Secrets of The Land

"Secrets of the Earth" explores our planet with the same sense of awe and wonder normally reserved for alien worlds. Computer graphics, visual analogies and expert scientists combine to reveal amazing, little-known aspects of the world, from canyons of gravity that warp space and time to rain triggered by cosmic rays.

In this Mini Series, we look at what makes America's national parks so special? Why are millions of people drawn to these parks from all around the world year after year? The secrets of some of America's most profound national parks are unearthed here, and your journey into each park will help you clearly understand the importance of preserving and conserving our Earth's wild lands.

Spring, 1946. Ten months after the end of World War II, an explosion rocks the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii. America has just destroyed one of Japan's most advanced weapons systems – the I-401 aircraft carrier submarine. The supersub combined the stealth and tactical advantages of sea and sky and was invented to execute air strikes on land from the sea. But why did America sink one of its most prized military captures? Bound by an agreement to share any intelligence with the Soviets but feeling the pressure of the looming Cold War, it was a calculated decision to keep the technology out of Soviet hands. Six decades later, a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii located the submarine's remains.

Anthony Morgan joins the fossil dig of a lifetime as paleontologists discover why a tiny patch of land became a giant dinosaur graveyard.