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00:00What would happen if every human being on Earth disappeared?
00:11This isn't the story of how we might vanish.
00:15It is the story of what happens to the world we leave behind.
00:22In this episode of Life After People,
00:26it is the world beneath your feet,
00:28normally unseen and undisturbed.
00:32But journey beneath the surface and you'll find crystal caverns,
00:37mysterious ruins, strange animals,
00:41and buried in the mud of Middle America,
00:44the treasures of the Titanic of the West.
00:48Welcome to Earth, population zero.
00:58Man was a surface creature by nature.
01:10But humans engineered their domain in two directions,
01:14up toward the skies and also down into the Earth,
01:19building complex mines, tunnels, and underground cities.
01:23And the further you descend, the stranger things get in a life after people.
01:30One hour after people.
01:40Above ground, Seattle's International Airport is quiet.
01:44But 20 feet underground,
01:50the arrivals and departures continue.
01:58Driven by computer,
02:00these people movers were designed to operate with no human involvement.
02:06Radio signals beamed from the master control room ensure the trains don't collide.
02:11Trains would glide into a station.
02:15Doors would open.
02:18The doors would close.
02:21The train would move on to the next stop.
02:24It's ominous and it's ironic.
02:29The only thing moving at an airport is a train.
02:32One day after people.
02:43In the mountains 70 miles north of San Francisco,
02:46a pungent mist fills the sky.
02:51Trouble is brewing at the largest geothermal complex in the world.
02:55That's because underneath this 40-square-mile complex,
03:01heat radiating from the very core of the Earth
03:04turns water into superheated steam,
03:08blasting it toward the surface at a scalding 455 degrees Fahrenheit.
03:15Mann constructed more than 20 power plants here,
03:19designed to capture and harness this searing natural power source.
03:23We're producing natural steam out of the ground,
03:27drilling wells deep into the ground several miles below our feet,
03:31collecting the steam through pipelines,
03:34piping it over land to power plants.
03:36And what you see behind me is a power plant converting steam energy
03:40into electrical power.
03:4340% of all the geothermal power in the United States was produced here.
03:48Enough electricity to power more than a million homes.
03:54But with those homes now empty,
03:57this carefully balanced system is teetering on the verge of collapse.
04:03As with other types of power plants,
04:06without people to use the electricity generated here,
04:10the plant will automatically shut down.
04:12Now, superheated steam from deep inside the planet has no release.
04:24And the pressure begins to build.
04:28Two days after people.
04:41From deep inside this Colorado mountain,
04:45humans controlled the power to destroy the world.
04:48Cheyenne Mountain is basically a very large chunk of granite,
04:53solid granite.
04:54And a tunnel was bored through the mountain,
04:56and then various other areas within it were excavated.
05:00One of the walls has a large steel door,
05:02and behind that is basically a city built within there.
05:06Inside this mountain,
05:11a massive complex once the home of NORAD,
05:14the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
05:18During the Cold War,
05:20it was here that American military commanders
05:23would coordinate the nation's response to a nuclear attack.
05:27And it was built here for one reason.
05:31Cheyenne Mountain Complex is designed specifically
05:33to be able to withstand nuclear war.
05:37In fact, a multi-megaton explosion
05:39within a mile and a half from the center of the complex.
05:44If a nuclear weapon exploded
05:47right outside the complex's 25-ton blast doors,
05:51the buildings inside might not even move an inch.
05:55The buildings were specially constructed
05:57to make sure that if the mountain moved,
06:00they wouldn't.
06:03Each building sits on a shock mounting,
06:06basically giant springs
06:08that isolate the buildings themselves
06:12from shockwaves from the outside.
06:16Designed to withstand a nuclear blast,
06:20now Cheyenne Mountain sits permanently,
06:23and DEFCON none.
06:25And the destruction of this once-secret hideout
06:29will be an inside job.
06:31Three days after people.
06:41275 miles south of El Paso, Texas,
06:44this mountain in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert
06:48conceals a secret.
06:50Massive crystal caverns
06:52and a hellish environment.
06:54With the temperature here reaching nearly 130 degrees
07:00and humidity approaching 100%,
07:03humans couldn't survive here for more than 15 minutes
07:08without special chilled suits
07:10that looked like something astronauts would wear.
07:13But the environment was perfect for these giant crystals.
07:20Many more than 30 feet long
07:22and half a million years old.
07:26Some weigh more than 55 tons.
07:28The crystals are made of gypsum,
07:34a mineral whose low thermal conductivity
07:37makes it fire-resistant
07:38and such a good insulator
07:41that it's a key ingredient in drywall and plaster.
07:46These crystals were submerged
07:48until miners installed pumps to drain the caves.
07:51To keep the caverns clear for mining,
07:57those pumps remove 22,000 gallons of water
08:01from the cave every minute of the day.
08:06Now, with the power and the pumps failing,
08:10water is beginning to reclaim these caves.
08:12As the water rises,
08:17will these spectacular natural wonders
08:19be dissolved away?
08:27Ten days after people.
08:31Beneath the west Texas city of Lubbock,
08:34a subterranean town
08:36with a population of thousands
08:37still hums with life.
08:39And according to some scientists,
08:44the residents of this town
08:46might still be talking about humans
08:48in a life after people.
08:54These are prairie dogs,
08:57which can dig subterranean complexes
08:59as big as the state of Maryland.
09:03Prairie dog is not a dog at all.
09:05It's a rodent of the squirrel family.
09:06So their closest relatives
09:08are ground squirrels and marmots
09:11and tree squirrels and flying squirrels.
09:13Evidence shows
09:15they develop their own language
09:16with different words
09:18to describe different predators,
09:20including their most efficient predator,
09:24man.
09:28Barks and a bobbing motion
09:30mean watch out for a predator
09:32in this unique language.
09:33Biologists believe
09:39the North American prairie dog population
09:41topped out at around 5 billion
09:43sometime in the 18th century.
09:47But as the human population
09:49exploded on the continent,
09:52man mastered many techniques
09:53to cull a prairie dog colony,
09:56from the slow, silent death
09:57of filling a burrow with toxic gas
10:00to the quick brutality
10:02of a long-range kill shot.
10:08By the year 2000,
10:10the prairie dog had lost 98%
10:12of its former population.
10:16Prairie dogs,
10:17after people in urban settings like this,
10:19will no longer have to worry about shooting.
10:21So when they wake up in the morning,
10:23they're not going to have to wonder
10:23whether somebody's behind that pickup truck
10:26trying to pick them off.
10:27They also won't have to worry about poisoning.
10:29No more bullets.
10:32No more gas.
10:34With its most deadly predator gone,
10:37just how big will this colony get?
10:46One month after people.
10:50In the tunnels below Seattle's
10:52International Airport,
10:54a transportation system
10:55designed specifically to work
10:57without the presence of man
10:58has broken down.
11:02The last of the emergency lights
11:05loses its power.
11:07The last battery gives out,
11:09and the semi-darkened,
11:12ominous passenger corridors
11:14become totally dark.
11:16The driverless trains sit powerless,
11:21except for one thing.
11:26Emergency battery backups,
11:28which keep the public address system working.
11:31Board here for South B Terminal,
11:34S, A, and B gates.
11:38Trains to oblivion,
11:40serving no one
11:41in a life after people.
11:43Off the coast of Grenada,
11:51in the West Indies,
11:5320 feet underwater,
11:55rests a circle of concrete and steel children.
11:58Are these totems from an ancient civilization,
12:02or something stranger?
12:03And what secret
12:05will allow these images of man
12:08to come to life?
12:15One month after people.
12:21A Hollywood landmark
12:24hides a secret in its depths.
12:26The Capitol Records building
12:29is an icon.
12:32It was really the first round office building
12:36built anywhere in the world.
12:38There's always been a feeling
12:40among most of the people in Los Angeles
12:42that the building was built by a record company,
12:46and it looks like a stack of records.
12:48But the original press releases
12:50for the opening of the building
12:52and the documents that were produced
12:54for the tour guides
12:55show that that's not true.
12:57It was just a happy accident.
13:00In addition to three ground floor
13:02recording studios,
13:04the Capitol Records building
13:06was also home to a buried treasure.
13:1030 feet under the building
13:12exists one of the world's
13:14most acoustically perfect echo chambers.
13:17The chambers feature
13:1910-inch thick concrete walls
13:21and ceilings made of concrete
13:23a foot thick.
13:24isolating them from outside noises
13:28and vibrations.
13:30The trapezoidal shape of the room
13:32is capable of creating an echo
13:35that lasts for up to five seconds.
13:42Designed by electric guitar pioneer
13:44Les Paul,
13:46it was used to provide
13:47a finishing touch
13:48on recordings by superstars
13:50such as Frank Sinatra
13:52and Nat King Coal.
13:56One month after people,
13:58these legendary chambers sit quiet.
14:03They won't stay that way.
14:12One year after people.
14:17Beneath the Mexican desert,
14:18the Nika crystal caves
14:21are now flooded
14:22with steamy, mineral-rich water.
14:26Water is the natural enemy
14:28of some crystals,
14:29such as salt.
14:32But here,
14:34along with heat
14:34and a mineral called anhydrite,
14:37water is required
14:39for these 55-ton crystals to grow.
14:41If after people,
14:44the pumps were to die out,
14:46you were no longer pumping water,
14:48then those mines
14:48would fill up again.
14:50And if you could get back
14:51to the same mineral concentrations
14:53and the same temperatures
14:56and hold them just perfectly there,
14:58that they would continue
14:59to grow those crystals.
15:00They could become 30 meters large.
15:03That's almost 100 feet long.
15:08This will soon be a sight
15:10like no other ever seen
15:11in the world.
15:21Two years
15:23after people.
15:25Off the island of Grenada,
15:28bizarre images of mankind
15:30stare out from the ocean floor
15:32into the endless sea.
15:36A concrete man sits
15:38at a sunken typewriter,
15:40never pressing a key.
15:44A bicyclist
15:45never moves a muscle.
15:48But what appears
15:50to be a traditional still life
15:52is anything but lifeless.
15:54The artist,
15:59Jason DeCarris Taylor,
16:01designed them
16:02so that their lives
16:03are only now beginning.
16:06The underwater sculpture gardens
16:08were designed,
16:09in fact,
16:10to be habitats
16:11for future coral reefs.
16:13And so they were made
16:14from materials
16:15that coral
16:16will likely stick to.
16:18In the time of humans,
16:21statues from ancient Greek
16:23and Roman civilizations
16:24were often discovered
16:26at the bottom of the ocean.
16:28Those statues were marble,
16:31a mineral soft enough
16:32to sculpt,
16:33but durable enough
16:34to survive centuries
16:35underwater.
16:37Clean them off,
16:38and they sparkled like new.
16:42Here,
16:43the artist chose
16:45to use concrete
16:46made of cement,
16:48sand,
16:49micro silica,
16:50and fiberglass.
16:53Elements which provide
16:54a perfect bonding surface
16:56for the liquid limestone skeleton
16:58being excreted
16:59by the coral
17:00as it grows.
17:02Millions of tiny sea creatures
17:04are slowly changing
17:06these once-human shapes
17:07forever.
17:09There are thousands
17:11and thousands of coral
17:11that attach all over it,
17:13and very rapidly,
17:14actually,
17:14only within a few years,
17:16some of these statues
17:16are already covered.
17:17It's very interesting
17:19to look at these
17:20underwater sculpture gardens
17:21already,
17:22because they really are
17:24sort of living a life
17:25after people.
17:27And only in a matter
17:28of a few years,
17:29a lot of the sculptures
17:30already are beginning
17:31to no longer resemble
17:32what they originally
17:33looked like.
17:41Four years after people,
17:43deep inside the Cheyenne
17:47Mountain complex,
17:48the buildings that once
17:49housed NORAD headquarters
17:51remain strong.
17:53It was here
17:54that 12 million lines
17:56of computer code,
17:58written in 27 different
17:59programming languages,
18:01helped the military
18:02determine if it was missiles
18:04or a flock of geese
18:06coming over the horizon.
18:07With the external threat
18:10of nuclear warfare
18:11eliminated,
18:13the attention now falls
18:15upon an internal invader,
18:17water.
18:22The complex conceals
18:24a 4.5 million gallon
18:26reservoir,
18:27built by the military
18:28to help stabilize
18:29the internal temperature.
18:31This is water for drinking,
18:33and also water
18:34to cool the massive amounts
18:36of electrical equipment
18:38that are there
18:39waiting to be used
18:40in case of an attack
18:41against North America.
18:43Now,
18:44the more than 1,300 springs,
18:47which provide protection
18:48for the buildings,
18:49are under assault.
18:52The water from that reservoir
18:54is leaking out
18:55as a lack of maintenance
18:57begins to take its toll.
19:00If the springs fail,
19:02it could spell the end
19:04for some of America's
19:06most secure buildings.
19:09So then whatever happens
19:10to the granite
19:11is going to start happening
19:12to the structure.
19:13Say, if there's a landslide
19:15or an earthquake
19:15or some sort of motion
19:17to the mountain,
19:18then this motion
19:18will get translated
19:19into the structure
19:20and will cause the structure
19:21to fail because of that.
19:25A place designed
19:26to survive a nuclear blast
19:28finds its structural integrity
19:30slowly dripping away.
19:40Five years after people,
19:46into the very heart
19:49of one of America's
19:51most eerie
19:51and beautiful national parks
19:53drips a steady rain
19:55of antifreeze.
20:01It was here
20:02at Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
20:05that naturally occurring
20:07sulfuric acid
20:08seeped into the limestone,
20:10carving out
20:12some of the largest caves
20:13in North America.
20:15In the time of humans,
20:18the caverns drew
20:19350,000 tourists a year,
20:21tourists who arrived
20:24by bus and by car.
20:27We have three very large
20:29parking lots
20:29that we built
20:30right on top of the cave.
20:32And if you think about it,
20:33if you have an older car
20:34sitting on your driveway,
20:35you know,
20:35you get those little spots
20:36of oil and antifreeze
20:38and other fluids
20:38on that pavement.
20:40Now multiply that
20:41times 350,000 visitors a year.
20:45750 feet of limestone
20:47separates the parking lot
20:48from the caverns below.
20:50But even in the time
20:52of humans,
20:53runoff from cars
20:54found its way
20:55through the cracks.
21:00Scientists estimated
21:02more than a million gallons
21:03of contaminated water
21:05seeped into the caves
21:06every year.
21:09Five years after people,
21:11the flow continues.
21:14After people,
21:15if the parking lot
21:16was completely full,
21:18you would now start seeing
21:19a very long-term,
21:20steady source of contaminants
21:22above the cave.
21:24If we end up
21:25with a lightning strike,
21:26you could actually end up
21:27setting those things on fire
21:29and then releasing
21:30all of the melted plastics
21:32and all the chemicals
21:33associated with that
21:34also down into the cave.
21:37So you'd probably still
21:38be looking at decades
21:40before the vehicles
21:41were deteriorated enough
21:43to no longer be supplying
21:44contaminants
21:45into the underground.
21:47And then you're looking
21:48at probably 50, 100 years
21:50before all of that stuff
21:52is flushed out of the rock
21:53above the cave.
21:55The influence of man
21:57will continue to be felt here
21:59for a very, very long time.
22:04But will that be enough
22:05to stop one animal
22:06from reclaiming
22:08its former home?
22:09Six years after people.
22:19Large numbers of deer
22:21gather on the site
22:22of the geysers geothermal field
22:24in Northern California.
22:26They are drawn here
22:30by the heat radiating
22:31from the 80 miles
22:32of steam pipes
22:33left behind by man.
22:36Although the massive
22:37cooling towers
22:38and power plants
22:39shut down long ago,
22:4240,000 pounds of steam
22:44per hour continues
22:45to fill the pipes.
22:48Now, the deer are in
22:50for an unpleasant surprise.
22:53Over time,
22:54with no one
22:55to do maintenance
22:55on the pipelines,
22:56we'd start having
22:57corrosion leaks.
22:58We would start having
22:59steam vents.
23:00And they would grow
23:01bigger and bigger
23:02and louder and louder.
23:03It's very much like
23:04listening to a jet engine.
23:06And that would go on
23:07probably for many years.
23:10Years of pressure buildup
23:12finally come to a head.
23:14Deep within the Earth's core,
23:17water hits magma.
23:19And from that collision
23:20comes the crushing power
23:21of superheated steam.
23:23The corroding pipes
23:25can no longer
23:26handle the pressure.
23:32In a life after people,
23:35the underworld
23:36is undergoing
23:36many changes.
23:39But some underground places
23:42have actually survived
23:43by drowning.
23:46How do we know this?
23:48There's one haunting place
23:49in America
23:50where it's already happened.
23:58Forty years after people,
24:03rusting remnants
24:03of human civilization
24:05continue to decay underground.
24:09But some places
24:11have escaped
24:12the depths of destruction
24:13ravaging the below-ground world.
24:15For decades,
24:20man pulled millions
24:21of dollars worth
24:22of minerals
24:22out of the ground here
24:24at the Bonterre Mine
24:25near St. Louis, Missouri.
24:28Lead from the mine
24:29was used in car batteries,
24:31house paint,
24:32and to make bullets.
24:34Ammunition that was used
24:36from World War I
24:37through Vietnam.
24:39The Bonterre Mine,
24:40they began surface mining
24:41here in 1860.
24:43That diamond drill
24:44was actually developed here.
24:45And then steam-driven drill
24:47was too many, many mining tools
24:49that are used to date
24:51were originally developed
24:53here at Bonterre Mine.
24:54In the 1960s,
24:57Bonterre was declared
24:58mined out
24:59and abandoned.
25:03When the mining pumps
25:05shut off,
25:06the natural groundwater
25:07began to rise,
25:09creating dual underground worlds.
25:13When you come in here,
25:16you've just entered
25:17another world.
25:18You haven't just come
25:19into a place
25:20that isn't exactly
25:21what you expected,
25:22because it's much larger
25:23than you expected.
25:24You've entered
25:25into a completely
25:26different world
25:27where you've lost
25:29your senses.
25:31Huge pillars reach
25:33to a ceiling
25:33that's 300 feet
25:35above the mine floor.
25:36But to reach that floor
25:39requires an oxygen tank,
25:41because today,
25:43much of the Bonterre Mine
25:45is preserved
25:46underwater.
25:49One of the things
25:50that fascinates me
25:51is how time
25:52has really come
25:53to a halt.
25:54so much of the biological world,
25:57the things that we know
25:58are going on
25:59are driven by oxygen.
26:01And oxygen
26:01is the high-octane fuel
26:03by which things decay,
26:06by which things break down.
26:11And here in this environment
26:12where the water has come in
26:14and flooded this,
26:17it's pushed the oxygen
26:18out of the mine,
26:19and now basically
26:21the processes
26:22are still going on,
26:23but they're going on
26:24in slow motion.
26:26It's life in the slow lane.
26:30Concealed in the depths
26:31of this billion-gallon lake
26:33is a mining town
26:36frozen in time.
26:39You're diving a time capsule.
26:41It's like Superman
26:42soaring in the past
26:43because when you're diving
26:44in the mine,
26:44you're in crystal clear water
26:46and it's one of the very few places
26:48you can get the feeling
26:50that the diver
26:51is actually soaring
26:52through the water.
26:55Once,
26:56this staircase clattered
26:58with the boots of workers
26:59headed down into the mines.
27:05Shovels, jackhammers,
27:07and drills
27:08remain where they were left
27:10on the day the mine shut down.
27:13They just left a drill
27:14right in the side of the mine.
27:16It's just sticking out there,
27:17hanging in by the bit.
27:18Over a period of the next
27:2010, 20, 30, 40 years,
27:23it will begin to corrode more
27:24and finally just pull away
27:25from the wall
27:26and collapse
27:27and sit down on the bottom
27:28where it'll continue
27:29to rust away.
27:32Even the locomotive
27:34used to shuttle lead ore
27:35to the surface
27:36remains as a ghostly reminder
27:39of the decades
27:40of back-breaking labor
27:41carried out on this spot.
27:44Just below us
27:46is one of the
27:47many temples
27:48that we find in this mine.
27:49That's the place
27:50where the ore car
27:51comes to a stop
27:52and dumps its ore out.
27:53And of course,
27:54that's made out of
27:55some low-grade steel
27:57and that's now
27:58serving as an energy source
28:00for whatever
28:00the biotic community is
28:02that's living on that iron.
28:03And over a period of time,
28:04they'll use all the nutrients
28:05out of that
28:06and turn that iron
28:07into iron oxide,
28:08into rust,
28:08and it'll be gone
28:09at that point.
28:11All the things
28:12that supported
28:13this operation
28:14were down underground.
28:16They built
28:17these engineering offices
28:18against the back
28:20of these pillars.
28:21They put doors
28:21and windows in them
28:22and they even put
28:22air conditioners in them
28:23to control the humidity.
28:25So you had
28:26a basic office building
28:28literally several hundred
28:30feet underground,
28:31which is now
28:31over 100 feet underwater.
28:35When it was time
28:36for a break,
28:37miners didn't head
28:38for the surface.
28:40Instead,
28:40they stayed below,
28:43visiting a drinking fountain
28:44that's now overflowing.
28:48A locker room,
28:50once home
28:50to the chatter
28:51and clatter of miners
28:52hoping to survive
28:53just one more day,
28:55now deathly still.
28:58So why was this mine abandoned?
29:04Everything was left behind here
29:06in the name of progress.
29:08There was no need
29:10to harvest
29:10any of that equipment.
29:12What was the use?
29:13You know, pickaxes.
29:14They didn't use pickaxes anymore.
29:15They didn't use
29:15the shovels anymore.
29:17Modern mines
29:18all have loaders
29:18and the last thing
29:19a miner probably wants
29:20to do is steal a shovel
29:21from the mine
29:22because that just means
29:22he's going to have to do
29:23more digging
29:23when he gets home.
29:25So what's the use?
29:30The Bonterre mine
29:31is filled with examples
29:33of how different environments
29:34can lead to vastly
29:36different decay rates.
29:39Here we see the, uh...
29:41What the action
29:42of the fast lane's like.
29:44This is a railroad tie.
29:46It's rotting.
29:47It's got a biotic community
29:49which is living in there
29:49which is turning it
29:50into just this powder.
29:52It's all because
29:53it's feeding on oxygen.
29:54It's using the oxygen
29:55as the oxidizer here
29:57as opposed to
29:59the stuff underwater
29:59which hasn't got
30:00access to that.
30:01This will be gone
30:02completely in a few
30:03more years
30:04whereas the stuff
30:05underwater still
30:06doesn't look like
30:06it's even been touched.
30:08It's quite a difference.
30:13Today,
30:14the Bonterre mine
30:15is used as a scuba resort.
30:18Divers from all over
30:19the world
30:20come to witness
30:21first hand
30:22the processes
30:23that will have
30:23a big impact
30:24on life
30:25after people.
30:27we'll see
30:28small pieces of iron
30:29actually flaking off
30:31and that process
30:32is just happening
30:33so much more slowly
30:35than it would be
30:35happening out
30:36in the real world
30:37where big hunks
30:39of iron
30:39are rusting away
30:40and falling off
30:41and here it's just
30:42little flakes
30:43over a long time.
30:47Man excavated
30:48the Bonterre mine
30:49a punctured hole
30:52in the earth.
30:54In a life
30:55after people
30:55it will remain
30:57as a watery
30:58time capsule.
31:01Elsewhere
31:01artifacts
31:02from a sunken ship
31:03are recovered
31:04not from the ocean
31:06but from a farmer's field.
31:09How did the Titanic
31:10of the west
31:11end up buried
31:12in mud
31:12for 150 years?
31:1950 years
31:20after people
31:21in the underground world
31:23people
31:25may be gone
31:26but their impact
31:28is still being felt.
31:30Studies in the time
31:31of humans
31:32showed it would take
31:34at least 50 years
31:35for the last drops
31:37of oil
31:38and antifreeze
31:39to make its way
31:40through the 750 feet
31:42of rock
31:43above Carlsbad Caverns.
31:44Now
31:46the cavern
31:47is beginning
31:48to return
31:48to its natural state
31:50and that state
31:53is filled
31:55to the brim
31:56with bat droppings.
31:58In a life
31:58after people
31:59the bat population
32:00in Carlsbad Cavern
32:01would probably
32:01start to increase
32:02mainly because
32:03we start reducing
32:05the amount
32:05of stress
32:06on them.
32:06The bats
32:09go out
32:10fly around
32:11primarily
32:11the Pecos River
32:12eat tons
32:13and tons
32:14of bugs
32:14and they bring
32:17all that
32:17back into the cave.
32:21As they're
32:21hanging there
32:22they're doing
32:23their business
32:23and they're
32:24dropping guano
32:25down on the cave
32:25floors
32:26and that guano
32:29pile is an
32:29extremely rich
32:30system of organics.
32:33The organic
32:34material
32:35proves to be
32:36a fertile
32:37spawning ground
32:37for millions
32:38of insects
32:39millipedes
32:40centipedes
32:41and cockroaches.
32:44It's sort of
32:45like a scene
32:45out of Indiana
32:46Jones.
32:49It's kind
32:50of creepy
32:50you definitely
32:51want to keep
32:52your pant legs
32:53duct taped up
32:54so that you
32:55don't end up
32:55with creepy
32:56crawlies going
32:56up your legs
32:57because there's
32:58nothing more
32:58disconcerting
32:59than trying to
33:00scream with a
33:00respirator on.
33:04After people
33:05eventually
33:06they're going
33:06to fill up
33:07their usable
33:07space
33:08with guano.
33:10There's sort
33:10of no natural
33:11system that
33:12flushes the guano
33:13out so it
33:13just gets
33:14deeper and
33:14deeper.
33:15We know
33:16that at one
33:16point the
33:17guano pile
33:17in the bat
33:18cave section
33:19of Carlsbad
33:19Cavern was
33:20more than
33:2060 feet deep.
33:23As these
33:24creatures start
33:25to reclaim
33:26territory they've
33:27long avoided
33:27Carlsbad Caverns
33:30is slowly
33:30becoming
33:31a giant
33:31guano
33:32filled
33:32bat cave.
33:39150 years
33:41after people
33:42some items
33:44from the
33:44time of man
33:45remain perfectly
33:46preserved.
33:48In fact
33:49there's a place
33:50in middle
33:51America
33:51where it's
33:52already
33:53happened.
33:54In 1856
33:56the steamboat
33:58Arabia was
33:59transporting
33:59settlers and
34:00cargo along
34:01the Missouri
34:02River to the
34:02western frontier.
34:05Near Kansas
34:05City the ship
34:06hit a partially
34:07submerged tree
34:08ripping open
34:09her hull.
34:11The Arabia
34:11sank.
34:12All the
34:13passengers
34:13survived but
34:14200 tons of
34:15cargo went
34:16down with the
34:17ship.
34:19In the
34:20century after
34:21the sinking
34:21rapid cycles
34:23of flooding
34:23and erosion
34:24changed the
34:25course of the
34:26Missouri River.
34:27The change
34:28was so great
34:29the Arabia
34:30ended up
34:31buried a
34:32half mile
34:32from the
34:33banks
34:33entombed
34:34and forgotten
34:35beneath a
34:36farmer's
34:36field.
34:38In the
34:39late 1980s
34:40treasure hunter
34:41David Hawley
34:42led a team
34:43of explorers
34:44to recover
34:44the Arabia.
34:46What they
34:46found was
34:47astonishing.
34:49A portal
34:50to a perfectly
34:51preserved slice
34:52of life
34:53circa
34:541856.
34:55When we
34:56reached it
34:57in the
34:58fall of
34:581988
34:59we found
35:01an uncovered
35:02barrel still
35:02filled with
35:03butter.
35:03Still smell
35:04like butter.
35:05Barrels of
35:05molasses that
35:06were still
35:06sweet.
35:07They were
35:07shipping jars
35:08and cases of
35:09pickles to the
35:10frontier.
35:10In those clear
35:11glass jars the
35:12pickles inside
35:13were just
35:13brilliantly green.
35:15You could still
35:15eat them.
35:16Pie fillings
35:17you could still
35:18eat those if you
35:20wished.
35:20And even the
35:21iron.
35:21You could
35:22open up
35:23pocket knives
35:24and the
35:25locks you
35:25could unlock
35:26them still
35:26after all
35:27those years
35:27in the
35:28water.
35:29For these
35:30objects and
35:31countless others
35:32there were
35:33three secrets
35:34to survival.
35:36No exposure
35:36to sunlight
35:37a constant
35:39temperature
35:39and a lack
35:41of oxygen.
35:43And it was
35:43all because
35:44of the lack
35:44of air.
35:45There was no
35:46oxygen at
35:4745 feet.
35:48And while you
35:49take that same
35:50item and put it
35:50on the surface
35:51of the ground
35:51it would rust
35:52away within
35:52a matter of
35:53years.
35:54While the
35:55water and
35:55mud preserved
35:56many items
35:57others were
35:59destroyed by
36:00it.
36:01Not every
36:02piece on the
36:03Arabia had
36:03survived.
36:04The water was
36:05an enemy to
36:05some things.
36:07Cotton for
36:08example dissolved
36:09while the
36:10wools did
36:10not.
36:11The cotton was
36:12a plant material
36:13while the wool
36:13the silk and
36:14the beaver hair
36:15coming from an
36:16animal of some
36:17sort survived
36:18the water.
36:20For the
36:20objects that
36:21did survive
36:22the recovery
36:23effort was a
36:24race against
36:25time.
36:26The Arabia was
36:27excavated in
36:28the winter
36:28November to
36:29February.
36:30It took four
36:30months to dig
36:30it.
36:31200 tons were
36:32recovered in
36:33that short
36:34amount of
36:34time.
36:35Sometimes people
36:36say why so
36:37quickly?
36:38When you open
36:39up the collection
36:39to the oxygen
36:40it begins to
36:42decay very
36:43quickly and
36:44it's a ticking
36:45time bomb to
36:46get that stuff
36:46out of the
36:47ground, out of
36:47the mud and
36:48out of the
36:48air into
36:49some stable
36:50environment.
36:52To stabilize
36:53some of the
36:53artifacts,
36:55Hawley and his
36:55team had to
36:56freeze them.
36:58We found a lot
36:59of rolling pins
36:59one day.
37:00We brought
37:01them out and
37:01typically like we
37:02always did we
37:02washed the mud
37:03and we froze
37:03them.
37:05But one rolling
37:05pin somehow rolled
37:07off into the
37:07shadows and we
37:08didn't see it.
37:09We found it
37:09though three days
37:10later.
37:11And what had
37:12once been a
37:12round perfectly
37:13preserved rolling
37:15pin had shrunk
37:16and half of its
37:17height, long
37:18cracks along the
37:19side, one handle
37:20had fallen off.
37:22And at this
37:22point it cannot
37:23be restored.
37:28The steamboat
37:29Arabia may not
37:30have reached
37:30her destination
37:31but today
37:34200 tons of
37:35history recovered
37:37from the depths
37:37provides a glimpse
37:39at what could
37:40await some of
37:41our artifacts in
37:42a life after
37:43people.
37:43Elsewhere
37:46underground
37:47millions of
37:48prairie dogs
37:49work furiously
37:50to reclaim
37:51their former
37:51territory.
37:52But now
37:53a new predator
37:54emerges.
37:56Which animal
37:57will survive?
38:05175 years
38:07after people.
38:08in the heart
38:12of Hollywood
38:13the Capitol
38:14Records
38:15building
38:15has gone
38:16green.
38:19Below
38:19ground
38:20the famed
38:22echo chambers
38:23are now
38:23a sonic
38:24time capsule.
38:26In the
38:27entire city
38:28of Los Angeles
38:29one of the
38:31things we can
38:31say with
38:32some certainty
38:33is that
38:34those echo
38:35chambers are
38:36going to be
38:37among the
38:38longest-lived
38:39objects
38:39left by
38:40humankind.
38:42They may very
38:43well be there
38:445,000 years
38:45after people
38:4610,000 years
38:47after people.
38:49To ensure
38:50a consistent
38:51sound which
38:52could be easily
38:53manipulated
38:53the chambers
38:55were constructed
38:56from concrete
38:57and unlike
38:59most modern
39:00concrete structures
39:01the echo
39:02chambers were
39:03built without
39:03reinforcing rods.
39:05like the
39:07ancient Romans
39:08who built
39:09without
39:10reinforcing rods
39:11the echo
39:12chamber
39:12concrete
39:13is basically
39:14pure concrete.
39:18Even after
39:20the building
39:20above
39:21collapses
39:21with no
39:23iron skeleton
39:24to rust
39:25and destroy
39:26the concrete
39:26from within
39:27this sonic
39:29temple may
39:30stand for
39:30a very
39:31long time.
39:32500 years
39:40after people
39:41the Texas
39:46countryside
39:47pulsates
39:47with prairie
39:50dogs
39:50with their
39:53number one
39:53predator
39:54man
39:54no longer
39:55a factor.
39:56The prairie
39:57dog has made
39:58a comeback
39:59returning
40:01to population
40:01levels not
40:02seen since
40:03the late
40:0318th century.
40:06One colony
40:07in Texas
40:09extended in
40:10one direction
40:10250 miles
40:12and that
40:13single colony
40:14biologists
40:15estimate
40:15contained
40:16400 million
40:18prairie dogs.
40:19That is a lot
40:20of bowsers.
40:21The sounds
40:25of prairie
40:25dogs barking
40:26the yips
40:27and yaps
40:28of greeting
40:28and territorial
40:29fights
40:30shatter
40:31the quiet
40:32of the
40:32Texas air.
40:34But an
40:35old sound
40:36has returned
40:37barks
40:38of dire
40:39warning.
40:40That's because
40:41a new
40:42predator
40:42has emerged.
40:46The prairie
40:47dog population
40:48explosion
40:49has been
40:50good news
40:50for what
40:52was once
40:52one of the
40:53rarest mammals
40:54in North
40:54America
40:55the black
40:57footed ferret.
41:02The black
41:03footed ferret
41:04feeds primarily
41:05on prairie
41:06dogs.
41:07100 a year
41:08to feed
41:08an adult
41:09male.
41:10250 a year
41:11to feed
41:12a family
41:12of four.
41:14In the
41:14time of
41:15humans
41:15this cousin
41:16of the
41:16weasel
41:17was on
41:17the endangered
41:18species list.
41:20now
41:21after people
41:22the ferret
41:24will be
41:24first in line
41:25at an
41:26all-you-can-eat
41:27prairie dog
41:27buffet.
41:281,000 years
41:37after people
41:38they used
41:40to be
41:40sculptures
41:41now
41:45they are
41:45not
41:46completely
41:48covered
41:49in undersea
41:49growth
41:50the underwater
41:52statues
41:52look indistinguishable
41:54from a vibrant
41:56and colorful
41:57coral reef.
42:00Fish
42:01and other
42:01marine creatures
42:02dart in
42:03and around
42:03their new
42:04reef.
42:06Most of
42:07the evidence
42:07that this
42:08home
42:08originated
42:09as a piece
42:09of art
42:10is lost
42:11forever
42:12just as
42:14the artist
42:15intended.
42:162,000 years
42:23after people
42:24the military
42:29buildings
42:29that once
42:30housed
42:30NORAD's
42:31command center
42:32at Cheyenne
42:32Mountain
42:33are still
42:34standing.
42:36The building
42:38structure
42:38will have
42:39corroded
42:40quite a bit
42:40the framework
42:42of the
42:43desks
42:44and the
42:45flat panel
42:46computer
42:46screens
42:47and computers
42:48that are there
42:48will be
42:49covered in
42:50powder
42:50rusted
42:51from the
42:52structure
42:52but will
42:53really still
42:54be recognizable
42:55it is
42:56an enduring
42:57tomb
42:57for human
42:58technology
42:59and for
43:00human
43:00ingenuity.
43:02Built
43:03to withstand
43:04a nuclear
43:05blast
43:05the Cheyenne
43:07Mountain
43:07complex
43:08survives
43:09even as
43:10it is now
43:11entombed
43:12forever.
43:14works of
43:16art
43:16come to
43:17life
43:18animals
43:19running
43:20wild
43:20explosive
43:22forces
43:23from the
43:23deep
43:24shattering
43:25the calm
43:26of the
43:26above
43:26ground
43:27world
43:27in a
43:29life
43:29after
43:29people
43:30it's
43:31only a
43:32matter
43:32of time
43:33before
43:33the
43:34underground
43:34world
43:35reaches
43:35new
43:36depths
43:37of
43:37destruction
43:38on the
43:42season
43:42finale
43:43of
43:43life
43:43after
43:44people
43:44the
43:45leaders
43:45of
43:45man
43:46are
43:46gone
43:46what
43:47will
43:48happen
43:48to
43:48their
43:48seats
43:49of
43:49power
43:49and
43:50their
43:50tombs
43:51how
43:52will
43:52America's
43:53first
43:53dog
43:53survive
43:54and
43:55this
43:55abandoned
43:56place
43:56was the
43:57launching
43:57point
43:57for
43:58the
43:58deadliest
43:58weapon
43:59in
43:59history
44:00to
44:02not
44:04as
44:05a
44:06to
44:07the
44:07earth
44:13so
44:13can
44:14hear
44:15the
44:15or
44:16who
44:16are
44:17대뼋
44:17of
44:17to
44:18you
44:18or
44:19you
44:19or
44:19or
44:19or
44:20or
44:21or
44:21in
44:21a
44:22or
44:22or
44:22to
44:23a
44:23or
44:24or
44:25or
44:26or
44:26or
44:27or
44:27or