Talc is the reason the center section of the San Andreas produces no earthquakes. The softest mineral Talc acts like a lubricant in that section.

@tyronewalker5764

Ай бұрын

Talc as in talcum?

@Coastal_Cruzer

Ай бұрын

@@tyronewalker5764Talcum as in talc.

@MyKharli

29 күн бұрын

@@Coastal_Cruzer Hydrated magnesium silicate .

@HighlanderNorth1

27 күн бұрын

Can't they just lube up the other fault sections by sprinkling talc on them? 😂

@sigcrazy7

25 күн бұрын

@@HighlanderNorth1That would cause the fault to get cooter cancer. The fault will have to suffer like the rest of us.

Congratulations on this video. It was a beautifully produced mini-tutorial on the San Andreas and thoroughly enjoyable. Living in Southern California (San Fernando Valley) I have a huge interest in what has shaped the majority of my life quite frankly. At 10 years old I went through the February 9, 1971 San Fernando/Sylmar Earthquake which destroyed the newly built house my family had moved into just 2 months earlier in Newhall, CA and then after purchasing my first home in Santa Clarita, CA in November 1993, 2 months later in January 17, 1994 for my newly built home was yellow tagged and it was almost 2 years before it was fully repaired. So, my perspective has been very focused on the seismic threats which are basically in my back yard. But, you taking us on a journey of the Northern Segment of the San Andreas was brilliant. Thanks so much and can’t wait to see the portion(s) in Southern California. Hopefully, you will do a video on the fault which I think is the next to go and that is The Hayward Fault in the East Bay area of Northern California. Also, there is little mention of the incredibly active period in the Bay Area PRIOR to 1906. San Francisco was rocked repeatedly by earthquakes in the 6.0 to 7.1 range in the 1830’s and the 1860’s, including what had previously been known as the Great San Francisco Earthquake being the October 8, 1865 earthquake on the San Andreas in the Santa Cruz Mountains which were a violent series of jarring jolts coming in intervals separated by about 5 seconds with each successive seismic slam being stronger with the third jolt being particularly violent and lasting around 7 seconds. Mark Twain was in the city and wrote a famous article about it which is fascinating and available to anyone online. And just 3 short years later came and even more powerful event, the massive and devastating October 21, 1868 Hayward Fault Earthquake estimated at 6.8 to 7.0 which tore through the San Francisco Bay Area for upwards of 40 seconds to a full minute of extremely powerful seismic waves that ripped through the East Bay and Northern California causing significant damage in San Francisco and devastation to the East Bay communities of Hayward, Fremont, Oakland, Berkley, and particularly extreme damage in San Leandro. Also, 1836, 1838, 1890, two m6+ in 1898 and then the big Daddy of all, probably the most renowned earthquake in history, the 1906 beast which for all intents and purposes was the catalyst which led to the near total destruction of San Francisco which at the time was the absolute powerhouse city on the West Coast of the U.S. The 1800s in the Bay Area saw a series of damaging and frightening earthquakes at a time when so little was known about earthquakes. There was certainly not much thought by residents that they could be going through a cycle of increasingly strong and increasingly frequent earthquakes culminating in the massive release of energy over a huge swath of area in an extremely violent force which forever altered the topographical profile of a region in the blink of an eye, the more than 20 feet of vertical displacement of the San Andreas Fault on April 18, 1906.

@suewilkinson5855

27 күн бұрын

Fascinating--thank you! I found Twain's description and he did not disappoint.

One must remember that the San Andreas isn't just one fault, but a fault system, with several smaller faults attached (for lack of a better word) to the main fault. Many of the sub-faults have created earthquakes of 7 or greater on the Richter scale. As to the main San Andreas fault...here in the southern section there is a very good way to not only see the fault, but track it as well, from Cajon Pass, through Wrightwood, and eventually into Palmdale. In the more central section of the fault, it is easily trackable on the Carrizo Plain.

@lisab.akarenegadehamster8262

28 күн бұрын

Also in the Coachella Valley. I have hiked along it many times.

@meghancomo96

25 күн бұрын

Fascinating 🤔

@faktisletztenendes

22 күн бұрын

Since you mentioned Carrizo Plains: Been there a couple of years ago. It’s a beautiful quiet place and the landscape is amazing. I honestly had difficulties to correlate this peaceful spot with a potential earthquake or the fault itself. Don’t know what I‘ve had expected but certainly not this. (That said… we came across some kind of a crack in the earth, it looked like something violent must’ve happened, obviously a short time ago - not sure what we saw there; it was several meters wide/deep, can’t say much about the length, from our perspective we couldn’t measure it. That was in December 2019, couldn’t find any proof of a recent event in the records but it looked very suspicious.) Sorry for using the metric system - I’m European. Also apologies if my English isn’t perfect.

@pa5287

17 күн бұрын

ALSO LETS NOT FORGET YOU BUILT ON IT ......THAT WENT WELL

@LuigiCotocea

16 күн бұрын

That explains why we have Hayward fault besides California fault... both are part of the fault system.

I like this kid. (I'm 62) He reminds me of some professors I had in high school & college. Learned lessons with some humor makes it stick better. Keep it up young man. You got a knack.

@slickwillie9526

Ай бұрын

Yeah. He got a job and throttled back on videos. Every one of his videos I find interesting. I've backtracked some of his rockhounding locations, but I live on the East Coast, so I only get out there twice a year.

@allisshop8092

Ай бұрын

Too much personality. Not enough information.

@tiredextremely

Ай бұрын

​@@allisshop8092 What would you have liked him to change about this video?

@jck1213

23 күн бұрын

@@tiredextremelyhe’s not going to respond because people like him only like to bitch and moan about everything for attention.

Notwithstanding the magnatude of the San Fran earthquake, one of the reasons for major damage is that there was no earthquake code for buildings back then. Thanks for this. Interesting!

It would be awesome to see the San Andrés fault actually moving in a time lapse videoduring an earthquake or see the fault moving over a period of 15 years👍🏿

@swededude1992

29 күн бұрын

I saw a documentary here on KZread or Netflix about earthquakes. A governmentbuilding in San Fransisco area had an earthquake back in the 70:s. The building didn't collapse. It only cracked. The government moved to a new location and left their old building abandoned. Since the 70:s that building had been an earthquake reaserchplace. The movement had been a few inches since the 70:s untill today. What documentary it was and exactly where I saw it I don't remember.

14:30 That water on the right. That's a sag pond, which are often found along faults.

@suewilkinson5855

27 күн бұрын

Reelfoot lake formed in Tennessee during the terrible New Madrid earthquakes. A French trapper actually saw it appear during a quake when the land dropped and the Reelfoot river filled it. Do you think something this size could still be a sag pond?

Thank you so much for very professional & informative Documentaries, We the people Appreciate your hard Work thank you Salomon !!!! Blessings

The Terranes on either side of the San Andreas fault (SAF) are moving in the same direction and are not the North American (NA) plate; they are part of the Cordillera, an accreted region of Terranes running from Western Alaska to Patagonia. They are not rigidly entrapped by the NA continent and are free to move contrary to the motion of NA. The Franciscan Assemblage, Salinian Terrane, Great Valley and Sierra Nevada Block are all moving NW toward the Mendocino Triple Junction and beyond into SW Oregon making Western Oregon and Washington rotate 1 degree clockwise per million years. The Pt. Reyes geologic marker @9:47 @the picture on the right illustrates the unidirectional motion of all of the aforementioned California Terranes moving to the NW. The SAF is generated through motion differences in speed and rate of the adjacent Terranes, much like the varying speeds of adjacent freeway lanes all going the same direction- Trucks and grandmas in the right lane, family sedans in the middle lanes and sports cars in the left lane flashing their lights. All of this motion is generated through Terrane conveyance by the NW (Pacific) mantle flow underneath; connected with that is the East Pacific Rise in the Sea of Cortez, Baja, each offset left-side segment is moving with the California Terranes, but at different speeds and rates.

I lived in Highland, CA for a number of years back in the 1980's. The house I rented at the time sat directly on the fault zone as noted in my lease. Never felt anything during my time there.

@giuseppemaggio5894

6 күн бұрын

That's just crazy. Who thought building a house right on an active fault line was going to be a good idea?

@kennixox262

6 күн бұрын

@@giuseppemaggio5894 The house was built in t he1960's perhaps they were aware of the specific location of the fault. This is the same reasoning why the house had wood shingles on the roof in an area subject to fire. Not just that house, the whole neighborhood.

I have an aunt who used to live in Paso Robles, California. She loved the wine but had to live with the fault constantly moving. Her neighbors who live across the street are moving about a 1/4 inch a year relitive to her property. Their joke was that one day they'd find themselves in different zip codes.

Used to be a spot in Hayward where a sidewalk had been displaced by the fault line. City fixed it a few years ago because people kept hitting it with their cars.

This was a fun watch! I've lived in the L.A. area all my life and what I remember is that we seemed to have a large earthquake every eight to ten years, until the Northridge quake. It's been almost forty years and I'm worried that the strain is going to produce something massive.

@Sonoma_Coast

29 күн бұрын

What was that a 7? I remember they rebuilt that freeway overpass very fast because they allowed them to bypass the usual bureaucracy.

@hhairball9

29 күн бұрын

@@Sonoma_Coast it was a 6.7

@trinacogitating4532

28 күн бұрын

Northridge was '94, correct?

@hhairball9

28 күн бұрын

@@trinacogitating4532 correct...30 years! Sorry, my mistake!

@Sonoma_Coast

28 күн бұрын

@@hhairball9 I've been through a 6.2 and a 6.9 up North here 40 years and 35years ago. Scared the hell out of me. Now live 10 miles East of the San Andreas and 20 miles West of the Rogers creek fault.

I really enj….squirrel! Thanks for posting.

"Infamous fault lines on the planet" Planet America, where everything happens.

For the last two days, there has been an impressive swarm of earthquakes just a couple miles south of Brawley at the very southern end of the San Andreas Fault. It seems to be ongoing even at this late date! Not sure if these are all foreshocks to a much bigger seismic event, but it is worrisome.

@Kiwigeo8339

Ай бұрын

The Brawley Seismic Zone is an example of a "step over" zone between two major transform faults...San Andreas and Imperial. The BSZ consists of a closely spaced maze of small faults which is one reason for the frequent quake swarms in the area. Injection of water into these faults as part of geothermal operations in the area is also a factor.

You have explained and documented this fault very well. Thank you!

@solomonsoutdooradventures

Жыл бұрын

thank you!!!

@Shadoweknows76

Ай бұрын

My view is, "The fallen angels are buried underground and certain dates, times are ancient anniversaries to things." Or "someone," was angry. July 4th should be something like never before. Enoch returned in 2017,and the tribulations are almost over. (2nd Enoch 20:3)

really good video man. just started my day to this, and enjoyed it.

Excellent tour. I also enjoyed the the deer and squirrel. Best wishes, 👌🏾

Ok you earned my subscription what an absolutely nerdy good time and interesting video never have I thought I would watch a video like this congrats

Thanks for this, really interesting. I first saw the fault in the early 90's from the top of some mountains near Palm Springs, I was amazed that you could actually see a line across the desert floor from there. Blew me away, been interested ever since. Luckily on another trip from the UK we missed the Northridge quake by a day. Was going to that area too. Saw all the carnage after though. Also saw the cracks in candle stick park in 1990, after the 89 quake. Never get tired of California but every time I go, earth quakes are always on my mind. Keep up the good work!

Great video dude! Very enjoyable, lots of info and good pace!

A great video and lighthearted well narrated video, many thanks, from the UK

Great video. Thank you!

great video, thanks for sharing

Well first time seeing your videos and cant help but like it! Very well put video mate. 👍🏻

Very informative! Thank you!

The intro had me a bit worried but when you got stuck into it I was enthralled. Great video. Thank you. Oh, I live in the middle of a "craton" where there has been no movement in 185 Million years.

Great video Thanks Solomon!

@solomonsoutdooradventures

Жыл бұрын

thank you for the support!

Like the deer…this was soooo interesting.

Really great to see the actual place that defines it all. Post where exactly it is and the trail to get there. It’s been a long time since I hiked it.

This was awesome! I’m going to that trail. Thanks.

Good video - very informative and well put together and a nice 'field trip' - thanks. Can geologists measure the 'pressure/strain that is building up along the fault at any given point?

Very interesting video, thank you! I also very much enjoyed the random cameos from squirrel and deer ❤.

Also another reason that the San Andreas fault hasn't made "the big one" is because there's a 56km long parallel fault called the Salton Trough fault. It was found in 2016 and through research actually explains why there are less earthquakes than should be with something as nasty as the San Andreas.

I lived in Lancaster CA. and not only hang out at the fault outside Palmdale. In the 1980s and remember all the earthquakes from 73-2019. Total adrenaline rush.

@okamijubei

10 ай бұрын

And what about the one on Sunday?

@stevenbailey925

10 ай бұрын

@@okamijubei I now live on East coast..New Hampshire. I talked to my dad in Cali. It's the norm there. I miss them. Total adrenilan rush. They start and you don't know when it stops. 60 seconds turns into eternity. I remember all from Northridge in 93 to 7.1 fourty miles away in 2021.

Very informative. Thank you.

It is nice to see home again! I've been on that earthquake trail and all along the peninsula - both sides of Tomales Bay

These are always very interesting, thanks!

@solomonsoutdooradventures

Жыл бұрын

thanks Adam!

@adamhealy5635

Жыл бұрын

@@solomonsoutdooradventures you're welcome!

Great video man. Very informative, thank you 😊

Brilliant!

Excellent video!! Very interesting

Sounds like a surveyors nightmare! Hey, great video. You have some skills.

good info, keep em coming

@solomonsoutdooradventures

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you for including the squirrel 🐿️❤

Awesome video man

Didn't think I'd see a video at Point Reyes. I grew up going there and live nearby. Thanks for the wonderful video.

@fredengels8188

3 сағат бұрын

not your fault

@fredengels8188

3 сағат бұрын

..

@eatsomechips

3 сағат бұрын

@@fredengels8188 not my fault what

Keep up the good work!

@solomonsoutdooradventures

Жыл бұрын

Thanks man!!! Hope you're doing well!

Very well done!

A neat place where its easy to see the San Andreas fault from ground level is Wallace Creek. It takes a couple right angle turns after it was transected by a strike slip. Crappy roads out to the site, so only go if you trust your rig. Why was the Northridge Earthquake (6.7 magnitude) not included in large earthquakes on the southern end of the San Andreas? I understand why the Ridgecrest wasn't included, but I was a little disappointed not to see the two I've experienced on the list.

I've heard some geologist speculate that the next large earthquake could possibly trigger an eruption at the Salton Buttes volcano. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Good job on this young man.

Funny and informative. Good video

The Loma Prieta quake collapsed bridges and raised roads in San Francisco and Oakland, in addition to destroying a large portion of Santa Cruz (where the quake was centered on). There weren’t many deaths in Santa Cruz, or San Francisco. However, there were a lot of deaths of people who were on or under the Cypress Freeway. A short search informs that 63 people died and almost 4k were injured.

It’s interesting how the shutter ridges have a similar “look” to them as glacial hills-specifically drumlins and eskers. I’m curious what the inside of a shutter ridge is composed of?

Check out Coal Mine ridge in Portola Valley. You can see several features of it. Also, you can see it well at lower Windy Hill preserve across Alpine road. The section from Black mountain up to Portola valley is considered to be locked up, so that area is my prediction for a big one.

Been touring the West coast several times but missed the "quake zones" but seen a lot of volcanos and lava fields. However it would be interesting to know what would be observed out in the field when an earthquake strikes. Would we see the shutter hilles be pushed up and the ground move this or that direction?

Some of my friends lived near the epicenter of the Loma Prieta quake in 1989. Their home was shifted 2 meters off the foundation and they had to tear it down and rebuild it. Most of the deaths from that quake were in the collapsed freeway section in Oakland. The San Andreas Fault is actually west of the City of San Francisco. The Fault itself goes under the ocean near Seal Rock and crosses the Golden Gate to emerge at Bolinas Lagoon and cross Point Reyes. Part of the reason that Pacifica is falling into the ocean is because the Fault is just east of the city and the sandstone has been badly fractured by it.

@Michael-sb8jf

29 күн бұрын

To think if the world series between the two bay area teams wasn't happening that day a lot more people would have died when that overpass collapsed. Many people taking half day off work etc to watch the game.

Excellenté Documentary

I know I'm not the only American who will be happy when he gets woken up by "The Big One." Alot of our problem "people" will just drift into the ocean. ❤

The SAF can also be thought of as a transform fault connecting two rift zones.

It's interesting that there is no volcanic activity on the fault edge. Nice video.

Cheers for the video mate, always found these zones fascinating. The vault your talking about has been scientifically proven to be 1 of the worlds most unstable vault systems in the world. Regardless of how many vaults there are within the world. Alaska may have there vaults but I’ve never heard or seen any scientists pay as much close attention to any vault as much as the San Andreas vault to date.

Ah you forgot the February 9, 1971, that was 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles that killed 64 people and the June 28, 1992 that was a 7.3! My parents went through the 71 and I went through both 89 because I lived there and that 92 because I was visiting family! Honestly I love your video!

Was the Northridge quake on San Andreas? I remember that one as kid and I think was at least a 6.

Am I right in thinking that all those files that we say are stored "in the cloud" are on supercomputers located .... er ..... over the San Andreas fault?

This is a great basic understanding and description of the San Andreas Fault, which is actually several faults combined into one larger fault. Just one correction: The San Andreas Fault does not run through the “heart of California”. It runs off of the western edge, entering the state near Cape Mendocino and exiting down towards the center of the state, but not until closer to south east of San Diego.

Thanks for this expiation and tour. I thought there were spots on the fault where you could actually see a crevasse or a hole...

you forgot the Wrightwood 7.5-7.8 1812...The Capistrano EQ it actually originated on The San Andreas in the mountain town of Wrightwood CA....

ONE THING you said not many people were injured .. the injuries that did happen were pretty major ... One was a CHP officer driving off the edge of a bridge that had fallen during the quake as he was going south on a bend. The other was an apartment complex that collapsed... I remember this quake and it was such a major shake and jar. Thanks for the video

I think you missed the 1994 Northridge earthquake when assessing the activity of the Southern SAF. I'm not certain whether it was attributable to the fault, but it's darn close and had a lot of impact at the time.

My grandmother owned a home on I Ave on Coronado island. Scary because the gas line was right in the living room where it runs. They have rebuilt on the land. My grandfather died in the bath room too.

The San Andreas fault DOES NOT go under the city of San Francisco. It heads out into the Pacific south of town.

I’ve also noticed the dragging of the river mouths towards the north. The Gualala is a prime example

The Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) is a more dangerous fault. I've lived atop the San Andreas (SAF- Big Bend region), and now live next to the CSZ. The SAF can produce a magnitude 8+/- quake. The CSZ is capable of a 9.1+/- quake. The CSZ also produces large, Pacific-wide tsunamis.

The Cascadia Subduction zone has far more potential for catastrophic damage, IMO.

First time channel watcher, but I'll stick around and subscribe. Hopefully all are this good. I also do videos, {not this stuff, different stuff} but got a $40 camera and my desktop bedroom computer, so don't mind the kitchen view. For me, it's the content being accurate and interesting, and the main talking person's voice. If the cadence is choppy, or a whiny voice like nails, I cannot focus on the content for the distraction. I also do not like nature videos that put music over the natural sounds...even if it's just wind, I want to hear it! Informational AND Visual, which helps give context for many of us.

It is strange to think about, but on geological timescales there have been hundreds of thousands of "big ones" and there are even more yet to come. Human lives are just to short to comprehend these things.

Watching the fence I wonder how fast the parts of the fence moved? Was it minutes or seconds?

@magicone9327

Ай бұрын

Yes! The 1964 Alaskan earthquake last for 4 minute and a few seconds. In an area the land dropped 50 ft. I would surmise that the lateral slip was as long as the quake lasted which was 45-60 seconds!

@larryjacklin1683

Ай бұрын

@@magicone9327 Okay thanks for the info! So you could easily see it moving, crazy...

Question…. since the San Andreas Fault goes right through San Francisco. How would you say the Golden Gate Bridge?

Why was the Fort Tejon earthquake not located on the map at Fort Tejón?

@JK4507

Ай бұрын

I noticed that too. Fort Tejon on the map in the video was too close to Parkfield. FYI - I really enjoyed this video and the good humor!! Great job bruh! 😊

why don't you add a video of the Cascadia Subduction Zone a few miles off the west coast that connects to this fault line and goes all the way to Kodiak Alaska?

@suewilkinson5855

27 күн бұрын

Great idea! I'd love to see that.

On the southern part of the San Andreas Fault (SAF): In some other video someone said, that the current bending to the west now, is caused by the Sierrra Nevada. The fault will straighten, some day, and go to the east. So the shear zone will got through the Sierra, some day. This is really terrifying, I think…

Interesting vid...but just one thing....isn't the Cascadia Subduction Zone far more dangerous than the San Andreas system?

@FishnChips136

22 күн бұрын

Yes.

I literally slept over the fault line in Wrightwood California as a child I don’t even feel earthquakes I have to ask people if we had one😅

@UwU-ok2jr

23 күн бұрын

Dude same I never feel earthquakes. Last time I felt one was 2019 but that's because I was in a car so it shook a lot

It doesn't really fit your video subject, but another great place to see the plate boundaries is at the south end of San Andreas Lake. There is a hike/bike trail running from the south Sawyer Camp trailhead (off Chrystal Springs Road in San Mateo) to around 280/Hillcrest. Along the way, it runs across the damn at the south end of San Andreas Lake. There is a small plaque showing the location of the fault with the North American Plate on one side and the Pacific Plate on the other.

@lsuzicosbw644

19 күн бұрын

Are the two boundaries easy to differentiate without the plaque? Thank you! Might have to go check it out

@sifridbassoon

19 күн бұрын

@@lsuzicosbw644 Unless you know the fault runs beneath the lake, there's nothing particularly noticeable to tip you off.

good video

From what I can see, there’s a lot of people living along the fault line. Is there any calculations of the possible loss of lives if a major earthquake should happen?

@suewilkinson5855

27 күн бұрын

I wondered the same thing. My first reaction was to question why anyone would live there, but I live in Florida and we're expecting a butt-kicking hurricane season this year. I'm not going anywhere, so I'm not throwing stones from my glass house!

@lsuzicosbw644

19 күн бұрын

They’ve allll rebuilt tenfold since previous big quakes. It could easily be catastrophic (500 fatalities +, thousands unhoused)

I have read a LOT about the history of the southwest. Mainly because my family settled all over the southwest from Texas to California beginning in 1624. I found a geographical reference in a book "On the Old West Coast" an autobiographical history by Major Horace Bell. The Native American aural history states that the opening to the San Francisco bay eons prior was not at the Golden Gate. The opening was at Monterrey. I mentioned this to some geologists 20 years ago but never got a response.

New Madrid, whatever that one under Charleston is called, and Cascadia are all far more dangerous than the San Andreas. The first two owing to being in an area with a lack of earthquake resistant building codes coupled with a population uneducated about earthquake safety (St. Louis, MO & Charleston, SC respectively) and the other one due to the severe tsunami risk hazard posed which could cause issues not just in North America but across the Pacific.

Is there really a power line facility there ???

there is an overhead view of an orange (what else) grove in socal that was planted in square rows on top of the fault. the offset running through the grove is quite obvious.

Very cool video! What about the 1992 LA earthquake ?

The 14 cuts through the fault at the southern end of Palmdale. Swirly and cool looking.

I am eating this up with a big spoon. Love the informative comments too. ❤❤❤❤❤❤

I would think the New Madrid fault would be the most dangerous because with the type of ground underfoot the vibrations travel much further and as it hasn't had a major shake since around 1812 or so none of the buildings or other structures have been built to withstand the violent shaking it can produce.

Lived outside LA 1971, the Sylmar quake ( Feb 9) was pretty big (6.5). Not big enough to mention?

Loma Prieta In 1989 it was 7.1 magnitude

This video made me even more glad I live in Australia.

@amandamcandrew263

26 күн бұрын

You're kidding, right? The size of the 8 legged critters down there makes me glad I don't live in Australia

You should've gone to Parkfeild. The bridge into town is bent from the movement. Also I wouldn't say the the San Andreas is quiet in the center. I used to live on the central coast. I grew up there and 2-3 pointers were not uncommon. Just every so often you get a bug one, hence the 6.0 Parkfeild Quake of 2004. That didn't do hardly any damage. It just bounced around a bunch. The 6.5 San Simieon Quake did way more damage. Tore apart downtown Paso Robles. Unfortunately 3 women died in the quake. Seems to me that all the other faults around do more damage the the San Andreas does. Which leads me to my question: How do they know how big the San Francisco Quake was when they didn't have any seismology stations around? I've gotten mixed messages on how big it was. I've head 9.0, 8.5, 8.0, and now 7.8.