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13 Episodes 2009 - 2010
Episode 1
Tue, Nov 24, 200945 mins
The relatively tiny Colorado River had substantial help in carving out a chasm as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon. The story is so complex and the evidence so scarce that it took geologist decades to unravel the mysteries.

Episode 2
Tue, Dec 1, 200944 mins
Volcanologists look for patterns in the historical eruptions of Mount Vesuvius to determine when the worlds most dangerous volcano is likely to threaten the three million residents of Naples.
Episode 3
Wed, Dec 9, 200945 mins
The Earth isn't an ordinary generic planet. The processes that created an Earth suitable for modern are unique and surprising.

Episode 4
Tue, Dec 15, 200945 mins
Scientists present evidence that the Sahara Desert periodically transitions from desert to a lush green environment and back. They also present theories about why this happens.

Episode 5
Tue, Dec 22, 200944 mins
The dispute between John Muir and Josiah Whitney over how the Yosemite Valley formed is settled with a 200 million year long story more complex then either imagined.

Episode 6
Tue, Dec 22, 200944 mins
Geologists believe the Rocky Mountains recently rose from an inland sea to twice their current size and becoming a new inland sea may be their not to distant fate.

Episode 7
Tue, Jan 19, 201045 mins
The geological mechanism that causes the ring of volcanoes around the pacific ocean is studied and explained.

Episode 8
Tue, Jan 19, 201045 mins
The convergence of processes that resulted in the extreme height of Mt. Everest and the other Himalayan mountains is explained in conjunction with the supporting geological evidence.

Episode 9
Tue, Jan 26, 201045 mins
The history of Death Valley's transformation from an inland sea to a towering mountain range then to a fresh water lake and finally the salt bed we see today it revealed.
Episode 10
Tue, Feb 2, 201045 mins
The Mount Saint Helens 1980 eruption introduces geologists to a variety of volcanic phenomenon never observed before. Yet it presages a similar eruption thousands of miles away and just a few years later in Montserrat.
Episode 11
Tue, Feb 9, 201044 mins
The causes of the million year volcanic eruption in the Siberian Traps and the resulting effects that lead to the largest mass extinction in earth's history are recounted.
Episode 12
Tue, Feb 16, 201045 mins
Instead of looking at a geological feature and the convergence of mechanisms that created it, this program uses a different format; looking at one mechanism, glaciers, and the diverse effects they cause.
Episode 13
Tue, Mar 2, 201045 mins
The history of discovery of gold deposits in California and Nevada and the diverse geological processes the produced the deposits are described.