Detachment fault in Natural Bridge Canyon, Death Valley: the real key to DV's landscape

Get up close and personal to a detachment fault, the low angle normal faults common in Death Valley with geology professor Shawn Willsey. These interesting faults have helped accommodate the extreme extension or stretching of the Death Valley region over the past 10 or so million years.
I love doing these videos and will continue to do so but if you want to provide support or much appreciated gas money, you can send support via:
Venmo @Shawn-Willsey (be sure to put two L's in last name)
or PayPal: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
or a good ol' fashioned check to this address:
Shawn Willsey
College of Southern Idaho
315 Falls Avenue
Twin Falls, ID 83303

[@DeathValleyDazed]

Thanks for the tutorial on detachment faults and showing me another canyon to explore.

[@MrPinkDoors]

Thank you so much for the video I didn’t know I was staring at a fault.

[@shawnwillsey]

No problem. I love to share what I know. Pass my channel on to others who might enjoy these videos.

[@3xHermes]

Great information thanks!

[@MrPinkDoors]

Hi 🙋‍♂️ I just came back from deathvalleynationalpark and I fell in love with natural bridge canyon, it was my favorite hike. Especially where you’re filming, to see the red and blue colors on the rock and how they glow. Can you please explain to me why’s that?.

[@shawnwillsey]

I was there near sunrise so that probably accounts for some of the nice soft tones and colors. Rocks above the fault have quite a bit of red due to oxidation of iron in some of the minerals.

[@StudentDoctorWright]

What type of camera are you using? It is very clear.

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks. GoPro Hero 8. Works pretty well. My only beef is if video is longer than 10 or so minutes, it splits into two files. Since I just like to film and upload (no editing), this is a pain.

[@MrPinkDoors]

One more question. what’s the name of the fault rock? And how old is it??

[@shawnwillsey]

Rocks below the fault (called the lower plate or footwall) are metamorphic rocks (mainly gneiss). These rocks are about 1.7 billion years old. These are the oldest rocks in the region.

[@MrPinkDoors]

@@shawnwillsey wow thanks a lot for the videos this was my favorite trail. I learned a lot from this