How the Earth Was Made

- Season 2

(2009)

The relatively tiny Colorado River had substantial help in carving out a chasm as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon. The story is so complex and the evidence so scarce that it took geologist decades to unravel the mysteries.

Volcanologists look for patterns in the historical eruptions of Mount Vesuvius to determine when the worlds most dangerous volcano is likely to threaten the three million residents of Naples.

The Earth isn't an ordinary generic planet. The processes that created an Earth suitable for modern are unique and surprising.

Scientists present evidence that the Sahara Desert periodically transitions from desert to a lush green environment and back. They also present theories about why this happens.

The dispute between John Muir and Josiah Whitney over how the Yosemite Valley formed is settled with a 200 million year long story more complex then either imagined.

Geologists believe the Rocky Mountains recently rose from an inland sea to twice their current size and becoming a new inland sea may be their not to distant fate.

The geological mechanism that causes the ring of volcanoes around the pacific ocean is studied and explained.

The convergence of processes that resulted in the extreme height of Mt. Everest and the other Himalayan mountains is explained in conjunction with the supporting geological evidence.

The history of Death Valley's transformation from an inland sea to a towering mountain range then to a fresh water lake and finally the salt bed we see today it revealed.

The Mount Saint Helens 1980 eruption introduces geologists to a variety of volcanic phenomenon never observed before. Yet it presages a similar eruption thousands of miles away and just a few years later in Montserrat.

The causes of the million year volcanic eruption in the Siberian Traps and the resulting effects that lead to the largest mass extinction in earth's history are recounted.

Instead of looking at a geological feature and the convergence of mechanisms that created it, this program uses a different format; looking at one mechanism, glaciers, and the diverse effects they cause.

The history of discovery of gold deposits in California and Nevada and the diverse geological processes the produced the deposits are described.