Mar 09, 2017 · Creating the Channeled Scablands. During the last ice age, 18,000 to 13,000 years ago, the landscape of eastern Washington was repeatedly scoured by massive floods. They carved canyons, cut ...
Mar 28, 2006 · Although Bretz' concept sparked a lively controversy, most geologists today agree that the Scablands were carved by a flood of unprecedented proportions that took place 18,000 to 20,000 years ago during the Great Ice Age.
The unique combination of geologic events, beginning with a vast series of lava flows, then regional tilting of the land, followed by deposition of a one hundred-to-two-hundred-foot layer of wind blown silt, and ending with a glacial lake dammed and suddenly released to form earth's greatest known flood, involved such a large area that only parts of the scabland picture can be …
Mar 28, 2006 · The Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington. THE GREAT ICE AGE. Although glaciation began throughout the northern hemisphere at least two million years ago, the important chapter in the glacial history of the Scablands began about 100,000 years ago. At that time glaciers were moving southward from great ice fields in southern British Columbia, following …
Although Bretz' concept sparked a lively controversy, most geologists today agree that the Scablands were carved by a flood of unprecedented proportions that took place 18,000 to 20,000 years ago during the Great Ice Age. The Spokane Flood left its mark along a course of more than 550 miles, extending from western Montana to the Pacific Ocean, ...
This rock, the "floor" of the Scablands, is basalt—a dense crystalline lava that covers more than 100,000 square miles in parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The part of the lava field that underlies the Scablands in eastern Washington is a saucer-shaped area of about 15,000 square miles almost completely surrounded by mountains ...
Where basalt encroached upon a pond or lake, the quickly-quenched lava formed rounded blobs called "pillows" instead of columnar joints. In the western part of the lava field, a flow of basalt engulfed a swamp forest but, because of the water, the molten rock formed pillows and did not completely consume the plants.
Again, water prevented the molten rock from completely consuming the flesh; instead, pillows of lava enclosed the body forming a crude mold. In 1935, the site of the incident was discovered in the form of a cavity in a basalt cliff (Fig. 2, page 3). The cavity contained several teeth and numerous pieces of fossilized bone.
The Spokane Flood left its mark along a course of more than 550 miles, extending from western Montana to the Pacific Ocean, but the most spectacular flood features were carved into the black volcanic rock terrain in eastern Washington. This rock, the "floor" of the Scablands, is basalt—a dense crystalline lava that covers more than 100,000 square ...
Around the edges of the lava field a few hills poke up, island-like, through the basalt. One of the most prominent of these, Steptoe Butte, near Colfax, Washington, has given its name to all such features. Geologists call any island of older rock surrounded by lava a steptoe. Molten lava occupies a greater volume than solidified lava.
17.—Palouse "island"—an erosion remnant of Palouse soil, along Interstate Highway 90 about 5 miles north of Sprague. The largest of the scabland channels is Grand Coulee, a two-stage canyon 50 miles long and as much as 900 feet deep.
Fig. 23.—This unique view of the Channeled Scablands region, covering an area of about 13,225 square miles, was taken on August 31, 1972, by the first NASA Earth Resources Technology Satellite [ (ERTS—1) now called Landsat] from an altitude of 569 miles.
The Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington. THE CARVING OF THE SCABLANDS. As noted earlier the lava field is shaped somewhat like a giant saucer, tilted to the southwest. Slopes (gradients) down the tilted field are as much as 25 to 35 feet per mile (for comparison, the Spokane River between Coeur d'Alene and Spokane has an average gradient ...
Fig. 18.—Upper Grand Coulee, looking south. Steamboat Rock is a lava remnant that forms that flat-topped island-like mesa in the Coulee. In front of it are exposures of granite that form the floor of the upper end of the Coulee.
This part of the Scablands, called the Drumheller Channels, is perhaps the most spectacularly eroded area of its size in the region (Fig. 13, page 12). The erosional features can be seen especially well from the road built on the crest of O'Sullivan Dam, along the north edge of the Channels (Wash. State Highway 11G).
This prehistoric rock shelter, carved along the base of a basalt cliff by the Palouse River, is believed to be among the oldest known inhabited sites in the United States. Thus, at the present time, definite proof is lacking that man was living in the Pacific Northwest at the time of the flood.
At the east end of Frenchman Hills the flood crossed a 50 square mile area covered by a layer of weak sedimentary rocks called the Ringold Formation which was deposited during early Pleistocene time (2 to 3 million years ago).
The Channeled Scablands are probably the least known of the seven wonders of Washington State , but they have the most fascinating geological story of how they were created. I still meet people today who grew up in the Seattle area that have never heard of them. What are they? Most of eastern Washington State is either farmland or mountains, but then there are large swaths of the landscape where all you can see is barren bedrock and strange rocky land formations. The early settlers in eastern Washington referred to these areas as scablands because they were not suitable for farming. Their origin was a complete mystery.
The early settlers in eastern Washington referred to these areas as scablands because they were not suitable for farming. Their origin was a complete mystery. The Channeled Scablands extend from the area around Spokane, west to the Columbia River near Vantage and southwest to the Snake River near Pasco.
The most dramatic evidence of the Missoula Floods is Dry Falls.
About 150 distinct coulees have been identified; some of them are hundreds of feet deep. The two largest are Moses Coulee, which is 40 miles long, and Grand Coulee, which is 60 miles long.
His theory was very controversial and other geologists thought he was nuts. It was not until the early 1970's that his mega flood theory was finally accepted, with the help of NASA's satellite imagery that clearly revealed the network of channels carved out by the mega floods.
WashingtonPhotographs.com . Photographer Howard Frisk and musician Larry Merritt have teamed up to create a unique offer. Larry has created a special edition of his music CD, The Seven Wonders of Washington State, as a companion CD to Howard's book by the same title.
Palouse Falls did not create the huge canyon we can see today in Palouse Falls State Park. The amount of water that currently flows in the Palouse River over the falls is much too small to have caused such extensive erosion of the basalt bedrock. Rather, the canyon at Palouse Falls was created by the Missoula Floods.