The secrets of Idaho's famous Oakley Stone of southern Idaho

Ғылым және технология

Hang out with geology professor Shawn Willsey as he explores the famous and interesting Oakley Stone of southern Idaho. This attractive and durable rock is quarried and sold worldwide as a flagstone for landscaping and building projects.
You can learn more about southern Idaho geology by purchasing Geology Underfoot in Southern Idaho and Roadside Geology of Idaho. Both available locally or on Amazon.
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

Пікірлер: 45

  • @chucklearnslithics3751
    @chucklearnslithics37512 жыл бұрын

    I grew up in and around these formations and mines. I just learned more about them in the last 4 mins than I ever knew about them in the last 40+ years. Thank-you!

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    Awesome! Mission accomplished all around. Let me know if there are other places or topics you want covered.

  • @chucklearnslithics3751

    @chucklearnslithics3751

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shawnwillsey Careful what you ask for. ;) South of Oakley is a beautiful range, with a white tuff layer on the bottom, several orange basalts on top of it, capped with a dark red that is several hundred feet. Theres even a thin layer of a purple basalt. Coal Banks Creek, off of Goose Creek, is a great place to observe it. Nearer you is Thousand Springs, bubbling right out of the basalt. I'd love to hear the story on that. To the East one of my favorite osidians comes from Malad. There are large pumice hills there that are mined for abrasives in modern household items. Further east still is Lava Hot Springs and Soda Springs, both related to the basalts in the area I'm sure.

  • @dougbotimer8005

    @dougbotimer8005

    Жыл бұрын

    @@shawnwillsey Same here, grew up in Twin and never knew.

  • @Rachel.4644
    @Rachel.4644 Жыл бұрын

    All of your videos are just great, Shawn. Thank you so much.

  • @ethanklein982
    @ethanklein982 Жыл бұрын

    Informative vid as always. Idaho is such a cool state. Unmatched geology

  • @JanetClancey
    @JanetClancey2 ай бұрын

    Yay I knew they were metamorphic rocks… yes… learning and understanding.. thank you so much Shawn

  • @annewandering
    @annewandering Жыл бұрын

    You ought to go a bit south and check out the Ashbrook Mining district. There are three fault zones that converge in the area which makes it interesting to see the changes from one zone to the next. These faults do creep constantly. Every spring when the mine reopened they had to be cleared out from the rock falls from the earth movements.

  • @idahoexmormons
    @idahoexmormons Жыл бұрын

    Nice video! I’m from Southeastern Idaho and am happy to learn more about the geography there.

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @geoffgeorges
    @geoffgeorges Жыл бұрын

    Over on the dirt road east of COR’s there is a turn off that passes a sign for Utah border, goes into National Forest with some amazing Quartzite outcrops.

  • @donbolin3450
    @donbolin3450 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much! This is the information I was looking for. Amazing!

  • @Mistydazzle
    @Mistydazzle2 жыл бұрын

    I wanted to let you know that, coincidentally, I listened to a podcast (Next Up! Mid-Century Homes, episode 20) interview with the owner of a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house, Archie Teater Studio (Teater's Knoll), beside the Snake River on Hwy. 30, northwest of Twin Falls, Idaho. The house was beautifully constructed with Oakley Stone.

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hey, I know that house well. I am an avid whitewater rafter and we often run the Snake River right past this house. The rapid just below it is called Frank Lloyd Wright rapid. It's a really awesome house. Wish I could see the inside sometime.

  • @Mistydazzle

    @Mistydazzle

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shawnwillsey the owner said that he usually held annual tours as fundraiser for the Hagerman Valley Historical Society or the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho.

  • @judytaylor325
    @judytaylor325 Жыл бұрын

    It's a year later and I just ran across you channel. It's wonderful to have an understanding of what I've looked at all my life. I love Oakley rock.

  • @leejansen5729
    @leejansen572911 ай бұрын

    Nice presentation. There are also more stone mines/quarries way up north a couple miles from the Montana frontier on Hwy 200. Also quartzite.

  • @marklang5169
    @marklang51692 жыл бұрын

    Love your informative and get right to the point vids, thank you! Just ordered your second edition Idaho Roadside geo book recommenced to me by my favorite local geo professor Andy Buddington!

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    Awesome. Thanks for the kind words, watching, and picking up the book. Andy is a great guy and super dedicated teacher. You are in good hands. Look for more videos soon. I am heading to southern Utah and norther Arizona this week.

  • @Kitchfox
    @Kitchfox Жыл бұрын

    What is the story on the green stones you find in the stone yards in Oakley. So far I have only had the shiny flag stone on my truck and I'm curious about the other rocks in the area.

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    Жыл бұрын

    It's a chromium-rich mica mineral in some of the quartzite known as fuchsite.

  • @gregorypowell9132
    @gregorypowell91322 жыл бұрын

    Thank you.

  • @misty149
    @misty14911 ай бұрын

    Thank you 🙏

  • @louiscervantez1639
    @louiscervantez1639 Жыл бұрын

    Very cool!

  • @rogercotman1314
    @rogercotman1314 Жыл бұрын

    Great video on metamorphic rocks ...................... thanks Shawn ......................... 384 like

  • @jeffhollandsnips
    @jeffhollandsnips2 жыл бұрын

    thanks prof!!

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    best comment ever!

  • @AvanaVana
    @AvanaVana Жыл бұрын

    So if it’s muscovite, is it splitting on original bedding planes, or metamorphic foliation? Or is it such that compression was normal to the bedding planes in this case and the foliation lines up with the bedding planes and enhanced the “flaggy” parting of the stone?

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    Жыл бұрын

    Hi Avana. The rock is definitely splitting along bedding planes. The metamorphism may have been more due to burial and therefore heat rather than differential stress or uneven pressure.

  • @stereomonologue
    @stereomonologue2 жыл бұрын

    Best geologist online (and probably offline as well).

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hey thanks! I just love sharing this with folks who are interested. Appreciate you watching.

  • @misty149
    @misty14911 ай бұрын

    Indian Mountain❤️ (what we call it) I wish they would regulate/protect it, its unique in the world. 🙏

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    11 ай бұрын

    Thanks for your kindness. Much appreciated.

  • @michelleparks
    @michelleparks Жыл бұрын

    Do you have a video about rock around Pocatello Idaho?

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    Жыл бұрын

    Not yet. Is there a specific area of interest?

  • @michelleparks

    @michelleparks

    Жыл бұрын

    @@shawnwillsey, I am mostly interested about the lava rock origins, comparing our local walls of rock to the lava flows at the I15 rest area north of here.

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    Жыл бұрын

    @@michelleparks Ah, thanks for the clarification. The basalt (lava rock) at Hells Half Acre on I-15 is among the youngest in the state, about 2,000 years old. The basalt around Pocatello such as along the Portneuf River or at Ross Park is much older, about 430,000 years old. You can learn more about the geology of both areas and the whole state with a book I co-wrote, Roadside Geology of Idaho.

  • @michelleparks

    @michelleparks

    Жыл бұрын

    @@shawnwillsey thank you!

  • @3xHermes
    @3xHermes17 күн бұрын

    👍

  • @LikeGniess
    @LikeGniess2 жыл бұрын

    Would love to know the geologic name of the formation commercially known as Oakley Stone.

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    There are several name quartzites that are quarried and sold as Oakley Stone: Quartzite of Clarks Basin, Elba Quartzite, and the third one escapes me right now at home.

  • @LikeGniess

    @LikeGniess

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@shawnwillsey In the new Roadside Geology of Idaho looks like the maps classify it as Windermere Supergroup. (which you are author) Love it when you mention the formation names in your vids.

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@LikeGniess Yeah, the book covers the whole state so those maps will be very broad. Windermere Supergroup encompasses a big bag of formations.

  • @judyjackson2260
    @judyjackson2260 Жыл бұрын

    Are there geodes in Emmett, Idaho??

  • @shawnwillsey

    @shawnwillsey

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm not sure.

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