The Nature of Things

Geologic Journey: The Rockies (Part 2 of 5) (46x11)

: 16, 2007

Geologic Journey: The Rockies tells the story of the great spine of stone that runs from the Canadian North to the southern United States. As the camera takes the audience on a highwire tour through the peaks of the Rockies – in both Canada and the USA – craggy rock faces and dangerous ice reveal the growth pangs of the mountain building era. The pristine beauty of the Canadian Rockies gives way to the ghost towns and gold mines that litter the mountains in Colorado – a telltale clue to the different geologic forces at work in the Canadian range and their American cousins. This episode is an illustration of how nothing ever stays the same, not even the Rockies. Despite the appearance of timelessness and permanence, geologists are discovering how these rocks will meet their end – a sobering perspective on time, place and the enormity of the earth’s Geologic Journey.