Video Library
Album: Other
-
Western Interior Seaway: Cretaceous Shorelines of Colorado
Western Interior Seaway: Cretaceous Shorelines of Colorado
From about 100 million to 68 million years ago, a shallow seaway covered much of the center of North America. This animation shows the movement of shorelines through Colorado and surrounding areas from 100 million to 66 million years ago. The Sevier mountains can be seen developing to the west, and early Laramide uplifts begin to appear in Colorado and Wyoming as the seaway recedes.
Animation by Ludvig Rhodin, James Adson, and Joseph Rogers.
Geologic age: 100Ma -
Geo VR: Traveling through Geologic Time
Geo VR: Traveling through Geologic Time
This is our preliminary experiment in virtual reality. The user can walk around Boulder, Colorado at three different times: 66 million years ago (end of Cretaceous), 500 years after the previous scene, and 64 mya. These scenes include, respectively: fifteen minutes before the end of the age of the dinosaurs, the initial recovery of plants after the mass extinction caused by the meteor impact, and the first modern rainforest that evolved within 2 million years. These three scenes illustrate the drastic changes in life on Earth during a short two million year interval.
-
Erosion along Colorado's Front Range During the Past 15 Million Years
Erosion along Colorado's Front Range During the Past 15 Million Years
This video shows how much the landscape of Colorado's Front Range has changed due to erosion during the past 15 million years. This video is set in the town of Golden, just west of Denver, but conditions were fairly similar all along the Front Range. 15 million years ago, ground level was 2,000 feet higher than it is today and the area was covered with dense forests. Rivers and streams carried away sediment, which was eventually deposited in the Gulf of Mexico, and the modern landscape formed.
The cross section shows faults that developed as the Rocky Mountains were uplifted during the Laramide Orogeny some 60 million years ago. Some of the vertically-upturned rock layers can be seen as hogbacks along highway 93 in Golden. -
Development of an Angular Unconformity: Box Cañon, Ouray, Colorado
Development of an Angular Unconformity: Box Cañon, Ouray, Colorado
This video shows how an angular unconformity develops. An unconformity is a geologic feature that forms when sediment deposition is interrupted and some material is eroded before deposition resumes. Interruptions in deposition can be caused by sea level changes, tectonic uplift, and other mechanisms. An angular unconformity is one type of unconformity that occurs when the lower rock layers are tilted before being partially eroded and buried by new sediment.
The angular unconformity shown in this video is located in Box Canyon, Ouray, Colorado. This video was specifically developed for and is on display at the Visitor Center at the Box Canon Park. -
Formation of the Book Cliffs 72 Million Years Ago
Formation of the Book Cliffs 72 Million Years Ago
This video shows the environment in which the upper sandstone layers of the Book Cliffs, north of Grand Junction, Colorado, were deposited approximately 72 million years ago. The sands were deposited in coastal plain swamps. Organic matter from these swamps became the coal deposits of western Colorado.
Geologic age: 72Ma -
Pennsylvanian Paleo Satellite View of Colorado 312 Million Years Ago
Pennsylvanian Paleo Satellite View of Colorado 312 Million Years Ago
312 million years ago, most of North America was under water. The Ancestral Rocky Mountains rose high above the sea, and braided rivers formed narrow coastal plains. The Maroon Formation, which makes up the famous Maroon Bells, and the Fountain Formation, which makes up Boulder's Flatirons, were deposited in this coastal environment.
This animation is part of a series of "paleo-satellite" views that show what Colorado might have looked like if satellite imagery was available millions of years ago.
Geologic age: 312Ma -
Creation of the Yule marble, near Marble, Colorado
Creation of the Yule marble, near Marble, Colorado
The Yule marble is the state rock of Colorado. This animation shows a block diagram of the Paleozoic strata that were intruded by the Treasure Mountain Dome ~20 million years ago (i.e. an igneous body). The Mississippian Leadville Limestone was metamorphosed by the heat from the intrusion, and was transformed into marble. During the last 10 million years, the area was eroded, and the marble was exposed on the surface.
Animation by Leo Ascarrunz, Joseph Rogers, Jay Austin, and Paul Weimer.
Interactive Geology Project, University of Colorado-Boulder. igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 20Ma -
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument: Lahar and Preservation of Redwood Tree Stumps
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument: Lahar and Preservation of Redwood Tree Stumps
This is an excerpt from a film about the geologic history of Colorado. The full movie is planned for release in summer 2015.
This clip shows how the petrified redwood tree stumps at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Florissant, Colorado, were preserved as a result of volcanic activity in the area 34 million years ago.
Geologic age: 34Ma -
Colorado Statewide Uplift During the Last 15 Million Years
