They're the really stable part.

727
00:32:19,020 --> 00:32:21,105
If you have heard the word
'Canadian Shield'.

728
00:32:21,105 --> 00:32:22,523
- Yeah.
- That's a craton.

729
00:32:22,815 --> 00:32:25,902
There's a bit of discussion about
what the term 'craton' means,

730
00:32:25,902 --> 00:32:28,196
Because if you look at
the Canadian Shield,

731
00:32:28,196 --> 00:32:33,284
It's a vast expanse
of stable continent

732
00:32:33,534 --> 00:32:36,037
That hasn't seen much
deformation or metamorphism

733
00:32:36,037 --> 00:32:38,122
Or much activity
for a very long time.

734
00:32:38,122 --> 00:32:41,250
Not to cratons.
They are old, they're stable.

735
00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:44,379
They have a super thick
mantle root beneath them

736
00:32:44,379 --> 00:32:46,714
That protects them
from later deformation.

737
00:32:47,006 --> 00:32:49,217
So we're all familiar
with plate tectonics, right?

738
00:32:49,217 --> 00:32:51,177
That the Earth's crust is
made up of different plates

739
00:32:51,177 --> 00:32:53,638
That move and slide around
and crash into each other,

740
00:32:53,638 --> 00:32:56,349
Sometimes splitting apart
continents, creating oceans,

741
00:32:56,349 --> 00:32:58,643
Sometimes subducting
underneath into magma

742
00:32:58,643 --> 00:33:01,938
And melting like Anakin Skywalker,
creating mountains and volcanoes.

743
00:33:01,938 --> 00:33:04,565
Well, cratons are formed
in the earliest days of Earth.

744
00:33:04,565 --> 00:33:06,651
This was actually known
as the Hadean Era

745
00:33:06,651 --> 00:33:08,653
After Hades, the great god of hell.

746
00:33:08,653 --> 00:33:10,238
Everything is boiling hot magma.

747
00:33:10,238 --> 00:33:11,447
But in some places,

748
00:33:11,447 --> 00:33:13,741
Some less dense magma
floated to the top

749
00:33:13,741 --> 00:33:15,785
And collected and then
cooled in the air,

750
00:33:15,785 --> 00:33:17,453
And this became the first rock.

751
00:33:17,453 --> 00:33:19,539
Eventually, the denser rock
around it would cool

752
00:33:19,539 --> 00:33:20,915
And fill out the rest
of the continents

753
00:33:20,915 --> 00:33:22,041
And the tectonic plates.

754
00:33:22,041 --> 00:33:24,627
But these earliest rocks
were the earliest rocks,

755
00:33:24,627 --> 00:33:26,045
Because they were so buoyant.

756
00:33:26,045 --> 00:33:28,548
So when the plates started
smashing into each other,

757
00:33:28,548 --> 00:33:30,675
It was the denser rock
that would slide underneath

758
00:33:30,675 --> 00:33:31,968
And melt into the mantle.

759
00:33:31,968 --> 00:33:35,179
And these older,
more buoyant rocks, these cratons,

760
00:33:35,179 --> 00:33:36,305
They didn't get sucked under.

761
00:33:36,305 --> 00:33:40,268
They just kind of floated on top
of all this for 4 billion years.

762
00:33:40,268 --> 00:33:41,894
It didn't survive
unscathed, though.

763
00:33:41,894 --> 00:33:43,771
It definitely evolved over time.

764
00:33:43,771 --> 00:33:46,983
It gets eroded, folded, pressed,
smashed up quite a bit,

765
00:33:46,983 --> 00:33:48,776
But it never gets subducted.

766
00:33:48,776 --> 00:33:50,820
There are several ancient
cratons around the world,

767
00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:53,406
But the biggest and oldest
is the Canadian Shield,

768
00:33:53,406 --> 00:33:55,199
Which also just happened to spend

769
00:33:55,199 --> 00:33:57,660
The last several million years
in the glacial zone.

770
00:33:57,660 --> 00:33:59,746
And as the Earth went through
several glacial periods,

771
00:33:59,746 --> 00:34:03,541
These mile-high walls of ice
scraped away the top soil,

772
00:34:03,541 --> 00:34:06,794
Leaving this endless, expansive rock
exposed for the world to see.

773
00:34:06,794 --> 00:34:08,254
And because of this,

774
00:34:08,254 --> 00:34:10,882
Wide swaths of Canada are
almost entirely uninhabited

775
00:34:10,882 --> 00:34:13,843
Because there's just no land
to develop agriculture on.

776
00:34:14,010 --> 00:34:16,763
But also because of this,
it exposed these rocks

777
00:34:16,763 --> 00:34:18,222
And the stories held within them.

778
00:34:18,681 --> 00:34:19,891
I think for me,

779
00:34:19,891 --> 00:34:24,896
Geology... is such
a massively diverse field

780
00:34:24,896 --> 00:34:26,647
That it's just about
the world around you,

781
00:34:26,647 --> 00:34:28,566
The landscape around you,
and you look around.

782
00:34:28,566 --> 00:34:30,151
And it's the same thing, yeah.
People have—

783
00:34:30,151 --> 00:34:32,320
You could very easily walk
across these rocks

784
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:33,696
And think, "Oh, those are
quite pretty rocks."

785
00:34:33,696 --> 00:34:35,782
But they're some of
the oldest rocks in the world.

786
00:34:35,782 --> 00:34:36,616
It has new meaning.

787
00:34:36,616 --> 00:34:38,785
You have to sit down
and think about,

788
00:34:38,785 --> 00:34:40,995
What does 4 billion years
actually mean?

789
00:34:40,995 --> 00:34:42,830
That's really hard to comprehend.

790
00:34:42,830 --> 00:34:44,040
- Yeah.
- And I can't—

791
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:44,999
I'm not doing it right now,

792
00:34:44,999 --> 00:34:46,667
But when I do
comprehend it a little,

793
00:34:46,667 --> 00:34:49,212
You get hints of it,
and it's scary.

794
00:34:49,962 --> 00:34:51,881
I mean, it's like, wow,
this is unbelievable.

795
00:34:51,881 --> 00:34:56,010
It's a sort of a spiritual—
or whatever, you know,

796
00:34:56,010 --> 00:34:58,846
It's some—
it has meaning that's—

797
00:34:59,055 --> 00:35:02,225
It's very complicated and
a sort of a spiritual experience

798
00:35:02,225 --> 00:35:04,477
To sort of think about
time and that scale.

799
00:35:04,477 --> 00:35:06,187
'Cause we try and keep
things simple as geologists.

800
00:35:06,187 --> 00:35:07,230
So we always talk about it

801
00:35:07,230 --> 00:35:08,773
In like the first or
second decimal place.

802
00:35:08,773 --> 00:35:11,275
We say,
"Oh, it's 4.0 billion years."

803
00:35:11,275 --> 00:35:12,819
And that just cheapens it
a bit, you know?

804
00:35:12,819 --> 00:35:14,195
We should say it's like...

805
00:35:14,195 --> 00:35:16,906
4 billion is a massive number
compared to...

806
00:35:16,906 --> 00:35:18,616
That .1 is 100 million years.

807
00:35:18,616 --> 00:35:20,284
- Exactly, it's insane.
- Unfathomable.

808
00:35:20,284 --> 00:35:22,328
So the difference between,
you know, this rock,

809
00:35:22,328 --> 00:35:24,997
Which is 3.8,
and that one, which is 3.6,

810
00:35:24,997 --> 00:35:27,291
That's 200 million years old.
Or 200 million years—

811
00:35:27,291 --> 00:35:28,751
That's 200 million years
of difference.

812
00:35:28,751 --> 00:35:31,629
That's an enormous amount of time.

813
00:35:31,838 --> 00:35:33,047
- And we're sitting on—
- Wait, wait, wait, wait.

814
00:35:33,047 --> 00:35:34,507
No, wait, so I have to process this.

815
00:35:34,507 --> 00:35:36,717
So, so this rock right here...

816
00:35:37,426 --> 00:35:40,221
Is, what, 300 million years
younger than this?

817
00:35:40,221 --> 00:35:42,431
This is younger.
This will be three— Well, okay.

818
00:35:42,431 --> 00:35:43,599
This isn't a great outcrop

819
00:35:43,599 --> 00:35:45,017
'cause I haven't dated
this particular one.

820
00:35:45,017 --> 00:35:46,853
- But for the sake—
- But for the sake of argument.

821
00:35:46,853 --> 00:35:48,729
For the sake of argument,
this is 3.8.

822
00:35:48,729 --> 00:35:53,484
Similar rocks to this over there
are 3.8 billion years old, 3.75.

823
00:35:53,484 --> 00:35:55,069
This is 3.6.

824
00:35:55,069 --> 00:35:56,737
So that's 150 million years

825
00:35:56,737 --> 00:35:58,739
Of age difference
between those two rocks,

826
00:35:58,739 --> 00:36:00,032
And they're just sitting happily

827
00:36:00,032 --> 00:36:01,450
Next together, next to
each other right now.

828
00:36:01,450 --> 00:36:02,451
That's like...

829
00:36:03,035 --> 00:36:03,995
...before the dinosaurs.

830
00:36:03,995 --> 00:36:05,621
Well before the dinosaurs.

831
00:36:05,621 --> 00:36:07,123
Well before the dinosaurs.

832
00:36:07,123 --> 00:36:08,791
- That entire space?
- Yeah.

833
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:10,459
- Right there.
- Exactly.

834
00:36:10,626 --> 00:36:13,504
It's deeply humbling to sit
on a 4 billion year old rock

835
00:36:13,504 --> 00:36:14,672
And think, you know,

836
00:36:14,672 --> 00:36:17,258
My life is a minuscule
amount of time

837
00:36:17,258 --> 00:36:19,844
Compared to what
this rock has experienced.

838
00:36:20,094 --> 00:36:22,221
These are hallowed ground
to geologists.

839
00:36:22,221 --> 00:36:24,473
Like everybody,
if in an undergrad degree,

840
00:36:24,473 --> 00:36:27,226
You will probably hear the words
"the Acasta Gneiss Complex"

841
00:36:27,226 --> 00:36:29,395
At some point
in that degree process.

842
00:36:29,395 --> 00:36:32,815
And so this is a place,
I've been here, set up camp

843
00:36:32,815 --> 00:36:34,275
When we're mapping
during my PhD

844
00:36:34,275 --> 00:36:37,570
Where a random helicopter came
and dropped off a couple geologists

845
00:36:37,570 --> 00:36:40,239
Just because they wanted
to look at it for the day,

846
00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:42,325
And they had some helicopter time,
and they were swinging by.

847
00:36:42,325 --> 00:36:43,492
So it's a place like that,

848
00:36:43,492 --> 00:36:45,494
That people will land
to check it out

849
00:36:45,494 --> 00:36:47,205
Because it is kind of
hallowed ground

850
00:36:47,205 --> 00:36:48,956
In a— for geologists.

851
00:36:48,956 --> 00:36:52,210
You think more deeply about
things other than rocks

852
00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:53,586
When you're sitting on these rocks.

853
00:36:53,586 --> 00:36:55,713
At least I do,
in my own experience.

854
00:37:08,851 --> 00:37:10,811
The actual outcrop
is a short boat ride

855
00:37:10,811 --> 00:37:12,271
Across the lake from Snoopy Island,

856
00:37:12,271 --> 00:37:13,648
And in the interest
of protecting it,

857
00:37:13,648 --> 00:37:16,692
We've chosen not to reveal
its exact location here.

858
00:37:16,692 --> 00:37:17,735
We're headed
for those outcrops.

859
00:37:17,735 --> 00:37:18,819
We can see just a—

860
00:37:18,819 --> 00:37:21,280
Just on the other side of the point,
just past the point there.

861
00:37:22,406 --> 00:37:24,867
This lake, by the way,
is so far from human habitation

862
00:37:24,867 --> 00:37:26,869
That they're able
to drink directly from it.

863
00:37:26,953 --> 00:37:28,955
I saw them refilling
their water bottles

864
00:37:28,955 --> 00:37:29,830
On our trip back.

865
00:37:29,830 --> 00:37:31,999
Apparently the deeper water
tastes better.

866
00:37:32,583 --> 00:37:34,627
I tried it myself.
It was delicious.

867
00:37:34,627 --> 00:37:37,338
Oh, and when we arrived,
they made a big point to tell us

868
00:37:37,338 --> 00:37:40,216
To tuck our pants into our socks
to protect from bugs.

869
00:37:40,216 --> 00:37:42,426
But for some reason,
I'm the only one that did it.

870
00:37:42,426 --> 00:37:44,845
Hence the classy look
I'm sporting here.

871
00:37:44,845 --> 00:37:47,682
No worries guys, it's not like
I'll be on camera or anything.

872
00:37:48,933 --> 00:37:50,851
- I did it!
- Pull it tight to that.

873
00:37:50,977 --> 00:37:53,437
- What are we close to?
- Close to the old stuff.

874
00:37:53,604 --> 00:37:57,233
- The oldest rocks?
- 4.02 billion year old stuff.

875
00:37:57,441 --> 00:37:59,193
We tied off the boat
and took a short trek

876
00:37:59,193 --> 00:38:00,611
Along the shore to the oldest rocks.

877
00:38:00,611 --> 00:38:03,656
But first, a quick stop at
another impressive formation.

878
00:38:03,739 --> 00:38:05,908
So this is a
3.8 billion year old rock

879
00:38:05,908 --> 00:38:07,368
That has a bunch of veins

880
00:38:07,368 --> 00:38:09,203
That are cross-cutting it,
so we know they're younger,

881
00:38:09,203 --> 00:38:12,039
Because you can't
cross-cut something

882
00:38:12,039 --> 00:38:14,125
Unless the something
was there before.

883
00:38:14,125 --> 00:38:15,876
And so the veins are younger,

884
00:38:15,876 --> 00:38:17,712
Probably 3.6 billion years old.

885
00:38:17,712 --> 00:38:19,463
And it's bounded.
Sort of down here,

886
00:38:19,463 --> 00:38:22,591
You can start to see
a very deformed rock...

887
00:38:23,134 --> 00:38:25,636
That has this layering
to it here.

888
00:38:25,636 --> 00:38:28,306
And this is a, what we call
a banded gneiss package.

889
00:38:28,306 --> 00:38:31,267
So G-N-E-I-S-S, gneiss.

890
00:38:31,642 --> 00:38:33,519
Lots of geology puns
that go along with that.

891
00:38:33,519 --> 00:38:34,312
Nice!

892
00:38:34,312 --> 00:38:36,355
But this is a gneiss,
and this gneiss package

893
00:38:36,355 --> 00:38:38,024
Will continue
down the hill as we see,

894
00:38:38,024 --> 00:38:41,444
And there's several different
ages of units of rocks

895
00:38:41,444 --> 00:38:43,904
That are smooshed together
in this nice package.

896
00:38:43,904 --> 00:38:45,823
So we're kinda
going back in time?

897
00:38:45,823 --> 00:38:48,284
We're going
back and forth in time.

898
00:38:48,284 --> 00:38:50,453
Because these— again,
it's rock layers like this.

899
00:38:50,453 --> 00:38:53,289
It's a 4 billion year old rock,
a 3.7 billion year old rock,

900
00:38:53,289 --> 00:38:55,750
A 3.9 billion year old rock,
4.0 billion year old,

901
00:38:55,750 --> 00:38:58,461
3.9, 3.7 billion year old rock, 3.6.

902
00:38:58,461 --> 00:39:00,421
And then they're all
squished like that

903
00:39:00,421 --> 00:39:02,298
And sometimes folded
over on each other.

904
00:39:02,298 --> 00:39:03,841
So there's a lot of
layering in these

905
00:39:03,841 --> 00:39:05,926
'cause they're just
squished into oblivion.

906
00:39:05,926 --> 00:39:07,178
But we see stuff like this,

907
00:39:07,178 --> 00:39:10,639
And this is kind of a random
alignment of mineral grains,

908
00:39:10,639 --> 00:39:13,225
Which is what you get
in a primary rock

909
00:39:13,225 --> 00:39:14,727
That has not been
deformed very much.

910
00:39:15,186 --> 00:39:19,440
This stri— These stripes
are very rare to get

911
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,276
In igneous rocks
as a primary feature.

912
00:39:22,276 --> 00:39:24,570
So this is probably a rock
that's been squished.

913
00:39:24,570 --> 00:39:26,697
So do you see this kind of
like bending in the rock

914
00:39:26,697 --> 00:39:28,366
- And stuff kind of everywhere?
- Yeah. Everywhere.

915
00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:30,076
But this just happens
to be super old rock

916
00:39:30,076 --> 00:39:31,452
That that's been done to
many, many, many—

917
00:39:31,452 --> 00:39:33,412
Exactly, yep.
So it's super old rock.

918
00:39:33,412 --> 00:39:36,165
This is probably either a 3.6

919
00:39:36,165 --> 00:39:40,127
Or a 3.4 billion year old
injection that...

920
00:39:41,504 --> 00:39:45,132
That sort of injected itself
into this other rock

921
00:39:45,132 --> 00:39:47,009
And crosscuts it.

922
00:39:47,009 --> 00:39:49,095
So we know
this is older than this

923
00:39:49,095 --> 00:39:51,597
Because of the
crosscutting nature of it.

924
00:39:51,597 --> 00:39:54,433
And then the whole thing's
been deformed

925
00:39:54,683 --> 00:39:56,602
1.9 billion years ago,

926
00:39:56,602 --> 00:40:00,189
2.5 billion years ago,
multiple times.

927
00:40:00,189 --> 00:40:04,318
This little body has been
isolated from deformation

928
00:40:04,318 --> 00:40:06,570
More than the rocks
we'll see right down there.

929
00:40:06,570 --> 00:40:08,823
This is like slightly
better preserved

930
00:40:09,031 --> 00:40:09,990
Than the ones right down there.

931
00:40:09,990 --> 00:40:11,867
These are some of
the more complicated rocks

932
00:40:11,867 --> 00:40:13,035
You're ever going to see.

933
00:40:13,035 --> 00:40:16,205
So, you kind of threw yourself
in the deep end here,

934
00:40:16,205 --> 00:40:17,748
- Coming to these rocks.
- Yeah.

935
00:40:17,748 --> 00:40:19,959
We were— We've been sitting
for days on these rocks

936
00:40:19,959 --> 00:40:21,377
Just asking the same questions.

937
00:40:21,377 --> 00:40:25,464
You are trying to grapple with
the scale and the magnitude

938
00:40:25,464 --> 00:40:27,842
- Of the history in these rocks.
- Yeah.

939
00:40:28,092 --> 00:40:30,136
It's functionally impossible.

940
00:40:30,136 --> 00:40:31,429
- It's very hard.
- To do in the field.

941
00:40:31,429 --> 00:40:34,056
For, you know,
trained geologists

942
00:40:34,056 --> 00:40:36,058
With a lot of shared field expertise,

943
00:40:36,058 --> 00:40:38,102
That we're sitting on rocks
that we're debating,

944
00:40:38,102 --> 00:40:40,396
What does that structure tell us?

945
00:40:41,439 --> 00:40:42,690
You know what's
also amazing about this?

946
00:40:43,607 --> 00:40:44,859
It looks like a boot.

947
00:40:44,859 --> 00:40:46,819
Okay.

948
00:40:46,819 --> 00:40:47,945
It looks like a boot.
It's like—

949
00:40:47,945 --> 00:40:48,946
Oh, I see, the outline.

950
00:40:48,946 --> 00:40:50,656
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Alright, I got you.

951
00:40:50,656 --> 00:40:52,408
- That's good Texan stuff right there.
- Yeah.

952
00:40:52,408 --> 00:40:53,784
Finding cowboy boots
everywhere.

953
00:40:53,784 --> 00:40:55,828
I can't get away.
You can take the boy outta Texas,

954
00:40:55,828 --> 00:40:56,996
But you can't take
the Texas outta—

955
00:40:56,996 --> 00:40:58,456
Oh yeah, it's
gotta find one there.

956
00:40:58,622 --> 00:41:01,834
We have this... law,

957
00:41:01,834 --> 00:41:05,212
Law of science that you learn
in Geology 101 classes...

958
00:41:06,130 --> 00:41:09,675
Where basically the idea is that
the present is the key to the past.

959
00:41:09,884 --> 00:41:12,094
So you can look at
things happening today

960
00:41:12,094 --> 00:41:16,432
And trace back... what was
happening in the past.

961
00:41:16,432 --> 00:41:20,019
And that law
unambiguously breaks down

962
00:41:20,019 --> 00:41:21,562
- You get this far back.
- Yeah.

963
00:41:21,562 --> 00:41:24,690
I mean, what we have to
try to do with these rocks,

964
00:41:24,690 --> 00:41:26,609
And what Jesse's done
a really good job of

965
00:41:26,609 --> 00:41:28,486
Is trying to piece together...

966
00:41:29,069 --> 00:41:32,114
What Earth could have looked like

967
00:41:32,114 --> 00:41:34,825
When we didn't have
the ability to go walk around

968
00:41:34,825 --> 00:41:37,411
And hike around in the Cascades
and grab a volcanic rock,

969
00:41:37,411 --> 00:41:40,789
And go to Yosemite,
and go to Iceland, go to Hawaii.

970
00:41:41,165 --> 00:41:43,584
We do not know what
the early Earth looked like,

971
00:41:43,584 --> 00:41:45,169
And the only way

972
00:41:45,377 --> 00:41:48,130
We can even come close
to getting there

973
00:41:48,130 --> 00:41:50,049
Is by looking at these rocks.

974
00:41:50,382 --> 00:41:51,759
And now that we had
a better understanding

975
00:41:51,759 --> 00:41:54,762
Of what we were looking at,
it was time for the main event.

976
00:41:54,762 --> 00:41:59,683
But this rock unit,
now you are standing on...

977
00:42:00,142 --> 00:42:03,437
Is the...

978
00:42:04,313 --> 00:42:07,191
4.02 billion year old rock unit.

979
00:42:07,608 --> 00:42:10,903
And it goes from up
where your feet are

980
00:42:11,111 --> 00:42:13,489
For about 10 meters
down in this direction,

981
00:42:13,489 --> 00:42:16,200
And it continues up into
the hill for quite a while.

982
00:42:16,367 --> 00:42:20,663
And you can see, come look at it,
and see this same kind of layering.

983
00:42:20,663 --> 00:42:23,374
There's a different chemistry and
a different chemical composition

984
00:42:23,374 --> 00:42:25,626
From that rock in a different age,

985
00:42:25,626 --> 00:42:30,130
And it's inter-layered with
other rocks of younger eras.

986
00:42:30,339 --> 00:42:31,799
But this is the old one right here.

987
00:42:31,799 --> 00:42:34,385
So kinda the way
you just explained the rocks

988
00:42:34,385 --> 00:42:36,011
On the other side over there...

989
00:42:37,721 --> 00:42:39,390
What can we read?

990
00:42:39,390 --> 00:42:42,226
What's the story here that
we can read in these rocks?

991
00:42:42,226 --> 00:42:43,644
Ah, it is—

992
00:42:43,644 --> 00:42:47,231
The story is smeared out

993
00:42:47,231 --> 00:42:49,400
When you're looking at it
in an outcrop.

994
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,443
The story is really
in the geochemistry

995
00:42:51,443 --> 00:42:54,446
And what we can tell
in the lab about it.

996
00:42:54,446 --> 00:42:57,032
So we take these rocks
back to the lab,

997
00:42:57,032 --> 00:42:59,034
We look at their zircon cargo,

998
00:42:59,034 --> 00:43:01,704
These minerals that are
really good at geochronology.

999
00:43:01,704 --> 00:43:03,998
They also record
a bunch of geochemistry.

1000
00:43:04,123 --> 00:43:07,459
And we can tell something
about when the rock—

1001
00:43:07,459 --> 00:43:10,379
How the rock was created,
how the magma was created,

1002
00:43:10,629 --> 00:43:12,548
Where it crystallized in the crust.

1003
00:43:12,548 --> 00:43:14,758
And then we can also look at
the composition of the rock.

1004
00:43:14,758 --> 00:43:17,261
So the chemical recipe for the rock.

1005
00:43:17,261 --> 00:43:20,639
And that tells us some key things
about how it was created as well.

1006
00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:24,101
What environment it formed in,
what led to the melting

1007
00:43:24,101 --> 00:43:27,396
That produced a magma
that created this rock,

1008
00:43:27,396 --> 00:43:29,189
Which made these rocks
exciting for us

1009
00:43:29,189 --> 00:43:31,442
Because the chemical
composition of these rocks

1010
00:43:31,442 --> 00:43:35,404
Matches very closely to
a rock type called Icelandite.

1011
00:43:35,404 --> 00:43:36,864
And as you would guess...

1012
00:43:36,864 --> 00:43:38,324
- Icelandite occurs in Iceland.
- Where's that from

1013
00:43:38,324 --> 00:43:39,575
Yeah, exactly.

1014
00:43:39,867 --> 00:43:42,161
And so, you know,
Iceland's a proto-continent.

1015
00:43:42,161 --> 00:43:45,623
These are the oldest rocks
we know of, on this area,

1016
00:43:45,623 --> 00:43:47,082
And maybe our planet.

1017
00:43:47,082 --> 00:43:49,627
And they're—
they look like Icelandites.

1018
00:43:49,627 --> 00:43:52,087
And, so maybe this
is a proto-continent.

1019
00:43:52,087 --> 00:43:56,258
Maybe this is how the continent
kinda got kickstarted growing.

1020
00:43:56,258 --> 00:43:57,843
Proto-continent.

1021
00:43:59,053 --> 00:44:00,512
Have to sit with that one
for a minute.

1022
00:44:00,512 --> 00:44:02,640
- That's wild.
- Yeah.

1023
00:44:05,267 --> 00:44:06,977
I don't know what else to say.
I'm kinda—

1024
00:44:06,977 --> 00:44:09,730
You gotta sit and think,
sit and think in silence is okay

1025
00:44:09,730 --> 00:44:11,815
- On the world's oldest rocks.
- Well...

1026
00:44:12,358 --> 00:44:13,984
One of the things I was
sitting here looking at,

1027
00:44:14,443 --> 00:44:16,904
It looks like— it kinda
looks like an old man.

1028
00:44:16,904 --> 00:44:19,990
Like it's got these deep wrinkles.
It's got this...

1029
00:44:20,658 --> 00:44:22,826
I mean, some of this I'm sure
is lichen that's on top here,

1030
00:44:22,826 --> 00:44:26,080
But it's like, it's so—
it's got these lines across it.

1031
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:27,623
It looks scarred.
It looks weathered.

1032
00:44:27,623 --> 00:44:29,249
It looks old.

1033
00:44:29,249 --> 00:44:31,877
Deep wrinkle lines. I like that.
That's a good description.

1034
00:44:31,877 --> 00:44:32,961
But it...

1035
00:44:34,129 --> 00:44:36,006
I don't know.
It almost makes me kind of—

1036
00:44:36,006 --> 00:44:38,425
I'm being— I'm really
being like, woo-woo now,

1037
00:44:38,425 --> 00:44:40,719
But it's like, it makes me
think of like an old grandpa.

1038
00:44:40,719 --> 00:44:41,720
Mhm.

1039
00:44:41,720 --> 00:44:43,639
An old lovable grandpa

1040
00:44:44,223 --> 00:44:45,641
That's been through some shit.

1041
00:44:45,641 --> 00:44:47,518
And...

1042
00:44:48,936 --> 00:44:50,521
And we're all just
kinda living on it.

1043
00:44:50,521 --> 00:44:52,272
Yeah, no, you're not off.

1044
00:44:52,272 --> 00:44:54,900
That's how when
the original discovery was made,

1045
00:44:54,900 --> 00:44:56,652
People were walking across
these rocks and said,

1046
00:44:56,652 --> 00:44:59,613
"Oh wait, these have had
a tortured history.

1047
00:44:59,613 --> 00:45:01,115
"Much more tortured
than rocks over there,

1048
00:45:01,115 --> 00:45:04,118
"and rocks over there.
So this is a different beast.

1049
00:45:04,118 --> 00:45:05,285
Let's date it."

1050
00:45:05,285 --> 00:45:07,579
And then they dated it
and found

1051
00:45:07,579 --> 00:45:10,290
3.964 billion year old
rocks around.

1052
00:45:10,290 --> 00:45:12,876
So that little bit of—
your intuition is exactly right.

1053
00:45:12,876 --> 00:45:14,545
This looks old and tortured.

1054
00:45:14,545 --> 00:45:16,672
How crazy is it that like
literally just a visual thing

1055
00:45:16,672 --> 00:45:18,674
Of looking at it is like,
"Hey, there's something to this."

1056
00:45:18,674 --> 00:45:20,968
- And then it turns out there was.
- Yep.

1057
00:45:21,844 --> 00:45:23,512
Geology is great
because, you know,

1058
00:45:23,512 --> 00:45:25,055
We speak about
planetary science all the time.

1059
00:45:25,055 --> 00:45:27,850
Every time you look at— in a rock,
you're seeing a different planet,

1060
00:45:28,058 --> 00:45:30,185
A planet that used to exist
and no longer does

1061
00:45:30,185 --> 00:45:33,188
Because Earth has
this long timescale

1062
00:45:33,188 --> 00:45:34,732
Of a rock record.

1063
00:45:34,732 --> 00:45:38,360
And when we look at exoplanets
and other solar systems,

1064
00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:41,655
We're getting a snapshot
into that planet's life.

1065
00:45:41,864 --> 00:45:46,076
And you know, even arguably on
our limited sampling of Mars

1066
00:45:46,076 --> 00:45:48,328
And no samples of Venus,
we're getting kind of snapshots

1067
00:45:48,328 --> 00:45:50,414
Of the planetary lifetime.

1068
00:45:50,414 --> 00:45:51,749
In Earth,
as we go back in time,

1069
00:45:51,749 --> 00:45:53,834
We are doing planetary science
because we're looking at

1070
00:45:53,834 --> 00:45:55,544
A planet that no longer exists.

1071
00:45:55,544 --> 00:45:56,962
Listening to Mike and Jesse,

1072
00:45:56,962 --> 00:46:00,257
It became clear to me that
these are not just old rocks.

1073
00:46:00,466 --> 00:46:03,093
These are memories
of a previous planet.

1074
00:46:03,302 --> 00:46:05,304
Memories that have
become scrambled and twisted

1075
00:46:05,304 --> 00:46:08,182
As they become unintelligible
and nonsensical.

1076
00:46:08,182 --> 00:46:09,892
A 4 billion year old puzzle

1077
00:46:09,892 --> 00:46:12,311
For people like Mike
and Jesse to decipher.

1078
00:46:13,145 --> 00:46:14,938
And I could listen to them
talk about this all day,

1079
00:46:14,938 --> 00:46:16,356
But with our time ticking away

1080
00:46:16,356 --> 00:46:19,109
And Sofie waiting for us
back at the plane,

1081
00:46:19,109 --> 00:46:20,903
There was still one thing
left to capture.

1082
00:46:21,069 --> 00:46:23,864
After three years of
misdirections and close calls,

1083
00:46:23,864 --> 00:46:25,616
The time had finally come

1084
00:46:25,616 --> 00:46:27,910
To stand on the oldest
rocks on planet Earth.

1085
00:47:00,067 --> 00:47:04,154
I've been thinking about this trip
for a really, really long time.

1086
00:47:04,613 --> 00:47:06,824
And I— several—
on several occasions,

1087
00:47:06,824 --> 00:47:08,700
I sat down and...

1088
00:47:12,329 --> 00:47:16,291
Tried to write out my thoughts
on the whole thing,

1089
00:47:16,291 --> 00:47:17,960
And I stopped myself.

1090
00:47:18,752 --> 00:47:20,045
I wanted to actually get here

1091
00:47:20,045 --> 00:47:23,090
And feel it and see,
be like what I felt.

1092
00:47:25,926 --> 00:47:27,261
And now I'm here...

1093
00:47:30,889 --> 00:47:32,432
...and it's complicated.

1094
00:47:32,432 --> 00:47:34,142
I don't know how I feel.

1095
00:47:36,937 --> 00:47:39,439
I don't know that like—
you know, I try to stay away

1096
00:47:39,439 --> 00:47:42,150
From woo-woo type stuff, but...

1097
00:47:42,609 --> 00:47:45,320
I was wondering if I would
feel some kind of energy?

1098
00:47:46,196 --> 00:47:48,824
Some kind of Earth energy
coming off of this?

1099
00:47:49,324 --> 00:47:50,784
I don't know,
I don't know that I feel that,

1100
00:47:50,784 --> 00:47:52,995
But I do feel a weight.
I feel...

1101
00:47:54,621 --> 00:47:56,039
...a presence.

1102
00:47:56,999 --> 00:47:58,375
Again, I'm not trying
to make it woo-woo.

1103
00:47:58,375 --> 00:48:00,210
I'm not trying to make
it out like I'm pick—

1104
00:48:00,210 --> 00:48:02,713
It's not— this isn't
Stonehenge, you know.

1105
00:48:02,963 --> 00:48:05,340
It's not mystical or anything.
It's just...

1106
00:48:06,216 --> 00:48:09,303
To contemplate,
to sit in this spot...

1107
00:48:10,262 --> 00:48:12,514
On these rocks that have existed...

1108
00:48:14,850 --> 00:48:17,144
For almost a third of the universe?

1109
00:48:21,857 --> 00:48:23,442
It's very humbling.

1110
00:48:23,901 --> 00:48:25,277
That's not even
the right word for it.

1111
00:48:25,277 --> 00:48:26,862
Humbling isn't the right word.

1112
00:48:34,161 --> 00:48:37,789
It's not just that this has
existed for 4 billion years,

1113
00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:41,084
Which is itself an
incomprehensibly large number...

1114
00:48:41,835 --> 00:48:44,713
Because as many people
would be quick to point out,

1115
00:48:44,963 --> 00:48:47,925
Everything on the Earth has
been here for 4.5 billion years.

1116
00:48:47,925 --> 00:48:51,053
But, everything gets transformed.

1117
00:48:51,762 --> 00:48:53,388
Everything gets reshaped.

1118
00:48:53,388 --> 00:48:56,058
Everything gets turned
into something else.

1119
00:48:56,266 --> 00:48:58,602
Metamorphosed, if you will.

1120
00:48:58,685 --> 00:49:00,020
But this hasn't.

1121
00:49:00,812 --> 00:49:02,564
This has been here
this whole time.

1122
00:49:03,982 --> 00:49:05,359
Unchanging.

1123
00:49:05,609 --> 00:49:09,529
Actually, it's changed a lot,
but fundamentally unchanging.

1124
00:49:09,529 --> 00:49:10,739
You know, one of
the themes of this video

1125
00:49:10,739 --> 00:49:12,908
Is supposed to be like
permanence and renewal.

1126
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:15,619
And permanence,
or this kind of permanence,

1127
00:49:15,619 --> 00:49:17,621
It's not something
that we can even...

1128
00:49:18,664 --> 00:49:20,832
Experience, certainly
can't experience.

1129
00:49:20,832 --> 00:49:23,251
Can't even really comprehend, but...

1130
00:49:25,128 --> 00:49:27,881
Renewal is something
that we can experience.

1131
00:49:30,133 --> 00:49:32,094
So maybe let's see
what that's all about.

1132
00:49:42,437 --> 00:49:43,522
Yeah.

1133
00:49:43,522 --> 00:49:44,690
Onto the next thing.

1134
00:50:16,638 --> 00:50:19,224
From the smoky skies and
ancient granite of northern Canada

1135
00:50:19,224 --> 00:50:21,393
To the sun, palm trees,
and black sand,

1136
00:50:21,393 --> 00:50:23,895
We traveled to the newest
place on planet Earth:

1137
00:50:24,104 --> 00:50:25,564
The Big Island of Hawaii.

1138
00:50:26,023 --> 00:50:28,608
The Big Island of Hawaii is
the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands

1139
00:50:28,608 --> 00:50:30,152
At around 500,000 years old.

1140
00:50:30,152 --> 00:50:32,904
Which, to visualize this,
when you put that on a chart

1141
00:50:32,904 --> 00:50:34,656
Next to the Acasta Gneiss...

1142
00:50:35,907 --> 00:50:39,619
Hawaii's there.
It's just a pixel or two, but yeah.

1143
00:50:40,579 --> 00:50:41,705
It's younger.

1144
00:50:41,955 --> 00:50:42,956
Also, just a quick note

1145
00:50:42,956 --> 00:50:45,167
On the actual pronunciation
of the word.

1146
00:50:45,375 --> 00:50:47,335
I always just said
"Hawaii" growing up.

1147
00:50:47,335 --> 00:50:49,046
That's how most of us
learn it in the US,

1148
00:50:49,046 --> 00:50:50,881
But there is
an apostrophe in there,

1149
00:50:50,881 --> 00:50:53,216
Which in the Hawaiian language
indicates a glottal stop.

1150
00:50:53,216 --> 00:50:55,469
So it's actually
pronounced "Ha-wai-i".

1151
00:50:55,469 --> 00:50:57,095
Now, there are some that
go a bit further with that

1152
00:50:57,095 --> 00:51:01,433
And say "Ha-va-i" with a V sound,
but that's kind of a sub-dialect.

1153
00:51:01,933 --> 00:51:03,560
All the islands have
their own subcultures

1154
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:04,436
With their own dialects,

1155
00:51:04,436 --> 00:51:06,646
But the most universally
accepted pronunciation,

1156
00:51:06,646 --> 00:51:09,107
According to the experts
I talked to anyway, is "Ha-wai-i".

1157
00:51:09,107 --> 00:51:12,027
So, I'm gonna be using
that pronunciation in this video.

1158
00:51:12,194 --> 00:51:14,404
There are seven main islands
in the Hawaiian island chain,

1159
00:51:14,404 --> 00:51:16,073
And they get younger
the further down you go,

1160
00:51:16,073 --> 00:51:18,325
Ranging in age from
5.2 million years old

1161
00:51:18,325 --> 00:51:20,285
To half a million years
old on the Big Island,

1162
00:51:20,285 --> 00:51:21,620
Whose name is actually Hawai'i,

1163
00:51:21,620 --> 00:51:23,455
But because that's also
the name of the state,

1164
00:51:23,455 --> 00:51:25,082
Most people just call it
"the Big Island".

1165
00:51:26,917 --> 00:51:28,210
Because it's the big one.

1166
00:51:28,210 --> 00:51:29,753
And the Big Island
is especially unique

1167
00:51:29,753 --> 00:51:33,006
Because out of the 13 climate zones
that exist on planet Earth,

1168
00:51:33,006 --> 00:51:35,550
Eight of them can be found
on the Big Island of Hawaii.

1169
00:51:35,759 --> 00:51:37,719
It is literally the most
ecologically diverse

1170
00:51:37,719 --> 00:51:38,970
Place in the world.

1171
00:51:38,970 --> 00:51:41,056
This is due to the unique
geology of the island,

1172
00:51:41,056 --> 00:51:43,975
Which is dominated by two peaks
– Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa –

1173
00:51:43,975 --> 00:51:48,939
Which rise up to 4,207 and
4,169 meters respectively.

1174
00:51:48,939 --> 00:51:51,399
This causes the trade winds
carrying warm, moist air

1175
00:51:51,399 --> 00:51:54,152
Up from the northeast
to rise up as it hits the mountains.

1176
00:51:54,152 --> 00:51:56,696
This cools, condenses,
and falls as rain,

1177
00:51:56,696 --> 00:51:59,825
Making the east side wet and humid
while the west side is drier,

1178
00:51:59,825 --> 00:52:02,285
Even desert conditions
in some places.

1179
00:52:02,285 --> 00:52:04,579
And there are two main
population centers on the island,

1180
00:52:04,579 --> 00:52:07,833
With Hilo on the east coast
and Kailua-Kona on the west coast.

1181
00:52:07,999 --> 00:52:09,835
Hilo is larger and
serves as the county seat

1182
00:52:09,835 --> 00:52:11,044
On the island of Hawai'i,

1183
00:52:11,044 --> 00:52:13,296
While Kailua-Kona is more
of a tourist destination

1184
00:52:13,296 --> 00:52:14,631
That's famous for their coffee.

1185
00:52:14,631 --> 00:52:17,259
But as much as I love coffee,
we traveled to Hilo

1186
00:52:17,259 --> 00:52:20,137
Because of its proximity to
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

1187
00:52:20,137 --> 00:52:21,221
Also, that's where the offices

1188
00:52:21,221 --> 00:52:23,348
Of the US Geological Survey
are located.

1189
00:52:23,515 --> 00:52:24,933
When I said that
Hilo is generally

1190
00:52:24,933 --> 00:52:27,144
More humid and wet,
I wasn't kidding.

1191
00:52:27,144 --> 00:52:28,478
In fact, Hilo is considered

1192
00:52:28,478 --> 00:52:30,438
The wettest city
in the United States.

1193
00:52:30,689 --> 00:52:32,232
And just some foreshadowing,

1194
00:52:32,232 --> 00:52:33,859
That was totally
my experience there.

1195
00:52:33,859 --> 00:52:36,444
I was quite moist the whole time.

1196
00:52:37,028 --> 00:52:39,865
Which, while that might not be
my favorite feeling in the world,

1197
00:52:39,865 --> 00:52:41,992
It's made Hilo the most
lush and green place

1198
00:52:41,992 --> 00:52:43,410
I've ever seen in my life.

1199
00:52:43,410 --> 00:52:46,955
The plant life here is spectacular
with sky-high palm trees

1200
00:52:46,955 --> 00:52:49,082
Alongside wide and
sprawling banyan trees

1201
00:52:49,082 --> 00:52:50,458
That are such a fixture
of the island

1202
00:52:50,458 --> 00:52:52,586
That many of them had names.

1203
00:52:53,003 --> 00:52:54,838
Outside our hotel,
at any given time,

1204
00:52:54,838 --> 00:52:56,631
There were people swimming
and paddle boarding

1205
00:52:56,631 --> 00:53:00,010
And fishing in the lagoon,
and families enjoying epic cookouts

1206
00:53:00,010 --> 00:53:01,720
Underneath the banyan trees.

1207
00:53:01,720 --> 00:53:03,221
It's an island lifestyle

1208
00:53:03,221 --> 00:53:05,640
That operates on vibes
and community spirit,

1209
00:53:05,640 --> 00:53:07,976
Where a sunny day can become
a rainstorm and back again

1210
00:53:07,976 --> 00:53:09,895
In the span of 15 minutes.

1211
00:53:10,145 --> 00:53:13,023
The rain is just part of life here.

1212
00:53:13,231 --> 00:53:15,317
The locals call it liquid sunshine.

1213
00:53:15,901 --> 00:53:19,821
Okay, we're in Hawaii,
and here's where things stand.

1214
00:53:19,821 --> 00:53:22,532
Where we stand right now
is we're on the island.

1215
00:53:22,532 --> 00:53:24,868
We're in Hilo on the Big Island.

1216
00:53:24,868 --> 00:53:28,163
We have one interview
set up with a geologist.

1217
00:53:28,163 --> 00:53:29,581
We have a second one
on the way

1218
00:53:29,581 --> 00:53:31,499
And a third that we
are trying to set up.

1219
00:53:31,499 --> 00:53:34,544
The thing that I'm finding
is that Canada, I thought,

1220
00:53:34,544 --> 00:53:36,296
Would be a million times
harder than here

1221
00:53:36,296 --> 00:53:38,173
Because it's very remote.

1222
00:53:38,173 --> 00:53:40,008
There's no infrastructure
out there and all that.

1223
00:53:40,008 --> 00:53:42,135
This is Hawaii.
It's actually a state.

1224
00:53:42,135 --> 00:53:44,429
You don't even have to do
a currency exchange.

1225
00:53:44,930 --> 00:53:46,932
What I'm finding though is that...

1226
00:53:47,182 --> 00:53:49,100
Especially when getting
interviews set up,

1227
00:53:49,100 --> 00:53:51,102
This is where people live and work.

1228
00:53:51,102 --> 00:53:52,979
And right now they have
a lot of work to do

1229
00:53:52,979 --> 00:53:55,690
Because the volcano is erupting.

1230
00:53:55,690 --> 00:53:58,318
So our schedules had to
be insanely flexible.

1231
00:53:58,318 --> 00:53:59,819
And what we've told everybody is,

1232
00:53:59,819 --> 00:54:02,197
"Look, give us three hours
of head time, lead time,

1233
00:54:02,197 --> 00:54:04,324
And we will come to you.
We'll make it happen."

1234
00:54:04,324 --> 00:54:06,576
So in the meantime, today...

1235
00:54:06,743 --> 00:54:08,453
So this is the first day.
This is Friday.

1236
00:54:08,453 --> 00:54:11,331
We're gonna be going around Hilo,
seeing a little bit of the town.

1237
00:54:11,331 --> 00:54:12,749
We do have an interview
this afternoon

1238
00:54:12,749 --> 00:54:14,209
That I'm really excited about.

1239
00:54:14,417 --> 00:54:15,502
But the first things first,

1240
00:54:15,502 --> 00:54:17,337
I've gotta get some
Sudafed or something

1241
00:54:17,337 --> 00:54:19,422
Because my ears have not...

1242
00:54:20,215 --> 00:54:22,467
Have not cleared
since I got off the plane.

1243
00:54:22,467 --> 00:54:24,469
I can barely hear
anything outta this ear.

1244
00:54:24,469 --> 00:54:26,846
It's not a good time.
But we're here.

1245
00:54:26,846 --> 00:54:29,808
I'm ready to make the most of it.
And let's just see what happens.

1246
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:43,947
Little sea arch back there.

1247
00:54:44,698 --> 00:54:46,366
It's not gonna be around forever.

1248
00:54:47,867 --> 00:54:49,703
It might fall in our lifetimes.

1249
00:55:23,236 --> 00:55:25,905
The island of Hawai'i is
of course a volcanic island,

1250
00:55:25,905 --> 00:55:27,741
One of the most volcanic
hotspots in the world,

1251
00:55:27,741 --> 00:55:30,910
Regularly spewing out molten lava
from its three active volcanoes,

1252
00:55:30,910 --> 00:55:34,205
Kīlauea, Mauna Loa,
and Hualālai,

1253
00:55:34,205 --> 00:55:36,124
The last of which
hasn't erupted since 1801,

1254
00:55:36,124 --> 00:55:37,667
But it's still considered active.

1255
00:55:37,667 --> 00:55:40,170
Mauna Loa is considered
the tallest volcano on Earth

1256
00:55:40,170 --> 00:55:41,546
When measured from the sea floor,

1257
00:55:41,546 --> 00:55:43,465
And it's the second tallest
mountain in the world,

1258
00:55:43,465 --> 00:55:45,884
Again, if measured
from the sea floor.

1259
00:55:45,884 --> 00:55:48,219
It's just bested by its
sister mountain Mauna Kea,

1260
00:55:48,219 --> 00:55:49,846
A mere 38 meters taller.

1261
00:55:49,846 --> 00:55:51,264
And then there's Kīlauea,

1262
00:55:51,264 --> 00:55:53,183
One of the most active
volcanoes on Earth.

1263
00:55:53,183 --> 00:55:55,935
It's been erupting almost
nonstop since 1983,

1264
00:55:55,935 --> 00:55:58,188
Releasing lava from
its central caldera

1265
00:55:58,188 --> 00:56:01,274
As well as various rift zones
along the southeast of the island.

1266
00:56:01,274 --> 00:56:02,984
All of which is to say
that if we wanna stand

1267
00:56:02,984 --> 00:56:04,235
On the newest rocks in the world,

1268
00:56:04,235 --> 00:56:06,571
We've got plenty of options
to choose from.

1269
00:56:06,780 --> 00:56:08,740
So we set out to find the best spot.

1270
00:56:09,282 --> 00:56:12,410
Alright. Here's
what we're looking at.

1271
00:56:12,702 --> 00:56:15,455
So this is the Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park.

1272
00:56:15,580 --> 00:56:18,166
According to the geologists
and the researchers I talked to,

1273
00:56:18,166 --> 00:56:22,962
There's three... pretty good
options here for the newest rock.

1274
00:56:23,254 --> 00:56:27,550
The first one is actually over here.

1275
00:56:28,635 --> 00:56:29,427
Okay.

1276
00:56:29,636 --> 00:56:32,013
This is actually Mauna Loa.
This isn't Kīlauea.

1277
00:56:32,013 --> 00:56:36,017
So Mauna Loa is the second
highest mountain on the island,

1278
00:56:36,017 --> 00:56:40,313
But it's the highest active
volcano in the world.

1279
00:56:40,313 --> 00:56:42,399
- So it's up in elevation quite a bit.
- Right.

1280
00:56:42,399 --> 00:56:44,317
But there's this
access road right here.

1281
00:56:44,317 --> 00:56:46,194
It's called
Mauna Loa Observatory Road.

1282
00:56:46,486 --> 00:56:49,155
And in 2022, so two years ago,

1283
00:56:49,364 --> 00:56:51,699
A lava flow completely
blocked off this road.

1284
00:56:51,699 --> 00:56:53,410
So if you're going down that road,
you can't miss it.

1285
00:56:53,410 --> 00:56:55,787
You literally can't go any further.
It's blocked off by lava.

1286
00:56:56,121 --> 00:57:00,333
But it's a publicly accessible road.
There's a highway right over here.

1287
00:57:00,792 --> 00:57:03,253
Anybody can go to it.
100%, this is doable.

1288
00:57:03,253 --> 00:57:05,088
- We can do this.
- Sure.

1289
00:57:05,088 --> 00:57:06,631
And that's two-year-old rock.

1290
00:57:07,006 --> 00:57:08,383
- Okay.
- Not too bad.

1291
00:57:08,550 --> 00:57:10,301
But three months ago...

1292
00:57:10,844 --> 00:57:13,930
There was an eruption right here.

1293
00:57:14,472 --> 00:57:17,392
This little crack,
this little fissure right here.

1294
00:57:18,685 --> 00:57:20,353
This is just south
of the big crater,

1295
00:57:20,353 --> 00:57:23,064
But it's a pretty remote area.

1296
00:57:23,064 --> 00:57:24,983
There's a trail that goes
right through here,

1297
00:57:24,983 --> 00:57:27,777
But it's a six-mile hike,
and it's an unmarked trail.

1298
00:57:27,777 --> 00:57:31,030
It's not paved.
It's not even a smooth trail.

1299
00:57:31,030 --> 00:57:33,032
It's over sharp, jagged rocks.

1300
00:57:33,032 --> 00:57:35,994
And then from there,
we'd have to go off-trail

1301
00:57:35,994 --> 00:57:38,371
For at least a mile and a half or so

1302
00:57:39,330 --> 00:57:41,833
Over even newer sharper rocks.

1303
00:57:41,833 --> 00:57:45,211
- So like 12 miles round trip?
- Yes.

1304
00:57:45,211 --> 00:57:47,005
- Over sharp rocks.
- Over sharp rocks.

1305
00:57:47,005 --> 00:57:48,923
And there's no
cell phone reception there.

1306
00:57:48,923 --> 00:57:49,924
Okay.

1307
00:57:50,758 --> 00:57:53,219
And like we're going up
a mountain too, on sharp rocks.

1308
00:57:53,219 --> 00:57:53,887
Yeah.

1309
00:57:53,887 --> 00:57:55,680
With no cell phone reception.

1310
00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:57,140
- Carrying gear.
- With gear.

1311
00:57:57,140 --> 00:57:58,349
Yeah.

1312
00:57:58,349 --> 00:58:00,894
So, not the best option.

1313
00:58:01,227 --> 00:58:02,562
And we're going off-trail.

1314
00:58:02,562 --> 00:58:04,189
- Yeah.
- So...

1315
00:58:04,481 --> 00:58:07,358
...technically speaking,
illegal.

1316
00:58:07,567 --> 00:58:09,194
Yeah, so...

1317
00:58:09,194 --> 00:58:10,612
So we could get arrested?

1318
00:58:10,612 --> 00:58:11,988
- We might get arrested.
- We could get arrested.

1319
00:58:11,988 --> 00:58:12,864
Small problem.

1320
00:58:13,031 --> 00:58:14,991
So we won't get
arrested going there.

1321
00:58:14,991 --> 00:58:16,618
- Okay.
- For the two-year-old rock.

1322
00:58:16,618 --> 00:58:19,412
This one, there's all kinds
of dangers and issues there.

1323
00:58:19,412 --> 00:58:21,581
- Could get arrested or die.
- Yeah.

1324
00:58:21,581 --> 00:58:22,415
Okay.

1325
00:58:22,582 --> 00:58:24,167
There is another option though.

1326
00:58:33,718 --> 00:58:35,887
Literally two days
before we arrived in Hawaii,

1327
00:58:35,887 --> 00:58:37,388
A fissure opened up
in what they call

1328
00:58:37,388 --> 00:58:40,892
The middle East Rift Zone,
near a crater called Nāpau Crater.

1329
00:58:40,892 --> 00:58:42,852
It was the first lava flow
from Kīlauea in months,

1330
00:58:42,852 --> 00:58:44,562
So we got pretty lucky.

1331
00:58:44,562 --> 00:58:46,439
It started out as
a fairly small eruption

1332
00:58:46,439 --> 00:58:49,108
Releasing just enough lava
to set the vegetation on fire.

1333
00:58:49,108 --> 00:58:50,568
But over the next few days,

1334
00:58:50,568 --> 00:58:53,112
It turned into a curtain of lava
several meters high

1335
00:58:53,112 --> 00:58:55,573
That pooled and flowed
over the crater walls

1336
00:58:55,573 --> 00:58:59,327
Briefly creating a lava fall,
which is like a waterfall from hell.

1337
00:58:59,577 --> 00:59:01,204
The fissure expanded into the crater

1338
00:59:01,204 --> 00:59:02,997
And would eventually
cover two-thirds of it

1339
00:59:02,997 --> 00:59:04,666
With a new layer of lava rock.

1340
00:59:04,666 --> 00:59:06,042
The question was...

1341
00:59:06,292 --> 00:59:08,461
...could I stand on
this brand new rock?

1342
00:59:08,670 --> 00:59:10,838
To get some answers,
I visited the Geology Department

1343
00:59:10,838 --> 00:59:12,840
At the University of Hawai'i at Hilo

1344
00:59:12,840 --> 00:59:14,884
Where samples of this eruption
were being studied.

1345
00:59:14,884 --> 00:59:16,803
And we got to sit in
on a demonstration.

1346
00:59:16,803 --> 00:59:19,889
So I'm kinda gonna take you
through the whole process

1347
00:59:19,889 --> 00:59:21,474
Of like what our eruption response,

1348
00:59:21,474 --> 00:59:23,851
As well as just normal
processing looks like

1349
00:59:23,851 --> 00:59:25,228
When we have samples.

1350
00:59:25,228 --> 00:59:28,606
When we're looking at these samples,
we wanna find both glass

1351
00:59:28,606 --> 00:59:31,317
But also the crystals
to do analyses on.

1352
00:59:31,317 --> 00:59:34,404
And so the mineral chemistry
and the mineral crystals

1353
00:59:34,404 --> 00:59:35,905
Tell us a lot about what's going on

1354
00:59:35,905 --> 00:59:38,575
Underneath the magma chamber
and underneath the surface.

1355
00:59:38,575 --> 00:59:41,077
And so thinking about
that chemical zoning,

1356
00:59:41,077 --> 00:59:42,745
Thinking about their chemistry,

1357
00:59:42,745 --> 00:59:45,039
We really need to actually
find the crystals.

1358
00:59:45,039 --> 00:59:46,916
And to do that,
we have to break down the rock

1359
00:59:46,916 --> 00:59:48,459
And sift through and find them.

1360
00:59:49,335 --> 00:59:50,920
- Am I doing it right?
- Yeah.

1361
00:59:55,008 --> 00:59:56,217
UH Hilo is unique

1362
00:59:56,217 --> 00:59:58,595
Because their undergraduates
actually get to participate

1363
00:59:58,595 --> 01:00:01,347
In volcano research
right there side by side

1364
01:00:01,347 --> 01:00:04,100
With USGS scientists at the
Hawaii Volcano Observatory.

1365
01:00:04,100 --> 01:00:06,561
Yep. Awesome.

1366
01:00:08,104 --> 01:00:10,815
So if people want
to come take a look,

1367
01:00:10,815 --> 01:00:13,651
Use these, lightly play around,
try to find any crystals

1368
01:00:13,651 --> 01:00:16,487
That you can, go for it.

1369
01:00:27,957 --> 01:00:29,292
So the eruption
that's happening right now,

1370
01:00:29,292 --> 01:00:31,544
Is that considered
Mauna Loa or Kīlauea?

1371
01:00:31,544 --> 01:00:33,254
No, that's a
Kīlauea eruption, yes.

1372
01:00:33,254 --> 01:00:35,381
So, the eruption
that happened on Sunday,

1373
01:00:35,381 --> 01:00:38,259
It started Sunday night
on September 15th,

1374
01:00:38,468 --> 01:00:42,305
Started in the middle
East Rift Zone of Kīlauea.

1375
01:00:42,305 --> 01:00:45,975
And it was kind of between
Makaopuhi Crater and Nāpau Crater.

1376
01:00:45,975 --> 01:00:48,770
And what happened is
a fissure opened up

1377
01:00:49,020 --> 01:00:51,397
In— just opened, separated,

1378
01:00:51,397 --> 01:00:54,150
Magma flowing out
and having fountains.

1379
01:00:54,150 --> 01:00:56,319
It's funny 'cause we've been
kinda keeping track of all this

1380
01:00:56,319 --> 01:00:57,236
- Before we come out here.
- Yeah.

1381
01:00:57,236 --> 01:00:58,363
And they were like,
"Oh, something's erupting."

1382
01:00:58,363 --> 01:01:00,448
- Like, oh, yay, you know.
- Yay!

1383
01:01:00,782 --> 01:01:02,533
But then like,
it was kinda like,

1384
01:01:02,533 --> 01:01:03,701
"Oh, it's kinda
oozing out, whatever."

1385
01:01:03,701 --> 01:01:05,495
And then I saw the video
where just, "Ksssh!"

1386
01:01:05,495 --> 01:01:06,120
Yes!

1387
01:01:06,120 --> 01:01:07,997
Like the end of, you know,
Revenge of the Sith.

1388
01:01:07,997 --> 01:01:09,499
And then it was like, "Oh my god."

1389
01:01:09,499 --> 01:01:10,708
End of the world, yeah.

1390
01:01:10,708 --> 01:01:13,211
How common is that?
Is that like a big deal to get that?

1391
01:01:13,211 --> 01:01:14,587
Or is that just like a Tuesday?

1392
01:01:14,587 --> 01:01:16,547
- Yeah, just a Tuesday.
- Yeah.

1393
01:01:16,547 --> 01:01:18,216
Yeah, but I mean,
I think it's very cool.

1394
01:01:18,216 --> 01:01:19,759
It had a lava waterfall.

1395
01:01:19,759 --> 01:01:21,219
- I saw that, yeah.
- Yeah.

1396
01:01:21,219 --> 01:01:22,470
I've never seen that before.

1397
01:01:22,470 --> 01:01:23,888
- Oh, wow.
- It was pretty insane, yes.

1398
01:01:23,888 --> 01:01:24,931
So like you're...

1399
01:01:25,056 --> 01:01:26,391
Oh no, you're sitting at your desk,

1400
01:01:26,391 --> 01:01:28,851
And they're like, "Woo-woo-woo.
Time to fly out there."

1401
01:01:28,851 --> 01:01:29,936
- Yeah, yeah.
- Is that how that works?

1402
01:01:29,936 --> 01:01:31,145
That's how I see it in my head.

1403
01:01:31,145 --> 01:01:32,063
Honestly, kind of, yeah.

1404
01:01:32,063 --> 01:01:33,856
It's like the marionettes, like,
"Okay, let's go on our own."

1405
01:01:33,856 --> 01:01:35,316
And they're like, "Go to work."

1406
01:01:35,525 --> 01:01:37,110
Yeah, it kind of is like that.

1407
01:01:37,110 --> 01:01:39,570
There's a lot more
strategy behind it.

1408
01:01:39,570 --> 01:01:40,988
Really?

1409
01:01:40,988 --> 01:01:42,782
We have like
eruption call down lists

1410
01:01:42,782 --> 01:01:44,659
Where we have certain people
at certain teams,

1411
01:01:44,659 --> 01:01:47,495
What skills they have,
and what data sets we need.

1412
01:01:47,495 --> 01:01:49,914
And so, you know,
higher-ups will get notified.

1413
01:01:49,914 --> 01:01:51,207
We have a lot of alarms,

1414
01:01:51,207 --> 01:01:53,376
Like both seismic
and thermal alarms.

1415
01:01:53,376 --> 01:01:56,379
So when an eruption happens,
everyone can kinda get notified.

1416
01:01:56,379 --> 01:01:58,131
So, so did you get to
actually collect the lava,

1417
01:01:58,131 --> 01:01:59,924
Or was it already hard,
and you're just taking the rock?

1418
01:01:59,924 --> 01:02:01,050
No, you actually collect it.

1419
01:02:01,050 --> 01:02:02,635
- You're actually collecting it.
- Yes, yes.

1420
01:02:02,635 --> 01:02:03,803
And wearing the suit
and everything?

1421
01:02:03,803 --> 01:02:05,722
- Yeah, yeah, so you wear—
- I'm so jealous.

1422
01:02:05,722 --> 01:02:06,889
But how do they get

1423
01:02:06,889 --> 01:02:08,933
Chemical analysis of the rock
in one day?

1424
01:02:09,100 --> 01:02:11,853
We talked to the department chair,
Steve Lundblad, to find out.

1425
01:02:13,020 --> 01:02:14,814
Hey, is there science
happening in here?

1426
01:02:15,064 --> 01:02:17,275
- Perhaps, come on in.
- Alright.

1427
01:02:17,650 --> 01:02:19,652
- Well, I'm Joe.
- Hi Joe, I'm Steve.

1428
01:02:19,652 --> 01:02:21,195
- Nice to see you.
- Nice to meet you.

1429
01:02:21,195 --> 01:02:22,405
So what are we doing here?

1430
01:02:22,405 --> 01:02:24,949
Well, right now
we're running some samples

1431
01:02:24,949 --> 01:02:27,243
On our EDXRF,

1432
01:02:27,243 --> 01:02:31,664
Which stands for Energy
Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence,

1433
01:02:31,664 --> 01:02:33,666
Which why we call it an EDXRF.

1434
01:02:33,666 --> 01:02:36,002
Few extra— less syllables.

1435
01:02:36,002 --> 01:02:40,631
And yeah, and so what it does
is it excites the electrons

1436
01:02:40,631 --> 01:02:42,175
In whatever you put in here.

1437
01:02:42,175 --> 01:02:45,720
We have some basalt samples
that are in there right now.

1438
01:02:45,970 --> 01:02:48,139
And what it does is

1439
01:02:48,139 --> 01:02:51,434
Each one of the elements
gives off characteristic energy.

1440
01:02:51,434 --> 01:02:54,729
And so the different peaks
represent different elements.

1441
01:02:54,729 --> 01:02:57,023
And so at the end of the analysis,

1442
01:02:57,023 --> 01:03:00,735
We end up with
the chemical composition

1443
01:03:00,735 --> 01:03:02,570
Of the material
that we put in there.

1444
01:03:02,570 --> 01:03:06,157
Okay. So what would be
a really bad thing to see?

1445
01:03:06,866 --> 01:03:07,992
Like if you did your measurements,

1446
01:03:07,992 --> 01:03:09,494
And you got a big spike
in something,

1447
01:03:09,494 --> 01:03:11,954
It's like, "Oh, no,
that could mean..."

1448
01:03:12,163 --> 01:03:14,165
So in one regard,

1449
01:03:14,415 --> 01:03:17,919
If you're worried about
explosive eruptions, right?

1450
01:03:18,085 --> 01:03:20,254
The more silica you have,

1451
01:03:20,254 --> 01:03:22,548
The more viscous
the magma's gonna be,

1452
01:03:22,548 --> 01:03:24,801
The more gas it traps,
the more likely it might be

1453
01:03:24,801 --> 01:03:26,803
To have some sort of
explosive thing.

1454
01:03:26,803 --> 01:03:27,970
But I think around here,

1455
01:03:27,970 --> 01:03:30,848
It's also, if it's
really hot fluid magma

1456
01:03:30,848 --> 01:03:32,308
That comes out as a lava flow,

1457
01:03:32,308 --> 01:03:34,811
It's gonna cover
huge areas in a hurry.

1458
01:03:34,811 --> 01:03:36,395
So if all of a sudden,

1459
01:03:36,395 --> 01:03:38,981
The stuff that comes out
is much more fluid

1460
01:03:39,565 --> 01:03:41,192
And comes out
with a much higher—

1461
01:03:41,192 --> 01:03:43,945
At a much higher rate,
then there are certain places

1462
01:03:43,945 --> 01:03:46,239
Where you clearly don't
want to be, right?

1463
01:03:46,239 --> 01:03:49,075
Because you're gonna
either get run over

1464
01:03:49,075 --> 01:03:51,994
Or it's gonna run over trees,
which can cause methane explosions

1465
01:03:51,994 --> 01:03:54,163
Or, you know, all of
these types of things.

1466
01:03:54,163 --> 01:03:57,124
So I think some of that
situational awareness

1467
01:03:57,124 --> 01:04:00,920
Of what's happening
at any given time,

1468
01:04:00,920 --> 01:04:02,672
In addition to the scientific merit,

1469
01:04:02,672 --> 01:04:07,093
Is also just valuable in trying
to figure these things out.

1470
01:04:07,385 --> 01:04:09,262
And the cool thing about this
is that you can get results

1471
01:04:09,262 --> 01:04:10,721
Like same day?

1472
01:04:10,721 --> 01:04:13,474
Yeah, so for instance,
yesterday,

1473
01:04:13,474 --> 01:04:15,726
They collected the sample
at eight in the morning.

1474
01:04:15,726 --> 01:04:19,021
I came in here,
Lis brought it down

1475
01:04:19,313 --> 01:04:22,900
In her drive into work,
we stuck it in the oven

1476
01:04:22,900 --> 01:04:25,903
For an hour or so,
powdered it, did this.

1477
01:04:25,903 --> 01:04:29,407
That process takes 20 minutes
or a half an hour.

1478
01:04:29,407 --> 01:04:30,658
Ran it in here.

1479
01:04:30,658 --> 01:04:33,870
Each sample takes
about 20 or 25 minutes.

1480
01:04:34,078 --> 01:04:35,788
And by two o'clock
we had information

1481
01:04:35,788 --> 01:04:38,541
- About what the composition was.
- That's so cool.

1482
01:04:38,541 --> 01:04:41,752
And this is a rock
that was born yesterday.

1483
01:04:42,753 --> 01:04:45,882
You can see that it's got
a lot of pores in it.

1484
01:04:45,882 --> 01:04:50,720
And it's really frothy,
and it's not a nice even surface.

1485
01:04:50,720 --> 01:04:53,097
And generally our instrument,

1486
01:04:53,097 --> 01:04:55,474
Or any instrument that
does this type of analysis,

1487
01:04:55,474 --> 01:04:57,268
- Doesn't like that.
- Okay.

1488
01:04:57,268 --> 01:04:59,312
So what it wants,
in our finished product

1489
01:04:59,312 --> 01:05:03,190
That we put in there,
is a pressed pellet.

1490
01:05:03,190 --> 01:05:05,818
So this is a pellet from that rock.

1491
01:05:05,985 --> 01:05:09,155
And so we've
ground up the sample

1492
01:05:09,155 --> 01:05:11,115
To a very fine powder,

1493
01:05:12,033 --> 01:05:15,536
Pressed it under, in this case,
five tons of pressure.

1494
01:05:15,912 --> 01:05:18,956
And so we have a very flat surface,
a very smooth surface,

1495
01:05:18,956 --> 01:05:20,708
And everything is
a uniform grain size,

1496
01:05:20,708 --> 01:05:22,001
And it's a good density

1497
01:05:22,001 --> 01:05:25,171
For kind of other reasons
that we care about.

1498
01:05:25,171 --> 01:05:27,006
So is that part of the process
of what we were looking at

1499
01:05:27,006 --> 01:05:29,133
Earlier with the crushing,
or is that a whole different thing?

1500
01:05:29,133 --> 01:05:30,968
That's related.

1501
01:05:30,968 --> 01:05:33,429
What they're gonna do
is they're crushing it

1502
01:05:33,429 --> 01:05:37,600
To see if they can find
mineral crystals in there.

1503
01:05:38,100 --> 01:05:40,853
We do crush this
a little bit by hand

1504
01:05:40,853 --> 01:05:42,980
Before we basically
turn it into a powder

1505
01:05:42,980 --> 01:05:45,191
- That is super refine.
- And that's in a machine.

1506
01:05:45,191 --> 01:05:46,484
Yeah, and so that's just—

1507
01:05:46,484 --> 01:05:49,570
That's just a big stainless steel,

1508
01:05:49,570 --> 01:05:52,114
Essentially ball mill
type thing, right,

1509
01:05:52,114 --> 01:05:54,116
That's doing that,
called a shatter box

1510
01:05:54,116 --> 01:05:56,285
- 'cause it just shatters it into—
- Oh, I saw that in there.

1511
01:05:56,285 --> 01:05:57,495
- I was wondering what that was.
- Yes, yeah.

1512
01:05:57,495 --> 01:05:58,704
It's like the shatter box!

1513
01:05:59,288 --> 01:06:00,414
And so, yeah, right?

1514
01:06:00,414 --> 01:06:01,415
I can see
how heavy it is just—

1515
01:06:01,415 --> 01:06:03,668
Yeah, and so
basically put the—

1516
01:06:03,668 --> 01:06:04,877
Oh my god!

1517
01:06:04,877 --> 01:06:07,964
Put the pieces in here,
on your toe in particular.

1518
01:06:08,255 --> 01:06:11,175
Put the pieces in here.
These guys move around randomly.

1519
01:06:11,175 --> 01:06:12,259
- Oh wow?
- Right.

1520
01:06:12,259 --> 01:06:14,220
And then it just obliterates it
into a super-fine powder.

1521
01:06:14,220 --> 01:06:15,805
It's almost like a
rotary engine or something.

1522
01:06:15,805 --> 01:06:17,765
- Yeah.
- Can I hold this?

1523
01:06:17,932 --> 01:06:19,266
Yeah, sure.

1524
01:06:19,433 --> 01:06:20,893
- Don't drop it either.
- No, I won't.

1525
01:06:21,769 --> 01:06:24,647
Well this is way lighter than
that tungsten carbide thing.

1526
01:06:24,855 --> 01:06:26,816
Yeah, so those are
pretty frothy pieces

1527
01:06:26,816 --> 01:06:28,901
That were coming out.

1528
01:06:30,152 --> 01:06:31,988
And you know,
you can see some pieces

1529
01:06:31,988 --> 01:06:33,072
Coming off of that guy.

1530
01:06:33,072 --> 01:06:35,574
So this— the whole thing
in this video

1531
01:06:35,574 --> 01:06:38,369
Is that I'm going and trying
to see the newest rock.

1532
01:06:38,369 --> 01:06:39,328
That's one of 'em.

1533
01:06:39,328 --> 01:06:41,622
This is one of the newest rocks
on planet Earth.

1534
01:06:42,123 --> 01:06:44,166
Is there another volcano
erupting somewhere right now

1535
01:06:44,166 --> 01:06:45,876
- That could be beating this?
- Maybe.

1536
01:06:45,876 --> 01:06:46,752
Maybe?

1537
01:06:46,752 --> 01:06:47,920
- I think—
- I think you have a point.

1538
01:06:47,920 --> 01:06:49,964
There's like 20 volcanic
eruptions happening

1539
01:06:49,964 --> 01:06:51,215
- At the same time.
- Yeah, yeah.

1540
01:06:51,215 --> 01:06:55,094
But some of them might be
spewing some ash or whatever.

1541
01:06:55,094 --> 01:06:58,723
But in terms of, you know,
rocks you can kind of hold.

1542
01:06:59,348 --> 01:07:00,224
Sure.

1543
01:07:01,225 --> 01:07:02,226
There we are.

1544
01:07:03,644 --> 01:07:05,396
We did it guys, let's go home!

1545
01:07:07,273 --> 01:07:09,233
But alas, I did not go home.

1546
01:07:09,233 --> 01:07:11,694
I still needed to stand on
the newest rocks in the world.

1547
01:07:11,694 --> 01:07:14,321
The Hawaiian Islands sit right
in the middle of the Pacific Plate,

1548
01:07:14,321 --> 01:07:16,532
By far the largest
tectonic plate on Earth

1549
01:07:16,532 --> 01:07:19,660
Spanning 103.3 million
square kilometers,

1550
01:07:19,660 --> 01:07:21,245
All of it oceanic crust.

1551
01:07:21,245 --> 01:07:22,913
And around the edges
of the Pacific Plate,

1552
01:07:22,913 --> 01:07:24,749
You'll find hundreds of volcanoes

1553
01:07:24,749 --> 01:07:26,709
Where the plates are
colliding and subducting.

1554
01:07:26,876 --> 01:07:28,878
This is called
the Ring of Fire.

1555
01:07:28,878 --> 01:07:31,338
Most of Earth's volcanoes
can be found here,

1556
01:07:31,338 --> 01:07:32,715
As well as most earthquakes.

1557
01:07:32,715 --> 01:07:34,842
Because this is how
most volcanoes are formed.

1558
01:07:35,051 --> 01:07:37,136
When one plate subducts
underneath a neighboring plate,

1559
01:07:37,136 --> 01:07:38,971
The heat and pressure
then melts that crust,

1560
01:07:38,971 --> 01:07:41,891
And then it rises to the surface,
creating a volcano.

1561
01:07:41,891 --> 01:07:45,019
But Hawaii is nowhere
near a subduction zone.

1562
01:07:45,019 --> 01:07:47,605
It's in the very middle
of the Pacific Plate.

1563
01:07:47,813 --> 01:07:51,233
So, how does the tallest
volcano on Earth exist

1564
01:07:51,233 --> 01:07:53,402
In a place that shouldn't
have any volcanoes?

1565
01:07:53,402 --> 01:07:56,113
The answer can be found
when you look underneath the water,

1566
01:07:56,405 --> 01:07:58,157
'cause the Hawaiian Islands
are far more than just

1567
01:07:58,157 --> 01:08:00,076
The eight or nine islands
that you know about.

1568
01:08:00,076 --> 01:08:03,829
In fact, there are hundreds of
underwater volcanoes and sea mounts

1569
01:08:03,829 --> 01:08:06,123
That stretch all the way
up to the Arctic Ocean.

1570
01:08:06,373 --> 01:08:09,085
Hawaii has been on the move
for millions and millions of years.

1571
01:08:09,085 --> 01:08:10,961
This is known
as hotspot volcanism,

1572
01:08:10,961 --> 01:08:12,254
Where the volcano is created

1573
01:08:12,254 --> 01:08:14,548
By a hotspot of magma
underneath the crust

1574
01:08:14,548 --> 01:08:16,842
That then punches through
and forms the volcano.

1575
01:08:16,842 --> 01:08:18,886
And while it might
look like the hotspot's

1576
01:08:18,886 --> 01:08:21,972
Been traveling to the southeast,
the truth is...

1577
01:08:21,972 --> 01:08:23,349
The hotspot
hasn't moved at all.

1578
01:08:23,349 --> 01:08:26,560
It's actually the Pacific Plate
that's moving to the northwest

1579
01:08:26,560 --> 01:08:28,729
At a rate of 50 to 100
millimeters per year.

1580
01:08:28,729 --> 01:08:31,023
That's about
this much per year,

1581
01:08:31,357 --> 01:08:32,858
And it's been moving
that much per year

1582
01:08:32,858 --> 01:08:34,777
For millions and millions
and millions of years.

1583
01:08:34,777 --> 01:08:36,487
In fact, you can see
in this bend

1584
01:08:36,487 --> 01:08:37,655
In the line of volcanoes

1585
01:08:37,655 --> 01:08:39,240
Where the Pacific Plate
changed direction

1586
01:08:39,240 --> 01:08:41,200
Roughly 40 million years ago.

1587
01:08:41,408 --> 01:08:42,618
The structures past this bend

1588
01:08:42,618 --> 01:08:44,745
Are known as the Emperor Chain,
by the way.

1589
01:08:44,995 --> 01:08:46,372
So when you look at
the Hawaiian Islands,

1590
01:08:46,372 --> 01:08:49,166
They get progressively older
the further you go to the northwest,

1591
01:08:49,166 --> 01:08:51,502
Becoming more and
more eroded over time

1592
01:08:51,502 --> 01:08:53,921
Until eventually they disappear
beneath the water.

1593
01:08:54,046 --> 01:08:56,507
This gives each island
its own identity and flavor.

1594
01:08:56,632 --> 01:08:58,884
Like, just compare
the black sand beaches

1595
01:08:58,884 --> 01:09:01,387
And sparse crusty flat
landscape of the Big Island,

1596
01:09:01,679 --> 01:09:04,348
With the lush, rust-colored
cliffs and canyons of Kaua'i.

1597
01:09:04,348 --> 01:09:05,307
This is actually kind of

1598
01:09:05,307 --> 01:09:07,434
One of my favorite sciency
things to tell people.

1599
01:09:07,434 --> 01:09:10,104
I just— I find it fascinating,
you know, and honestly,

1600
01:09:10,104 --> 01:09:13,149
This globe helped spark
the fascination that I have with it,

1601
01:09:13,149 --> 01:09:15,442
Because it shows
the underwater sea mounts

1602
01:09:15,442 --> 01:09:17,903
And the Hawaiian Emperor Chain.
It just...

1603
01:09:18,529 --> 01:09:20,489
It just made it all click for me
when I was a kid.

1604
01:09:20,489 --> 01:09:23,242
Seriously, take away the iPad
and give your kids a globe, people.

1605
01:09:23,450 --> 01:09:25,536
I still had a lot of questions
about this process though.

1606
01:09:25,536 --> 01:09:26,954
So luckily I got to sit down

1607
01:09:26,954 --> 01:09:29,415
With another UH Hilo
geologist, Lis Gallant.

1608
01:09:29,582 --> 01:09:32,710
One of the really interesting,
and I think engaging parts

1609
01:09:32,710 --> 01:09:35,045
Of, you know, living here
is having the Mo'oelo,

1610
01:09:35,045 --> 01:09:37,214
Which are, you know,
the native Hawaiian stories.

1611
01:09:37,214 --> 01:09:39,008
And it's one of those things
that, you know,

1612
01:09:39,008 --> 01:09:41,260
Native Hawaiians knew
that, you know,

1613
01:09:41,260 --> 01:09:44,471
Kaua'i was older than O'ahu.
O'ahu was older than Maui.

1614
01:09:44,471 --> 01:09:46,056
Maui's older than the Big Island.

1615
01:09:46,056 --> 01:09:47,892
And so that, you know,
that's not something that,

1616
01:09:47,892 --> 01:09:49,101
You know, science discovered.

1617
01:09:49,101 --> 01:09:50,352
Like Hawaiians knew that

1618
01:09:50,352 --> 01:09:52,146
Just from looking around
at their landscape.

1619
01:09:52,479 --> 01:09:55,566
My question is,
so the Big Island is the newest one.

1620
01:09:56,025 --> 01:09:58,777
Were all the islands
before that big,

1621
01:09:58,777 --> 01:10:00,821
And then they just sort of
eroded away over time?

1622
01:10:00,821 --> 01:10:03,365
Or has the plate movement
kind of slowed down,

1623
01:10:03,365 --> 01:10:05,993
And therefore this island
has gotten bigger and bigger?

1624
01:10:05,993 --> 01:10:07,036
Or do we know that?

1625
01:10:07,036 --> 01:10:10,539
At one point,
O'ahu looked like the Big Island.

1626
01:10:10,539 --> 01:10:14,835
We had active volcanoes,
and we had larger landscapes.

1627
01:10:14,835 --> 01:10:17,755
But once you've removed
that volcano from the hotspot,

1628
01:10:18,214 --> 01:10:21,008
You don't have anything
constructing your islands anymore.

1629
01:10:21,300 --> 01:10:23,469
So it's just purely erosional.

1630
01:10:23,469 --> 01:10:25,971
And you probably have noticed
as you've been here,

1631
01:10:25,971 --> 01:10:27,348
- It rains a lot here.
- Yeah.

1632
01:10:27,348 --> 01:10:29,516
And so we have immense
amounts of erosion happening.

1633
01:10:29,516 --> 01:10:32,895
And so as soon as you take
that volcano off of the hotspot,

1634
01:10:32,895 --> 01:10:34,313
You're kind of fighting
a losing battle

1635
01:10:34,313 --> 01:10:36,148
Against, you know,
the elements.

1636
01:10:36,148 --> 01:10:38,067
The lifecycle of these volcanoes

1637
01:10:38,067 --> 01:10:40,236
Is actually pretty consistent.

1638
01:10:40,236 --> 01:10:41,570
And so eventually, you know,

1639
01:10:41,570 --> 01:10:44,865
The Big Island will look
more like East Maui,

1640
01:10:44,865 --> 01:10:46,909
And then it'll look
a little bit more like O'ahu,

1641
01:10:46,909 --> 01:10:49,495
And eventually it'll start
looking more like Midway

1642
01:10:49,495 --> 01:10:50,746
And some of the other atolls

1643
01:10:50,746 --> 01:10:53,874
Out in the deeper Pacific,
if you will.

1644
01:10:53,874 --> 01:10:56,126
The Big Island isn't
the newest volcanism

1645
01:10:56,126 --> 01:10:58,045
That we have associated
with the hotspot.

1646
01:10:58,045 --> 01:11:01,340
It's actually Kama'ehuakanaloa,
where Lō'ihi is, folks...

1647
01:11:01,340 --> 01:11:02,549
- Oh yeah.
- You know it?

1648
01:11:02,549 --> 01:11:04,260
It's still, you know,
out in the ocean,

1649
01:11:04,260 --> 01:11:06,262
Underneath the waves
for a little bit.

1650
01:11:06,262 --> 01:11:08,639
Yeah, what she's talking
about here is a new volcano

1651
01:11:08,639 --> 01:11:10,140
Forming off the coast
of the Big Island,

1652
01:11:10,140 --> 01:11:13,060
Roughly 975 meters
below the ocean surface.

1653
01:11:13,185 --> 01:11:15,938
Originally named Lō'ihi,
its name was changed in 2021

1654
01:11:15,938 --> 01:11:17,523
To Kama'ehuakanaloa,

1655
01:11:17,523 --> 01:11:19,984
Which means
the "glowing child of Kanaloa".

1656
01:11:19,984 --> 01:11:22,152
Kanaloa is the Hawaiian
god of the sea.

1657
01:11:22,152 --> 01:11:24,280
So yeah, eventually,
that island will break the surface,

1658
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:26,073
And it'll be the newest
place in the world.

1659
01:11:26,198 --> 01:11:27,700
Which, I could wait
for that to happen,

1660
01:11:27,700 --> 01:11:30,160
But it's supposed to take
like 100,000 years.

1661
01:11:30,160 --> 01:11:31,745
And you know...

1662
01:11:32,246 --> 01:11:35,124
It's kinda taking me too long
to get this video out already.

1663
01:11:35,457 --> 01:11:36,667
It's remarkable to me

1664
01:11:36,667 --> 01:11:39,461
That you have almost
these slices of time

1665
01:11:39,461 --> 01:11:40,879
That you can just look at.

1666
01:11:41,255 --> 01:11:42,923
I mean, just as an outsider,

1667
01:11:42,923 --> 01:11:45,134
I'm just like, that's why
I love telling people about it.

1668
01:11:45,134 --> 01:11:47,469
It's just— It's fascinating to me
that you just get to see that.

1669
01:11:47,469 --> 01:11:50,264
So, and it's not just
here in Hawaii as well.

1670
01:11:50,264 --> 01:11:52,933
If you look at other
hotspot kind of areas,

1671
01:11:52,933 --> 01:11:54,518
It's not too dissimilar.

1672
01:11:54,518 --> 01:11:56,228
So, the Yellowstone hotspot.

1673
01:11:56,228 --> 01:11:58,147
You know, Yellowstone,
"Yellowstone"

1674
01:11:58,355 --> 01:12:00,357
Used to actually be
around the border

1675
01:12:00,357 --> 01:12:04,611
Of Idaho and Nevada in that area.

1676
01:12:04,611 --> 01:12:06,155
- Okay.
- But as the plate has moved,

1677
01:12:06,155 --> 01:12:09,116
The location of where
Yellowstone is has also moved.

1678
01:12:09,116 --> 01:12:10,326
And now in its wake,

1679
01:12:10,326 --> 01:12:12,453
We have something called
the eastern Snake River Plain,

1680
01:12:12,453 --> 01:12:16,832
Which is kind of bunch of that,
you know, very violent ash eruptions

1681
01:12:16,832 --> 01:12:19,752
- With a crust of lava on top.
- Uh-huh.

1682
01:12:19,752 --> 01:12:21,170
- And so—
- That's like behind it?

1683
01:12:21,420 --> 01:12:22,629
- Yeah.
- Yeah, okay.

1684
01:12:22,629 --> 01:12:23,756
And so it's one of those things

1685
01:12:23,756 --> 01:12:26,133
Where I think it's
most present here,

1686
01:12:26,133 --> 01:12:29,845
It's most obvious here,
because we only have, you know,

1687
01:12:29,845 --> 01:12:32,222
The same kind of volcano
kind of evolving

1688
01:12:32,222 --> 01:12:34,183
As we go up the chain.

1689
01:12:34,183 --> 01:12:36,310
But it's a process that
happens all over the planet.

1690
01:12:36,310 --> 01:12:37,394
Okay.

1691
01:12:37,394 --> 01:12:39,063
And this one's like out
in the middle of nowhere.

1692
01:12:39,063 --> 01:12:41,190
So it's more obvious,
it feels like.

1693
01:12:41,190 --> 01:12:42,691
I mean, it's not nowhere to me.

1694
01:12:42,691 --> 01:12:44,234
It's my home. It's where I live.

1695
01:12:45,402 --> 01:12:47,071
You had to make me sound bad
when making—

1696
01:12:47,071 --> 01:12:48,739
I wasn't meaning it like that.

1697
01:12:48,739 --> 01:12:51,658
Absolutely.
I'm here for the shame.

1698
01:12:52,409 --> 01:12:54,286
Now all of this
I thought I understood.

1699
01:12:54,995 --> 01:12:57,081
But then she hit me with
this bit of knowledge.

1700
01:12:57,081 --> 01:13:00,501
Hotspots are really weird
enigmatic sorts of things.

1701
01:13:00,626 --> 01:13:02,669
We think they start from
the core-mantle boundary,

1702
01:13:02,669 --> 01:13:03,921
But it's not...

1703
01:13:03,921 --> 01:13:05,464
There's not really
a definitive answer

1704
01:13:05,464 --> 01:13:07,716
About why we get hotspots.

1705
01:13:07,716 --> 01:13:08,425
Okay.

1706
01:13:08,634 --> 01:13:10,010
Right, there's
still is a lot of,

1707
01:13:10,010 --> 01:13:11,678
You know, science
happening around it.

1708
01:13:11,678 --> 01:13:14,098
So normally you have
the mantle layer,

1709
01:13:14,098 --> 01:13:16,266
- And the crust is on top of it.
- Mhm.

1710
01:13:16,266 --> 01:13:17,434
So the hotspot is that—

1711
01:13:17,434 --> 01:13:19,853
Sorry, this is, I know,
dumb question, but like,

1712
01:13:19,853 --> 01:13:21,814
Is it from the mantle layer?

1713
01:13:21,814 --> 01:13:23,774
Is it like a bubble up
from the mantle layer

1714
01:13:23,774 --> 01:13:26,402
That like hangs out there,
and then kind of goes up?

1715
01:13:26,693 --> 01:13:28,404
So, yeah, it's actually—

1716
01:13:28,404 --> 01:13:30,322
It's not bubbling up
from the mantle

1717
01:13:30,322 --> 01:13:31,740
Because you're thinking
of it, you know,

1718
01:13:31,740 --> 01:13:32,950
The mantle on the top.

1719
01:13:32,950 --> 01:13:34,952
It's actually coming
from the bottom.

1720
01:13:34,952 --> 01:13:38,122
So if you were to drill into
like the center of the Earth,

1721
01:13:38,122 --> 01:13:41,708
You know, Jules Verne style,
no dinosaurs, but...

1722
01:13:41,708 --> 01:13:43,544
- So you go through the crust first.
- Yeah.

1723
01:13:43,544 --> 01:13:45,546
And then you'd go
into the mantle.

1724
01:13:45,546 --> 01:13:47,047
The mantle is quite thick.

1725
01:13:47,047 --> 01:13:48,966
You'd go down into the mantle
even further,

1726
01:13:48,966 --> 01:13:50,676
And then you'd hit
the core and mantle boundary.

1727
01:13:50,676 --> 01:13:52,136
The core has two layers.

1728
01:13:52,136 --> 01:13:55,305
The inner core is solid.
The outer core is liquid.

1729
01:13:55,305 --> 01:13:56,140
Yeah.

1730
01:13:56,140 --> 01:13:59,184
And so folks think that
these hotspots originate

1731
01:13:59,184 --> 01:14:02,771
From that liquid
outer core-mantle boundary.

1732
01:14:03,105 --> 01:14:04,273
And so what happens—

1733
01:14:04,273 --> 01:14:06,150
So it punches up through
the rest of the mantle?

1734
01:14:06,150 --> 01:14:07,276
- Yeah!
- Wow.

1735
01:14:07,276 --> 01:14:09,403
The cartoon that we have
in our brains of, you know,

1736
01:14:09,403 --> 01:14:10,612
What it looks like
underneath the ground,

1737
01:14:10,612 --> 01:14:12,448
Like, "Oh, it's a bunch
of lava down there."

1738
01:14:12,448 --> 01:14:14,867
Actually most of
the mantle is solid.

1739
01:14:15,075 --> 01:14:16,452
With just a few days left,

1740
01:14:16,452 --> 01:14:18,912
The eruption at Nāpau Crater
was still going strong.

1741
01:14:18,912 --> 01:14:21,373
And so that area was
still off limits.

1742
01:14:21,373 --> 01:14:22,666
And not just because of the lava

1743
01:14:22,666 --> 01:14:24,751
As much as the gas
that comes with it.

1744
01:14:24,877 --> 01:14:27,087
Gas isn't the first thing

1745
01:14:27,087 --> 01:14:29,006
I think of
when I imagine a volcano.

1746
01:14:29,006 --> 01:14:31,884
I generally think
about the ash and lava

1747
01:14:31,884 --> 01:14:34,636
And just make an immature joke
about the gas 'cause I'm a child.

1748
01:14:34,636 --> 01:14:38,015
But it turns out gas is
the key to the whole thing.

1749
01:14:38,390 --> 01:14:41,185
Tricia Nadeau is a geologist
with the US Geological Survey,

1750
01:14:41,185 --> 01:14:43,270
And her focus is on volcanic gases.

1751
01:14:43,395 --> 01:14:45,105
And while we were there,
she took measurements

1752
01:14:45,105 --> 01:14:47,065
Along the edge of
Volcanoes National Park,

1753
01:14:47,065 --> 01:14:50,569
Looking specifically for
sulfur dioxide, or SO₂.

1754
01:14:50,569 --> 01:14:53,405
I know you go and do
these driving measurements...

1755
01:14:53,655 --> 01:14:56,033
Daily, weekly?
I mean, how often do you do those?

1756
01:14:56,408 --> 01:14:59,495
If nothing's erupting,
every week or two, maybe.

1757
01:14:59,495 --> 01:15:01,830
But when it's erupting,
we try and get at— you know,

1758
01:15:01,830 --> 01:15:04,082
At least one set a day
if the winds cooperate.

1759
01:15:04,082 --> 01:15:07,085
If the winds are not cooperating,
then we can't.

1760
01:15:07,085 --> 01:15:08,879
Sometimes eruptions
are in remote places

1761
01:15:08,879 --> 01:15:10,130
Where we can't drive.

1762
01:15:10,130 --> 01:15:12,174
Then we have to do it
by helicopter instead.

1763
01:15:12,174 --> 01:15:15,093
And then it's a matter of,
can we get helicopter time?

1764
01:15:15,093 --> 01:15:16,386
So when we were
following you around...

1765
01:15:16,386 --> 01:15:18,013
- Yeah.
- What was going on there?

1766
01:15:18,597 --> 01:15:20,974
So one of our sort of
workhorse measurements

1767
01:15:20,974 --> 01:15:24,186
Here at— well, I don't—
any volcano observatory really is

1768
01:15:24,186 --> 01:15:26,480
Getting the emission rate
of sulfur dioxide,

1769
01:15:26,480 --> 01:15:28,732
Just how much comes out over time.

1770
01:15:29,107 --> 01:15:31,944
And to do that,
what I was showing you guys is...

1771
01:15:31,944 --> 01:15:33,737
It's what's called a spectrometer.

1772
01:15:33,737 --> 01:15:36,949
So, it's not quite a camera

1773
01:15:36,949 --> 01:15:39,076
In that it takes, you know,
2D pictures of things,

1774
01:15:39,076 --> 01:15:42,871
But it's just one pixel at
a bunch of different wavelengths.

1775
01:15:42,871 --> 01:15:47,042
So, sulfur dioxide absorbs
ultraviolet light from the Sun.

1776
01:15:47,042 --> 01:15:50,546
So if we use a spectrometer
that's focused on ultraviolet light,

1777
01:15:50,546 --> 01:15:53,549
If we set that up on a car,
and we have a GPS

1778
01:15:53,549 --> 01:15:55,509
To track our position
and everything like that,

1779
01:15:55,509 --> 01:15:58,554
And data's coming into the computer,
and it's essentially telling me

1780
01:15:58,554 --> 01:16:01,390
How much UV
that spectrometer is seeing.

1781
01:16:01,640 --> 01:16:03,934
And so if you start in clear sky,

1782
01:16:03,934 --> 01:16:05,811
You see lots of UV
coming from the sky.

1783
01:16:05,811 --> 01:16:06,520
Oh, okay.

1784
01:16:06,520 --> 01:16:08,689
But as you drive
underneath a volcanic plume

1785
01:16:08,689 --> 01:16:10,440
With sulfur dioxide in it,

1786
01:16:10,440 --> 01:16:11,942
You get less and less UV.

1787
01:16:11,942 --> 01:16:14,236
And so it's sort of
an inverse proportion.

1788
01:16:14,444 --> 01:16:16,572
The more sulfur dioxide you have,

1789
01:16:16,572 --> 01:16:19,157
The less UV your
spectrometer is gonna see.

1790
01:16:19,157 --> 01:16:20,617
So you keep driving
and you just see

1791
01:16:20,617 --> 01:16:22,911
How much sulfur dioxide
you have overhead,

1792
01:16:22,911 --> 01:16:24,538
Come back out to clear sky,

1793
01:16:24,538 --> 01:16:27,082
And then you do
a little math with the wind speed

1794
01:16:27,082 --> 01:16:29,209
And get your position
from your GPS

1795
01:16:29,209 --> 01:16:32,004
To know exactly where you were,
and you can figure out

1796
01:16:32,588 --> 01:16:34,965
What the emission rate
of sulfur dioxide was.

1797
01:16:35,132 --> 01:16:36,592
Everybody, when
they think of volcanoes,

1798
01:16:36,592 --> 01:16:39,595
They think of magma, they think
of lava, they think of "bleeh",

1799
01:16:39,595 --> 01:16:42,514
But you're focused on
the gas part of it.

1800
01:16:42,723 --> 01:16:44,224
Why is that important?

1801
01:16:44,224 --> 01:16:46,685
If it wasn't for
gases dissolved in magma,

1802
01:16:46,685 --> 01:16:49,688
We wouldn't really have much
in the way of volcanoes.

1803
01:16:49,688 --> 01:16:51,023
- If you think about...
- Okay.

1804
01:16:51,023 --> 01:16:53,984
Shaking up a soda bottle,
it's the bubbles and the gases

1805
01:16:53,984 --> 01:16:57,029
That make everything explode
and actually come out of the bottle.

1806
01:16:57,029 --> 01:16:59,031
So it's the same with magma.

1807
01:16:59,031 --> 01:17:02,743
So it's dissolved gases
that sort of make the magma buoyant

1808
01:17:02,743 --> 01:17:05,537
And drive the magma
up to the surface

1809
01:17:05,537 --> 01:17:07,623
For— to be part of an eruption.

1810
01:17:07,623 --> 01:17:08,540
Oh, okay.

1811
01:17:08,540 --> 01:17:09,875
And then once it's out,

1812
01:17:09,875 --> 01:17:12,210
It's a health hazard
for local populations.

1813
01:17:12,210 --> 01:17:15,839
So, it's important
when it's still underground

1814
01:17:15,839 --> 01:17:18,467
'cause it's driving the eruption,
and then once it comes out,

1815
01:17:18,842 --> 01:17:21,428
It can tell us roughly
how much lava's coming out.

1816
01:17:21,428 --> 01:17:22,554
And it's a health hazard,

1817
01:17:22,554 --> 01:17:24,556
So we have to keep
track of it underground

1818
01:17:24,556 --> 01:17:26,642
And once it gets to the surface.

1819
01:17:26,642 --> 01:17:28,935
I never thought about
it being less dense

1820
01:17:28,935 --> 01:17:30,020
Because there's gas in it.

1821
01:17:30,020 --> 01:17:30,979
And that's— so is that

1822
01:17:30,979 --> 01:17:31,730
- What you're saying?
- Yeah.

1823
01:17:31,730 --> 01:17:32,814
That it's like
that's what pushes it up,

1824
01:17:32,814 --> 01:17:35,400
Is the fact that it's less dense,
so it's more buoyant?

1825
01:17:35,400 --> 01:17:38,945
And in— not here in Hawaii
because of the tectonic setting,

1826
01:17:38,945 --> 01:17:42,407
But in certain tectonic settings
where we have volcanoes,

1827
01:17:42,616 --> 01:17:47,371
Having water dissolved
down underground

1828
01:17:47,371 --> 01:17:50,457
Actually helps magma
melt in the first place.

1829
01:17:50,457 --> 01:17:51,500
Okay.

1830
01:17:51,500 --> 01:17:54,711
So like where
you have an oceanic plate

1831
01:17:54,711 --> 01:17:56,296
Going underneath a continent,

1832
01:17:56,296 --> 01:17:59,257
Like the Cascades
or Alaska or Japan.

1833
01:17:59,257 --> 01:18:00,008
Right.

1834
01:18:00,008 --> 01:18:02,010
The water that's
sort of incorporated

1835
01:18:02,010 --> 01:18:06,223
Into that oceanic crust heads down
underneath the continent,

1836
01:18:06,223 --> 01:18:09,810
And then it comes off
that tectonic plate,

1837
01:18:09,810 --> 01:18:11,895
And it facilitates melting.

1838
01:18:12,938 --> 01:18:16,316
And then once things like water
and sulfur and carbon dioxide

1839
01:18:16,316 --> 01:18:18,652
Are dissolved in that magma,

1840
01:18:18,652 --> 01:18:20,654
That's when you get sort of
that soda bottle effect,

1841
01:18:20,654 --> 01:18:22,614
And the gases drive the eruptions.

1842
01:18:22,614 --> 01:18:23,490
Wow.

1843
01:18:25,575 --> 01:18:27,452
That's crazy. I've never actually
thought of it like that.

1844
01:18:27,661 --> 01:18:28,870
Buoyancy!

1845
01:18:29,454 --> 01:18:31,123
Why have I never
thought of that before?

1846
01:18:31,123 --> 01:18:34,209
I never really thought about
why lava comes up to the surface

1847
01:18:34,209 --> 01:18:36,294
Outside of just, you know,
pressures inside the Earth,

1848
01:18:36,294 --> 01:18:37,546
Which does play a part in it.

1849
01:18:37,546 --> 01:18:40,382
But no, it's all about
density and buoyancy.

1850
01:18:40,382 --> 01:18:42,926
There's a reason why the core
of the Earth is mostly iron.

1851
01:18:42,926 --> 01:18:45,595
It's because iron is super dense,
so it sinks.

1852
01:18:45,595 --> 01:18:48,432
Conversely, why does
lava rise to the surface?

1853
01:18:48,640 --> 01:18:50,934
Because it's less dense.
Why is it less dense?

1854
01:18:50,934 --> 01:18:52,686
Because it's filled with gas.

1855
01:18:52,686 --> 01:18:53,979
It's like if
you hold a basketball

1856
01:18:53,979 --> 01:18:55,564
At the bottom of a pool
and let it go.

1857
01:18:55,564 --> 01:18:59,067
It rises quickly,
violently to the surface

1858
01:18:59,067 --> 01:19:00,485
Because it's filled with air.

1859
01:19:00,485 --> 01:19:02,696
Also, remember that buoyancy
is why those cratons

1860
01:19:02,696 --> 01:19:05,699
Like the Acasta Gneiss kinda float
above the tectonic activity

1861
01:19:05,699 --> 01:19:08,869
For billions of years.
It's because it's less dense.

1862
01:19:09,119 --> 01:19:10,620
Pressure changes everything.

1863
01:19:11,037 --> 01:19:12,664
After talking to Tricia,
we spent some time

1864
01:19:12,664 --> 01:19:14,458
Exploring Volcanoes National Park

1865
01:19:14,458 --> 01:19:17,085
And learned about
its main attraction, Kīlauea.

1866
01:19:18,128 --> 01:19:20,422
The summit of Kīlauea is
the most visited spot

1867
01:19:20,422 --> 01:19:21,965
In one of the most
visited national parks

1868
01:19:21,965 --> 01:19:23,341
In the United States.

1869
01:19:23,508 --> 01:19:25,552
And once you've been here,
it's easy to see why.

1870
01:19:25,552 --> 01:19:28,430
Even when it's inactive,
as it was when we were there,

1871
01:19:28,430 --> 01:19:30,599
It's still a stunningly
dramatic setting.

1872
01:19:30,766 --> 01:19:32,309
Pictures just don't do justice

1873
01:19:32,309 --> 01:19:34,436
To this impossibly huge
hole in the ground

1874
01:19:34,436 --> 01:19:36,563
Crusted over with a texture
that I can only describe

1875
01:19:36,563 --> 01:19:38,648
As looking like a giant
chocolate brownie,

1876
01:19:38,648 --> 01:19:41,193
With dozens of vents
releasing clouds of steam

1877
01:19:41,193 --> 01:19:43,487
That hint of the violence
and extreme conditions

1878
01:19:43,487 --> 01:19:45,030
That exist right
underneath the surface.

1879
01:19:45,030 --> 01:19:47,949
There's just this underlying hint
of danger surrounding the crater,

1880
01:19:47,949 --> 01:19:51,203
From the thousand-foot drops
to the craggy lava rocks.

1881
01:19:51,203 --> 01:19:53,330
Even the wind is
lashing and violent,

1882
01:19:53,330 --> 01:19:54,456
And that's on a clear day.

1883
01:19:54,456 --> 01:19:56,249
On other days, a fog sets in,

1884
01:19:56,249 --> 01:19:57,959
Preventing you from seeing
the bottom of the crater

1885
01:19:57,959 --> 01:20:00,754
And just enveloping
the entire area in mystery.

1886
01:20:00,754 --> 01:20:03,381
So this is the famous
Kīlauea Crater

1887
01:20:03,381 --> 01:20:05,675
At the top of
the summit of Kīlauea.

1888
01:20:05,675 --> 01:20:07,469
This is pretty much what
Volcanoes National Park

1889
01:20:07,469 --> 01:20:09,346
Is completely centered around.

1890
01:20:09,346 --> 01:20:12,182
So the crater itself
is large and vast,

1891
01:20:12,182 --> 01:20:14,643
But there's a smaller crater
inside of that crater,

1892
01:20:14,851 --> 01:20:16,812
And that's where all
the action's taking place.

1893
01:20:16,812 --> 01:20:19,731
So there's fissures and
openings and rift zones

1894
01:20:19,731 --> 01:20:21,191
All around this area.

1895
01:20:21,191 --> 01:20:23,443
And the lava can come
up there all the time,

1896
01:20:23,443 --> 01:20:26,071
Happens a lot.
But that's kind of like...

1897
01:20:26,530 --> 01:20:29,783
That's like Kīlauea's blowhole.
It's just kinda always open.

1898
01:20:29,783 --> 01:20:31,743
Now, the lava cools
when it hits the air

1899
01:20:31,743 --> 01:20:33,245
And just kinda turns into rock.

1900
01:20:33,245 --> 01:20:34,621
So it's not like if
you look down in there,

1901
01:20:34,621 --> 01:20:36,790
You'll just see
a lake of molten lava,

1902
01:20:36,790 --> 01:20:38,250
Although that would be cool.

1903
01:20:38,458 --> 01:20:40,669
And sometimes it's a lot more active
than it is right now.

1904
01:20:40,669 --> 01:20:41,795
When it is active,

1905
01:20:41,795 --> 01:20:43,964
It really puts on a show,
so much so...

1906
01:20:43,964 --> 01:20:46,091
That they built a hotel
right over there

1907
01:20:46,091 --> 01:20:48,218
Called Volcano House Hotel,

1908
01:20:48,218 --> 01:20:51,096
Which has been rebuilt
several times.

1909
01:20:52,055 --> 01:20:53,682
I'll let you figure out why.

1910
01:20:53,682 --> 01:20:56,351
Now, in 2018, something
really remarkable happened here

1911
01:20:56,351 --> 01:20:59,104
When a fissure opened up
at the Pu'u 'Ō'ō Crater,

1912
01:20:59,104 --> 01:21:01,147
Which is down about
10 miles that way.

1913
01:21:01,147 --> 01:21:04,317
But what happened here
was that lava

1914
01:21:04,317 --> 01:21:06,862
In the crater over there sunk.

1915
01:21:06,862 --> 01:21:09,447
So that event in 2018 is what
they called a summit collapse.

1916
01:21:09,447 --> 01:21:11,366
It didn't just drop
all the magma down.

1917
01:21:11,366 --> 01:21:15,036
It also dropped a whole lot
of the edge of the crater.

1918
01:21:15,036 --> 01:21:18,039
So like it got a lot bigger
when that happened.

1919
01:21:19,124 --> 01:21:21,376
But I'll let Trish tell you more
about what happened after that.

1920
01:21:21,543 --> 01:21:22,878
But up at the summit,

1921
01:21:22,878 --> 01:21:26,089
Draining all that magma
to become lava flows meant

1922
01:21:26,089 --> 01:21:28,550
That that summit magma chamber
was partially emptied

1923
01:21:28,550 --> 01:21:31,887
And not able to sort of support
the ground surface anymore.

1924
01:21:31,887 --> 01:21:34,306
So we got a caldera collapse.

1925
01:21:34,306 --> 01:21:37,601
And it wasn't sort of
one continuous thing.

1926
01:21:37,601 --> 01:21:41,521
It was the equivalent of
a magnitude 5.3 earthquake

1927
01:21:41,521 --> 01:21:43,857
Roughly every day.
And if you—

1928
01:21:44,107 --> 01:21:46,818
We have sort of
an animation of it.

1929
01:21:46,818 --> 01:21:48,028
It sort of was stepwise.

1930
01:21:48,028 --> 01:21:50,238
It was like pulling a plug
in a bathtub or something.

1931
01:21:50,238 --> 01:21:51,698
It just dropped.

1932
01:21:51,698 --> 01:21:55,869
At the bottom of the crater,
it was a total of 500 meters drop,

1933
01:21:55,869 --> 01:21:57,996
Which is an Empire State Building.

1934
01:21:58,371 --> 01:22:01,207
So now we had
this huge, deep crater,

1935
01:22:01,917 --> 01:22:04,336
And we have a water well

1936
01:22:04,336 --> 01:22:07,005
Not too far from the summit.
So we knew....

1937
01:22:07,839 --> 01:22:10,383
You know, we have groundwater
around the summit.

1938
01:22:10,717 --> 01:22:13,428
It had not been sort of
in the crater area

1939
01:22:13,428 --> 01:22:16,056
'cause there was a lava lake there
before the 2018 eruption.

1940
01:22:16,056 --> 01:22:19,434
So it was too hot for
liquid water in that area, but...

1941
01:22:20,018 --> 01:22:22,062
Then there was, all of a sudden,
there's no more lava.

1942
01:22:22,062 --> 01:22:23,647
Everything cooled down.

1943
01:22:23,647 --> 01:22:26,650
And that groundwater
started to fill in.

1944
01:22:26,650 --> 01:22:30,278
And just under a year
after the end of the eruption,

1945
01:22:30,278 --> 01:22:32,572
Someone was doing
a lidar survey

1946
01:22:32,572 --> 01:22:35,200
To get at the new
topography of the crater.

1947
01:22:35,200 --> 01:22:37,994
And they were like, "What is that
little green thing at the bottom?"

1948
01:22:37,994 --> 01:22:39,788
It was water.
It was a little puddle.

1949
01:22:39,788 --> 01:22:43,667
And so over the next
14, 15 months,

1950
01:22:43,667 --> 01:22:46,544
Water— the groundwater just
kept infilling into the crater.

1951
01:22:46,544 --> 01:22:49,130
So we had this lake
that just kept rising,

1952
01:22:49,130 --> 01:22:51,716
And there was also kinda
weird chemistry going on.

1953
01:22:51,716 --> 01:22:53,760
So it went from like a greenish-blue

1954
01:22:53,760 --> 01:22:56,972
To greenish-yellow to brown.

1955
01:22:56,972 --> 01:22:59,432
But the thing about
water at a volcano

1956
01:22:59,432 --> 01:23:03,728
Is that if you then have magma
that wants to erupt,

1957
01:23:03,728 --> 01:23:07,983
If you get hot magma interacting
with groundwater or lake water,

1958
01:23:08,566 --> 01:23:11,069
Depending on the ratio
between the two...

1959
01:23:11,444 --> 01:23:13,029
Sometimes it is not explosive,

1960
01:23:13,029 --> 01:23:14,906
But sometimes it can
be really explosive.

1961
01:23:14,906 --> 01:23:15,699
Yeah, yeah.

1962
01:23:15,699 --> 01:23:18,159
So that, you know,
that affects a community

1963
01:23:18,159 --> 01:23:20,203
That lives only like
a mile or two away.

1964
01:23:20,203 --> 01:23:22,747
They're worried
about big explosions,

1965
01:23:22,747 --> 01:23:25,250
Ashfall, pyroclastic flows,

1966
01:23:25,250 --> 01:23:27,127
Things like you just don't—
like I said,

1967
01:23:27,127 --> 01:23:30,922
The water lake was unprecedented
in the written record.

1968
01:23:30,922 --> 01:23:32,590
We know from geologic samples

1969
01:23:32,590 --> 01:23:35,593
That there was probably
lakes in the past.

1970
01:23:35,885 --> 01:23:39,139
But it was just new
for all of us living here.

1971
01:23:39,139 --> 01:23:40,515
To get an idea
of how that lava

1972
01:23:40,515 --> 01:23:41,725
Drained out of the caldera,

1973
01:23:41,725 --> 01:23:44,144
We made a stop at Kaumana Caves
outside of Hilo.

1974
01:23:44,352 --> 01:23:46,980
This is one of hundreds of
cave systems and lava tunnels

1975
01:23:46,980 --> 01:23:49,691
That crisscross the island
and funnel both lava and water

1976
01:23:49,691 --> 01:23:51,109
From place to place.

1977
01:23:51,609 --> 01:23:52,944
So the Big Island's
actually riddled

1978
01:23:52,944 --> 01:23:55,697
With caves and lava tubes
just like this one.

1979
01:23:55,697 --> 01:23:57,157
And what happens,
the reason they do that

1980
01:23:57,157 --> 01:24:00,368
Is because as the lava is
pouring out on the surface,

1981
01:24:00,368 --> 01:24:02,120
The outside of it
connects with the air,

1982
01:24:02,120 --> 01:24:03,955
It cools it down, and it hardens.

1983
01:24:03,955 --> 01:24:05,999
And that hardened lava rock

1984
01:24:05,999 --> 01:24:07,834
On the outside
kinda insulates the inside.

1985
01:24:07,834 --> 01:24:11,588
So it keeps zipping along until
the lava flow peters itself out,

1986
01:24:11,588 --> 01:24:13,715
Which just leaves
a hollow tube behind.

1987
01:24:13,715 --> 01:24:16,176
Now, a lot of those hollow tubes,
as we've seen walking around,

1988
01:24:16,176 --> 01:24:19,387
They just eventually crumble
into, you know, rock.

1989
01:24:19,387 --> 01:24:21,181
But sometimes,
they become caves like this,

1990
01:24:21,181 --> 01:24:24,434
Because other lava flows
flow on top of it later on,

1991
01:24:24,434 --> 01:24:26,269
And soil builds up and whatnot,

1992
01:24:26,269 --> 01:24:27,937
And they become
these big cave systems.

1993
01:24:27,937 --> 01:24:31,232
And sometimes these big cave systems
even become like freshwater aquifers

1994
01:24:31,232 --> 01:24:34,235
That flow water from
the upper and the mountains

1995
01:24:34,235 --> 01:24:36,029
Down to the rest of the valleys.

1996
01:24:36,279 --> 01:24:37,489
Now what's interesting
about lava tubes

1997
01:24:37,489 --> 01:24:41,117
Is that there's also lava tubes
on like, the Moon and Mars,

1998
01:24:41,117 --> 01:24:42,285
And they're actually talking about

1999
01:24:42,285 --> 01:24:45,538
As we go to settle and colonize
on the Moon and whatnot,

2000
01:24:45,538 --> 01:24:48,166
That we might actually live
in those lava tubes

2001
01:24:48,166 --> 01:24:50,668
Because we'd be protected
from radiation and whatnot.

2002
01:24:50,668 --> 01:24:53,838
So lava tubes, you know,
kind of bring life here in Hawaii,

2003
01:24:53,838 --> 01:24:57,092
And it'll maybe bring
life to the Moon and Mars.

2004
01:24:57,092 --> 01:24:59,052
So it's kind of ironic
'cause we kinda started off

2005
01:24:59,052 --> 01:25:02,555
In caves here on planet Earth,
and we might start off in caves

2006
01:25:02,555 --> 01:25:05,475
In other places in the universe too.
Kinda interesting.

2007
01:25:18,196 --> 01:25:20,073
Oh, well this whole thing
is like a tube.

2008
01:25:29,374 --> 01:25:32,460
I think I'm just gonna focus
on not hitting my head.

2009
01:25:33,002 --> 01:25:35,505
This particular lava tube
was formed in 1881

2010
01:25:35,505 --> 01:25:38,633
By an eruption from Mauna Loa
and extends for just over two miles.

2011
01:25:38,633 --> 01:25:40,844
I'm not like a professional
spelunker or anything,

2012
01:25:40,844 --> 01:25:43,012
But I think I do understand
the pull of the void

2013
01:25:43,012 --> 01:25:44,806
That makes you go just
a little bit further

2014
01:25:44,806 --> 01:25:46,391
And a little bit further
into the darkness

2015
01:25:46,391 --> 01:25:49,018
Just to kinda see
where it goes and what's next.

2016
01:25:49,018 --> 01:25:50,436
This cave system is well explored,

2017
01:25:50,436 --> 01:25:52,522
And there were several groups
of tourists walking around it,

2018
01:25:52,522 --> 01:25:56,151
But it was still pretty dangerous
with uneven ground and low ceilings

2019
01:25:56,151 --> 01:25:58,278
That I bonked my head
against a few times.

2020
01:25:58,528 --> 01:26:02,282
This is like a subway tunnel
for lava.

2021
01:26:02,282 --> 01:26:05,618
Just to imagine this entire thing
being filled with rushing

2022
01:26:05,618 --> 01:26:09,164
1,400-degree hot liquid rock.

2023
01:26:09,372 --> 01:26:12,167
Let's hope that
doesn't happen right now.

2024
01:26:12,750 --> 01:26:14,002
That would be bad.

2025
01:26:14,627 --> 01:26:16,671
More than anything, though,
this cave was humid.

2026
01:26:16,671 --> 01:26:17,922
Insanely humid.

2027
01:26:17,922 --> 01:26:20,133
Water was constantly
condensing on the ceiling

2028
01:26:20,133 --> 01:26:22,677
And falling onto my head
in big fat drops,

2029
01:26:22,677 --> 01:26:24,429
Hence all the wetness on my shirt.

2030
01:26:24,429 --> 01:26:26,764
That and the fact that
I was sweating my guts out.

2031
01:26:26,764 --> 01:26:28,892
As the clock ticked down
on our week in Hawaii,

2032
01:26:28,892 --> 01:26:31,144
And the Nāpau Crater eruption
continued unabated,

2033
01:26:31,144 --> 01:26:32,270
It became more clear

2034
01:26:32,270 --> 01:26:34,230
That actually standing
on that brand new rock

2035
01:26:34,230 --> 01:26:36,065
Was becoming less and less likely.

2036
01:26:36,065 --> 01:26:37,483
So we thought...

2037
01:26:37,775 --> 01:26:39,569
...maybe we could
at least fly over it?

2038
01:26:40,570 --> 01:26:43,406
Today, we're going up
in a helicopter

2039
01:26:43,698 --> 01:26:46,659
To take a look around the island

2040
01:26:46,659 --> 01:26:48,786
And maybe see the new lava flow.

2041
01:26:49,120 --> 01:26:50,705
Never been on a helicopter before.

2042
01:26:50,705 --> 01:26:52,749
You guys been
on a helicopter before?

2043
01:26:52,749 --> 01:26:53,875
Negative.

2044
01:26:54,125 --> 01:26:55,376
Never been on one.

2045
01:26:55,585 --> 01:26:58,171
We are going to
defy the laws of gravity

2046
01:26:58,171 --> 01:27:00,465
And spit in God's face.

2047
01:27:00,673 --> 01:27:02,425
Find great glory!

2048
01:27:02,634 --> 01:27:05,845
Find great glory in skies above!

2049
01:27:06,846 --> 01:27:09,140
We weren't able to arrange
a bespoke private flight

2050
01:27:09,140 --> 01:27:10,225
At such short notice,

2051
01:27:10,225 --> 01:27:11,935
But we did book a flight
on Safari Tours,

2052
01:27:11,935 --> 01:27:14,646
One of several helicopter
tour companies around Hawaii.

2053
01:27:22,820 --> 01:27:25,073
The flight was awesome,
the pilot was super cool,

2054
01:27:25,073 --> 01:27:27,116
And even though it wasn't
really on the flight path,

2055
01:27:27,116 --> 01:27:28,952
He humored us
and flew over the site.

2056
01:27:28,952 --> 01:27:30,620
But as luck would have it,

2057
01:27:30,620 --> 01:27:33,748
Some clouds and fog had rolled in,
so there wasn't much to see.

2058
01:27:33,957 --> 01:27:36,501
He unfortunately couldn't safely
get us any closer than that,

2059
01:27:36,501 --> 01:27:38,127
So we didn't really get
what we wanted.

2060
01:27:38,127 --> 01:27:39,420
But no complaints.

2061
01:27:39,420 --> 01:27:41,756
It was a lot of fun,
and we saw some cool stuff,

2062
01:27:41,756 --> 01:27:43,466
And I'd never been
in a helicopter before.

2063
01:27:43,466 --> 01:27:44,592
So, that was cool.

2064
01:27:44,592 --> 01:27:46,010
Even if we had seen it, though,

2065
01:27:46,010 --> 01:27:48,054
That still wouldn't have
completed our mission.

2066
01:27:48,054 --> 01:27:50,306
We weren't there to fly over
the newest rock in the world.

2067
01:27:50,306 --> 01:27:52,016
We were there to stand on it.

2068
01:27:52,350 --> 01:27:54,852
So if we couldn't
go to the brand new rock,

2069
01:27:54,852 --> 01:27:56,729
And we ruled out
the three-month-old rock,

2070
01:27:56,729 --> 01:27:58,606
We were left with
one other option:

2071
01:27:58,773 --> 01:28:01,276
The 2022 Mauna Loa eruption.

2072
01:28:01,609 --> 01:28:05,321
So, who wants to drive up
the world's tallest volcano?

2073
01:28:40,273 --> 01:28:42,775
Quick thought before
I get up on this rock.

2074
01:28:42,775 --> 01:28:45,194
We get out here,
and we get outta the car,

2075
01:28:45,194 --> 01:28:46,279
And as you can see,

2076
01:28:46,279 --> 01:28:48,114
The entire area is just
completely bummed out

2077
01:28:48,114 --> 01:28:50,867
From volcanic everything.
It's just like...

2078
01:28:51,576 --> 01:28:54,871
Everything is sharp corners.
Everything's jagged.

2079
01:28:55,538 --> 01:28:58,333
There's thousands of
little pumice stones,

2080
01:28:58,333 --> 01:29:00,293
And it's all absorbing the sound.

2081
01:29:00,293 --> 01:29:02,378
It is eerily...

2082
01:29:03,338 --> 01:29:05,048
...freakishly quiet.

2083
01:29:05,923 --> 01:29:07,508
It's so quiet.

2084
01:29:12,930 --> 01:29:15,975
Every once in a while,
you can hear a little ping or a tick

2085
01:29:16,225 --> 01:29:20,146
From a tiny piece of rock
that was like dislodged...

2086
01:29:21,564 --> 01:29:22,940
...somewhere.

2087
01:29:53,429 --> 01:29:56,057
Well, something that
struck me at both places

2088
01:29:56,057 --> 01:29:58,601
– the oldest place, and
now the newest place –

2089
01:30:00,019 --> 01:30:02,313
Is they are both so otherworldly.

2090
01:30:05,024 --> 01:30:07,443
But it's not another world.
It's our world.

2091
01:30:07,443 --> 01:30:09,070
It's our planet.

2092
01:30:11,114 --> 01:30:12,824
This is how everything starts.

2093
01:30:16,369 --> 01:30:19,664
Just like at the oldest place,
I don't really have the words.

2094
01:30:26,712 --> 01:30:29,507
But I'm trying to— in my head,
I'm trying to think like,

2095
01:30:29,507 --> 01:30:31,968
Am I feeling rebirth?

2096
01:30:31,968 --> 01:30:35,596
Am I feeling renewal?
Am I feeling devastation?

2097
01:30:36,848 --> 01:30:39,308
That's certainly is what
the landscape looks like.

2098
01:30:46,023 --> 01:30:47,608
I feel like I'm under
something living.

2099
01:30:47,608 --> 01:30:50,319
Or over— I'm standing on
something that's living and...

2100
01:30:51,362 --> 01:30:53,990
...growing and recreating itself.

2101
01:30:59,787 --> 01:31:02,039
Do you have to be here
to feel that?

2102
01:31:32,987 --> 01:31:34,030
We could have stayed out there

2103
01:31:34,030 --> 01:31:36,115
Capturing this alien landscape
all day,

2104
01:31:36,115 --> 01:31:38,576
But the day was ending,
and the fog had rolled in,

2105
01:31:38,576 --> 01:31:39,827
And the time had come for us

2106
01:31:39,827 --> 01:31:41,996
To drive the long, winding
single-lane road

2107
01:31:41,996 --> 01:31:43,581
Back down to civilization.

2108
01:31:43,915 --> 01:31:47,502
So, we would love to stay,
but I think...

2109
01:31:48,503 --> 01:31:50,796
I think it's gonna get dark.

2110
01:31:50,796 --> 01:31:51,714
Yeah.

2111
01:31:51,714 --> 01:31:54,091
- I think nature might consume us.
- Yeah.

2112
01:31:55,468 --> 01:31:57,720
It's like a John Carpenter film
all of a sudden.

2113
01:31:57,720 --> 01:31:59,263
And we got stuck
on a rock for two hours,

2114
01:31:59,263 --> 01:32:00,723
But that's a story for another time.

2115
01:32:00,973 --> 01:32:03,935
But for all intents and purposes,
we achieved our mission.

2116
01:32:03,935 --> 01:32:07,063
Granted, this wasn't the actual
newest rock in the world.

2117
01:32:07,063 --> 01:32:08,731
It wasn't even
the newest rock on this island.

2118
01:32:08,731 --> 01:32:10,983
But the newest part of this had
always been kind of arbitrary.

2119
01:32:11,692 --> 01:32:13,027
There was newer rock
in the world

2120
01:32:13,027 --> 01:32:14,195
By the time we got back home.

2121
01:32:14,737 --> 01:32:15,863
Hell, there was newer rock

2122
01:32:15,863 --> 01:32:17,240
By the time we got off
that mountain.

2123
01:32:17,240 --> 01:32:18,366
There's been new rock created

2124
01:32:18,366 --> 01:32:19,742
Since you started
watching this film.

2125
01:32:20,201 --> 01:32:21,244
But if the point was to see

2126
01:32:21,244 --> 01:32:23,204
What a landscape
of a new Earth looks like

2127
01:32:23,204 --> 01:32:25,915
Still imprinted with
the violence that created it,

2128
01:32:25,915 --> 01:32:27,875
I can't imagine a better
place to experience it

2129
01:32:27,875 --> 01:32:31,796
Than that silent devastation
of Mauna Loa, 9,000 feet up.

2130
01:32:32,838 --> 01:32:35,299
The science that I do
is fundamentally important

2131
01:32:35,299 --> 01:32:36,801
To the location I live in,

2132
01:32:36,801 --> 01:32:39,595
And also the science
that I do is dynamic,

2133
01:32:39,595 --> 01:32:42,723
Because the landscape
where we live is dynamic, right?

2134
01:32:42,723 --> 01:32:43,849
We have a new lava flow.

2135
01:32:43,849 --> 01:32:44,976
There is, you know, rock

2136
01:32:44,976 --> 01:32:46,727
That is being born
now as we're talking.

2137
01:32:47,144 --> 01:32:48,729
And so for me, it's not like

2138
01:32:48,729 --> 01:32:52,942
The overwhelming sense
of like spirituality,

2139
01:32:52,942 --> 01:32:54,902
But it's a scenario where I think

2140
01:32:54,902 --> 01:32:57,196
That the landscape
makes you feel small.

2141
01:32:57,780 --> 01:33:00,950
It's a humbling experience too,
because nobody will ever look

2142
01:33:00,950 --> 01:33:03,244
At this exact same landscape
and see it.

2143
01:33:03,244 --> 01:33:04,453
- Oh yeah.
- Because the land is—

2144
01:33:04,453 --> 01:33:06,831
This landscape here is
changing so quickly.

2145
01:33:06,831 --> 01:33:09,917
So if I'm on a field shift,
nobody will ever see this landscape

2146
01:33:09,917 --> 01:33:12,336
Because I'm watching the lava flow

2147
01:33:12,336 --> 01:33:15,214
Cover this portion of,
you know, this area.

2148
01:33:15,214 --> 01:33:17,133
I'm the only person
that will ever see that.

2149
01:33:17,133 --> 01:33:19,010
And so that part's
kind of humbling too.

2150
01:33:19,010 --> 01:33:21,596
Like I hold that knowledge
now of what used to be there.

2151
01:33:21,596 --> 01:33:23,848
- It's almost more ephemeral.
- Yeah, very—

2152
01:33:23,848 --> 01:33:25,891
Ephemeral is a good word for it.

2153
01:33:26,350 --> 01:33:28,603
Hawaii is ephemeral.

2154
01:33:29,061 --> 01:33:31,647
The life cycle of an island
in the Hawaiian Emperor Chain

2155
01:33:31,647 --> 01:33:33,232
Is six to ten million years.

2156
01:33:33,232 --> 01:33:35,276
In the time that the Acasta Gneiss
has been around,

2157
01:33:35,276 --> 01:33:37,737
More than 400 generations
of Hawaiian islands

2158
01:33:37,737 --> 01:33:40,448
Could have risen,
gone dormant, decayed,

2159
01:33:40,448 --> 01:33:41,949
And slipped beneath the surface.

2160
01:33:41,949 --> 01:33:43,701
The oldest sea mount
on the Emperor Chain

2161
01:33:43,701 --> 01:33:46,495
Is named Meiji, around
82 million years old.

2162
01:33:46,495 --> 01:33:48,998
Beyond Meiji is
the Kamchatka Trench,

2163
01:33:48,998 --> 01:33:51,792
Where the Pacific Plate slides
beneath the North American Plate.

2164
01:33:51,792 --> 01:33:54,086
Beyond this point,
there's no way to know

2165
01:33:54,086 --> 01:33:57,465
How many former big islands have
been recycled into the Earth.

2166
01:33:57,673 --> 01:33:59,175
It could literally be thousands.

2167
01:33:59,175 --> 01:34:00,968
But the thing is,
with the exception

2168
01:34:00,968 --> 01:34:03,220
Of a handful of places
like the Canadian Shield,

2169
01:34:03,220 --> 01:34:05,973
That's pretty much true
of the entire planet.

2170
01:34:06,098 --> 01:34:07,558
The majority of
the Earth's surface

2171
01:34:07,558 --> 01:34:10,102
Has been remade
over and over again

2172
01:34:10,102 --> 01:34:12,355
For 4.5 billion years.

2173
01:34:16,901 --> 01:34:18,152
We're looking
at a different planet

2174
01:34:18,152 --> 01:34:19,612
That doesn't exist anywhere else.

2175
01:34:19,612 --> 01:34:21,781
'Cause no other planet
has continents.

2176
01:34:21,781 --> 01:34:23,574
No other planet has water.

2177
01:34:23,574 --> 01:34:25,951
This planet has
continents and water.

2178
01:34:25,951 --> 01:34:28,913
But back then,
most likely did not have life,

2179
01:34:29,330 --> 01:34:31,707
Did not have plate tectonics
the way we know of it,

2180
01:34:31,707 --> 01:34:35,086
Because the mantle was really hot,
and the rocks were squishy.

2181
01:34:35,086 --> 01:34:38,631
Thinking about the Earth
in this early period

2182
01:34:38,881 --> 01:34:42,510
Is an exercise in thinking about
a planet that doesn't exist.

2183
01:34:42,510 --> 01:34:46,180
So, you know, this is like
hallowed ground for geologists.

2184
01:34:46,472 --> 01:34:48,641
Everything we think
about the Earth...

2185
01:34:49,308 --> 01:34:52,228
...was basically wrong
back then.

2186
01:34:53,729 --> 01:34:57,483
That rock has a memory

2187
01:34:57,483 --> 01:35:01,612
From before our own
beginning of time.

2188
01:35:01,612 --> 01:35:05,074
Elders are aware of, you know,

2189
01:35:05,074 --> 01:35:07,326
When they first heard about...

2190
01:35:08,452 --> 01:35:11,288
You know, that discovery
of this oldest rock.

2191
01:35:11,872 --> 01:35:15,584
And they say, "Oh, they're
talking about Ɂewaàtì."

2192
01:35:15,584 --> 01:35:16,544
You know, like...

2193
01:35:16,544 --> 01:35:18,629
So they knew
about the lake already.

2194
01:35:19,255 --> 01:35:21,590
Like anything else,
if something's that old,

2195
01:35:21,590 --> 01:35:25,678
It has a memory,
and that memory

2196
01:35:25,678 --> 01:35:28,597
Goes back to
before our own time,

2197
01:35:28,597 --> 01:35:30,725
Before even the world's time.

2198
01:35:31,058 --> 01:35:34,061
That, that if there's anything

2199
01:35:34,061 --> 01:35:36,480
That holds anything

2200
01:35:36,480 --> 01:35:39,608
Like a food bank
that people depend on,

2201
01:35:39,608 --> 01:35:43,988
Or a knowledge bank,
or a university, well...

2202
01:35:43,988 --> 01:35:47,742
For the plain Earth,
for what it is,

2203
01:35:48,325 --> 01:35:51,287
That's probably
where all the memory

2204
01:35:51,287 --> 01:35:54,540
Of the world comes from
before it even happened.

2205
01:36:04,049 --> 01:36:07,052
This is the first thing
that ever really was.

2206
01:36:08,763 --> 01:36:11,265
It feels a little odd.

2207
01:36:12,433 --> 01:36:16,353
Just like that it's so—
that way you can do it.

2208
01:36:17,229 --> 01:36:19,774
- It feels odd that you can't—
- It costs a little money.

2209
01:36:19,774 --> 01:36:20,858
Yeah, it costs some money.

2210
01:36:20,858 --> 01:36:22,902
It took three plane rides
and a boat ride,

2211
01:36:22,902 --> 01:36:25,029
And we had to land on the water.

2212
01:36:25,029 --> 01:36:28,032
But, you know,
it's just still, I don't know.

2213
01:36:28,407 --> 01:36:29,992
It's very special.
It's very surreal.

2214
01:36:30,493 --> 01:36:32,036
Yeah, it's a great privilege.

2215
01:36:32,244 --> 01:36:34,163
I feel like we—
I've been talking

2216
01:36:34,163 --> 01:36:35,706
About this and
planning for it for so long,

2217
01:36:35,706 --> 01:36:38,250
And there were like a few
different times a day I was like,

2218
01:36:38,250 --> 01:36:40,377
"We should actually—
We're actually here."

2219
01:36:40,544 --> 01:36:41,837
- Mhm.
- Yeah, surreal is another word.

2220
01:36:41,837 --> 01:36:42,630
Yeah.

2221
01:36:49,720 --> 01:36:50,596
You hear about these things.

2222
01:36:50,596 --> 01:36:51,806
You hear about
the age of the Earth,

2223
01:36:51,806 --> 01:36:54,016
The age of the universe,
the solar system,

2224
01:36:54,600 --> 01:36:59,021
The age of certain
rock formations and places.

2225
01:36:59,021 --> 01:37:01,273
And it's all numbers.

2226
01:37:01,273 --> 01:37:04,610
It's all kinda abstract.
It doesn't really mean anything.

2227
01:37:04,610 --> 01:37:06,612
But when you sit here,
and you hold it,

2228
01:37:06,862 --> 01:37:10,324
And you think about
that level of permanence...

2229
01:37:13,536 --> 01:37:15,496
...it's almost impossible to grasp.

2230
01:37:17,206 --> 01:37:20,251
I feel silly even trying to,
if I'm being honest.

2231
01:37:22,002 --> 01:37:23,295
But I'm here...

2232
01:37:25,297 --> 01:37:28,133
...in the most ancient spot
on planet Earth.

2233
01:37:29,260 --> 01:37:30,678
And I'm thankful.

2234
01:37:31,387 --> 01:37:35,766
Not just to be here,
but to be here, to be in general.

2235
01:37:38,686 --> 01:37:43,274
This stuff that came
out of the Earth.

2236
01:37:44,775 --> 01:37:46,110
I came outta the Earth too.

2237
01:37:48,028 --> 01:37:50,364
And I'm only gonna be here
for a blink of an eye...

2238
01:37:51,407 --> 01:37:52,825
...compared to this.

2239
01:37:56,120 --> 01:37:59,748
And I'm thankful for that.
That I get to exist at all.

2240
01:38:02,418 --> 01:38:03,460
I guess that's what I'm feeling.

2241
01:38:03,460 --> 01:38:06,046
If I'm gonna try to search
for what I feel right now,

2242
01:38:06,255 --> 01:38:09,717
I feel grateful to be here.

2243
01:38:10,593 --> 01:38:12,553
That I've gotten to
a place in my life

2244
01:38:12,553 --> 01:38:14,430
Where I've been able to
do something like this.

2245
01:38:14,430 --> 01:38:16,390
To the people that
helped me get here.

2246
01:38:16,765 --> 01:38:20,144
To the people who watch my channel
and have supported me

2247
01:38:20,436 --> 01:38:22,062
So that I can be here.

2248
01:38:22,980 --> 01:38:24,940
And I'm thankful to...

2249
01:38:25,900 --> 01:38:27,902
God, Gaia...

2250
01:38:29,028 --> 01:38:30,696
This very rock...

2251
01:38:32,031 --> 01:38:33,407
...that I get to be here at all.

2252
01:38:38,203 --> 01:38:39,830
I gotta be honest,
I sat on that rock

2253
01:38:39,830 --> 01:38:42,666
Trying to process how I felt
into something profound.

2254
01:38:42,666 --> 01:38:45,252
It was mostly dross, but I think
that can sum it up like this.

2255
01:38:45,419 --> 01:38:47,046
Thinking on these timescales,

2256
01:38:47,046 --> 01:38:50,299
Realizing what a tiny blip
your life amounts to,

2257
01:38:50,299 --> 01:38:51,967
It can make you feel small.

2258
01:38:52,343 --> 01:38:54,553
But it can also make you
feel connected.

2259
01:38:54,929 --> 01:38:56,847
You are a part of a process

2260
01:38:56,847 --> 01:38:59,934
That's been going on for an
unfathomably long period of time.

2261
01:38:59,934 --> 01:39:02,394
A process of a planet
recycling itself

2262
01:39:02,394 --> 01:39:04,229
Down to the very molecules,

2263
01:39:04,229 --> 01:39:07,524
And eventually arranging
all those molecules into you,

2264
01:39:07,524 --> 01:39:10,152
A conscious being that's
capable of understanding

2265
01:39:10,152 --> 01:39:12,112
The process that created it

2266
01:39:12,821 --> 01:39:15,157
...and all the existential dread
that comes along with it.

2267
01:39:15,324 --> 01:39:17,034
Understanding that
is only made possible

2268
01:39:17,034 --> 01:39:19,703
Because of the dedicated work
of thousands of researchers

2269
01:39:19,703 --> 01:39:22,081
Solving the puzzles,
expanding our knowledge,

2270
01:39:22,081 --> 01:39:24,833
Protecting our traditions,
and keeping us safe.

2271
01:39:25,042 --> 01:39:27,503
I'm deeply thankful that
I got to take this journey,

2272
01:39:27,503 --> 01:39:29,546
And for all the people
who helped along the way

2273
01:39:29,546 --> 01:39:32,049
For helping me to understand
that these landscapes

2274
01:39:32,049 --> 01:39:34,301
That I thought were
so otherworldly...

2275
01:39:34,718 --> 01:39:36,929
...they're not really
landscapes at all.

2276
01:39:37,221 --> 01:39:38,931
They're time-scapes.

2277
01:39:39,181 --> 01:39:42,059
They're a glimpse of different
planets forged by time.

2278
01:39:42,476 --> 01:39:45,062
This... was a journey
through time.

2279
01:39:45,312 --> 01:39:47,439
And I hope you enjoyed
time traveling with me.

2280
01:39:47,773 --> 01:39:50,109
Thanks for watching.
'Til the next journey.