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About a month ago, people packed Portland's Bagdad Theater to hear about an ancient geological event that shaped the region's landscape. The Missoula Floods swept through Washington and Oregon between 15,000 and 18,000 years ago, moving massive rocks and soil to create the hills and valleys we're familiar with today. The floods continue to fascinate scientists and ordinary people alike. A book about the floods and the scientists who first discovered their role in shaping the topography around us has sold out a year after Portland State University's Ooligan Press put out an updated edition. The publisher is getting ready to release a second printing.
The floods also brought nutrient-rich soil to the Willamette Valley, which still affects how things grow here, including Pinot Noir grapes.
OPB TV's Oregon Field Guide has featured stories about the Missoula Floods in past programs and they're working on a new story about radon, which is another result of the floods.
Have you read about the Missoula Floods? What interests you about this geological event? Do you know how the flood waters shaped your neighborhood or favorite hiking spot?
GUESTS:
- Scott Burns: Geology professor at Portland State University and co-author of the second edition of Cataclysms on the Columbia
- Marjorie Burns: Former English professor at Portland State University and co-author of Cataclysms on the Columbia
- Bernard Lacroute: Owner of WillaKenzie Estate winery
- James Cassidy: Soil science instructor in the department of crop and soil science at Oregon State University
Photo credit: swainboat / Creative Commons
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When I lived in western Montana, Glacial Lake Missoula was a big part of everyday life. In Missoula, we could see the evidence of the lake in beach lines on the slopes of Mount Sentinal and sediments in the soil at the valley's bottom. The lake also inspired local artists such as the painter Monte Dolack and writer Norman Maclean.
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I've heard that Beacon Rock in the Columbia River Gorge was delivered on an ice sheet by the Missoula Floods, is that true?
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What can Ice do for you?
(Meant as a parody of UPS' tag line.)
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He he he. Funny.
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Visited Beacon Rock yesterday; info on site says the rock is the core, or plug, of a volcano - everything around it was washed away by the floods, leaving it standing alone.
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Last summer, on our way back from a semi-annual trip to Glacier Park, I was amazed to notice (now) obvious evidence of this flood in the shape of huge ripples all along the floor of a glacial valley as we were driving Westbound from the lake basin. We drove up and over a huge glacial moraine fairly close to the West of Flathead lake, and then sometime later were heading West'ish and over a series of low rolling ridges that I realized were ripples. I've yet to find the exact spot on a map/satellite, but here's a link to similar features:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8AGN_Giant_Current_Ripples_along_Washtucna_Coulee_Washington
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It is mind blowing to consider that the waters from some of the Missoula Floods , also known as the Bretz Floods, were almost as high as the KOIN Tower. I recommend the book Galcial Lake Missoula and Its Humongouus Floods by David Alt as a very readable description of this remarkable geologic story and it occurred right in our own back yard!
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OPB showed a film about this a few years ago. I don't recall if it was a local OPB production, NOVA, or which program but it was well done. I wonder if it was Scientific American.
And amazing.
We had a part of that great Basin Lake East of Bend that was held back by Horse Ridge and just on the left on the way up Horse Ridge driving East is the large gully-canyon that was washed out when it finally leaked through.
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Tom,
I've put some links up above to Oregon Field Guide shows about the Missoula Floods. There was also a NOVA program on the floods last year: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megaflood/
Enjoy!
Julie Sabatier, TOL producer
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Cool, Julie.
And I'm glad my memory didn't fail me on that.
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In terms of unique geological history, the floods give that to the Willamette Valley. I'd love a land use law to protect the deep soils dropped from the floods, simply that no can build on top soil, as it is too valueable. It has to be removed from the site and removed to a place it will be farmed. Since some soils in the Valley are 20+ feet deep, that would make building houses on such soils an interesting project. That way, the geological value of Valley would always be there to feed us. Houses on some of the deepest soils on earth is just wrong.
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Do realize, when driving up NE33rd Avenue's hill just before Fremont and that the whole ridge of gravel and small rock is the same scale we see when a wave goes back to the ocean and leaves ripples at our feet. That's what 400 feet of water column rushing by does! The ridge is the boundary between the backwater trapped in the Willamette Valley Basis and the water rushing towards the ocean.
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The Missoula Flood is part of the reason why the Northwest has some of the Greenest, Most Abundant Power in the country. The Cascade Range forms a high elevation and natural wet dumping ground for Pacific Ocean Storms. Channeling all that moisture thru a relative narrow, steep Columbia Gorge carved by glaciers, has made easy sites for Hydro Electric Dams--over 50 Sites on the Columbia and Snake River Basins!
And the high bluff walls of the Gorge make natural sites for Wind Farms, kiteboarders and sailboarders.
As you drive through the Colombia River Gorge eastward to Union County, realize this is the greatest Carbon Free Energy Generation Site on the West Coast and probably the whole West.
But it is NOT Solar, Geothermal, Wave or Wind Power which are only miniscule amounting to less than 3% COMBINED of National Power Generation.
IT IS HYDROELECTRIC POWER. The Hydro-Electric Dams on the Columbia provide up to 80% of Bonneville Power Generation which serves 90% of the State of Oregon by area. And this is highly available BASELINE POWER on tap 24 hours/7 days/365 days a year-- unlike wind or solar.
http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/about_BPA/Facts/FactDocs/BPA_Facts_2008.pdf
And this Carbon Free/ Renewable Power has been available for almost 80 years--incredible considering the electrical power industry is a little over a century old. Know where you electricity REALLY comes from. We are the Saudi Arabia of Hydro Electricity. We should be grateful.
The Columbia Gorge is as beautiful as the Grand Canyon, but it also illuminates (and powers) the entire state of Oregon.
That is bringing home the bacon AND frying it up in a pan.
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Greenest? Not when you look at salmon, soil replentishment and other "costs" of dams. I'm not saying take out the dams, but we should recognize social costs of the hydro system. Out here on the farm, we are looking at winter low head hydro, when there is huge flow plus summer solar as a greener solution to power needs.
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I’ve been studying this Ice Age catastrophe for about 6 years now with the purpose of making an adventure/documentary film following a group of young people exploring the evidence for the floodwaters. In my efforts to find a new angle on the subject I was astonished to find how the scientific community at the time of the flood’s discovery by Bretz and still today would not and will not apply the real catastrophic significance this event presents.
The fact that that much water catastrophically blasted apart the Pacific Northwest and carved very dramatic geology in a short amount of time - through catastrophe - should make geologist reconsider at greater lengths the implications of this defiance of “the Present is the Key to the Past” (meaning geology is only formed by slow processes over long ages). The geology that looks like it was formed “over millions of years” (according to this Uniformitarian/Gradualist theory) was instead carved rapidly by catastrophe (carved by the Missoula Floodwaters). No matter how Uniformitarian geologists want to stand by “millions of years of slow erosion” the actually of these mega floodwaters catastrophically blasts apart their “slow and gradual” theory – and any honest geologist should step outside the box, like Bretz, and look into it.
The truth is, though Catastrophes appear to be more acceptable since this controversial discovery broke through mainstream geologic intolerance for ‘catastrophe,’ “Geologic Catastrophe” is now imprisoned within the confines of Uniformitarianism. “Catastrophes only happen once every few millions of years.” But why don’t we ask the question, “Have Catastrophes had more of an impact on Geology than Slow processes?” Let’s follow Bretz’ vindicated example, and think outside the box. Why can’t this generation rewrite the book about Principles of Geology, now with Floodwater catastrophes (and Mt St Helens as well) having taught us a lot more about past geologic processes?
Thanks for reading my post :-)
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In Geologic Time, a fast event is 2000 years. If you were present at the Missoula flood, most of the time, it would be like watching paint dry --or ice melt.
Of course this is relatively fast considering a rock you hold is 2-3 million years old. But relative to human life span it is Slow and Slower.
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In a land that just split and a lava flow started (that wedding cake form of the Gorge) geology was a fast process here in many forms. Good grief, the battle between St. Helens and Mazama--which formed Crate Lake--is in the Klamath living stories.
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Jacob, I'm not sure what you mean. If you had focused a motion picture camera on the NYC twin towers since 1966, it would be a boring movie from 1966 to 2001 and from 2001-2010. But it would be anything but boring for a couple of hours between those two time spans.
Is that what you are talking about regarding the catastrophic floods of ~12-18 thousand years ago? Or did everyone just waste their time in reading your comment?
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Professor Burns is a good speaker but he distorts things. He emphasizes catastrophic sudden events with massive water flows because that is what people WANT to hear. We want special effects and the roar of death defying escapes.
How did the Grand Canyon form? Two essential ingredients: Water and TIME. And time is millions of years. And much of it is a gradual process, that does not seem much changed in decades or centuries. But over millenia a tiny stream carves out a huge gorge.
Much of geology is slow gradual erosions by water that is punctuated by winter floods. And there are occasional glaciers in the ice age, floods, lakes, ponds and the rare ice dam breach.
IF the age of the planet was a 24 hour day, mankind makes his appearance at 5 minutes till midnight.
The Missoula Flood was NO Hurricane Katrina flood of New Orleans. OR Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami. OR Haiti Earthquake. It was over 50-100 floods over a period of over 2000 years. Much of it was glacial in pace. Much of it occurred in the last Ice Age.
We all have short attention spans, and we want things to happen quickly or be speed up by IMAX technology. In reality in geology events, you will ask a question, and your great, great, great grandchild will respond after you are long dead. Likely he will say: Repeat the Question?
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Don't think there's much need to rewrite the texts. The processes that have formed our planet are both unbearably slow (Grand Canyon, for example), or unbelievably instant (KT impact 60 mybp), or a combination of both (Columbia Basalt flood episodes starting 17 mybp).
One flood event that surely shaped our corner of the world 17 kypb doesn't isn't likely going to rewrite the book on Geology.
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Again replying to Jacob: As of the early 1990s there were found traces of 86 or so floods to the east and traces of 40 or so floods throughout central Washington all the way up the Willamette Valley. Another study posited that there were at least six major floods. Whatever the relationship in time and intensity (and it was not settled then and likely isn't settled now), certain floods altered the landscape in hours in ways that no slow process ever could have done over centuries. The work was not divided into 40 or 86 equal parts. You could not take two thousand years of rainfall and make these forms.
So I don't know what you mean by them not being Katrinas. The damage is visible from space. These were earth-altering events.
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Thanks for the comments.
Jokul's right. But see what I mean, such obvious catastrophes with blasting power and speed to tumble and round huge huge boulders is just squeezed into the narrow mind-set of Uniformitarianism. (Thus it is turned into a slow dribbling flow that would not have rounded such huge boulders! Actual evidence is thrown out when it comes to protecting "Slow and gradual over millennia.")
Geologists can't think outside the box (for the most part) because of this logic-altering theory, thus the geologic community never learned their lesson after this flood was finally proven. You might already know but it took 40 years! of wrestling with the geologic community before the Missoula Floodwaters were accepted as fact ... but truthfully those stubborn geologist that rejected Bretz never changed their minds .... they simply died off and a new generation was ready to accept it. Yet this new generation is still talk not to question doctrines of Uniformitarianism.
So I'm afraid Science is being crippled by doctrine.
Thanks for reading.
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I think I recall reading that the Missoula Floods actually happened several times over geologic history. If yes, that just shows that the history of the Earth is so much bigger than we usually think about.
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When one travels from Missoula, MT to the Willamette Valley, you need only a little information--combined with some imagination--to observe the changing terrain and comprehend the fact that huge walls of water rolled across the landscape. From the mountains above Missoula to the soils of the Willamette Valley, the remaining evidence is striking, and the impact extraordinary.
For those who have not done so, the most striking sections of the flood path are the immense coulees, the magnificent--and uber immense--dry falls, and the channeled scablands of Eastern Washington are the most dramatic and unusual visual features that remain. Portlanders who have yet to see those features are missing the most striking features on today's landscape. (In addition of course to the Wallula Gap and the entire Columbia Gorge.)
Just go to Crown Point and look East into the Gorge. Imagine that wall of water exiting out the West end of the Gorge, perhaps overtopping Crown Point by as much as 100 feet, barreling at you at something close to 60 mph, carrying unbelievable loads of gravel, sediment, and large granite boulders imbedded in huge icebergs, rafting in the floods all the way from today's western Washington. (And of course, this phenomenon happened 40 or more times, at this scale.)
PS It is worth noting that Congress has authorized, but not yet funded, a new linear park, the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, with new interpretive pullouts and visitor centers, all the way from Missoula to the Willamette Valley.
These were the largest floods in the entire geologic history of this planet. As everyone now cites, for periods of time in the Columbia Gorge, the floods contained a volume of water ten times that of all the rivers that flow on earth today!
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Please speak to the controversy surrounding the original theory how the Missoula Floods shaped the landforms of the Columbia Basin. The theory was commonly rebuffed by geologists at the time. It took many years of persistence to gain support.
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great show.
Can the guest comment: Was there an actual land bridge across the Columbia River at the location where the Bridge of the Gods is presently? Was this destroyed by the big floods?
Also, are any legends of ancient peoples in and around the gorge used by geologists as "clues" about flood events?
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The land bridge across the Columbia river at Cascade Locks was caused by a massive landslide from the N. side of the river. The lumpy debris field is still very evident today. The Missoula floods eroded and undermined the ground in the gorge, which eventually led to the landslide at that location.
The land bridge was not destroyed by the Missoula floods, but simply by the river filling up the impoundment, overtopping the bridge, and washing it away. Strawberry island by North Bonneville is a big eddy bar formed by the land bridge washout.
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It would be informative to have Scott Burns talk about how the Missoula Flood deposits are the source of elevated radon levels throughout much of the Willamette and Columbia river valleys.
Levels as high as 517 pico curies per liter have been recorded in the Metro area - which are the highest radon levels yet found in the Pacific Northwest.
Steve Tucker
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Emily,
50 cubic miles is not 50mi by 50mi by 50 mi, as you mentioned near the begining of the show. That would be 125,000 cubic miles. 50 cubic miles is like 50 cubes with 1 mile in each dimension. One way to get that is 50 miles long by 1 mile deep by 1 mile wide. Still impressive though.
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Dr Burn (either one)
Could you help us understand the lidar images at DOGAMI?page
http://www.oregon.gov/DOGAMI/pub_and_data/pub_and_data.shtml
Portland image
http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/ofr/images/p-O-09-09.png
Thanks
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Lidar imagery of the Portland area and the Willamette Valley shows many flood features in great detail. I know of no annotated imagery that points out all the flood features, but there is a brief description of some of the major features and an accompanying lidar image in the online Field Trip guide "Portland, Oregon, geology by tram, train, and foot" found at
http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/OG/OGv69n01-PDXtram.pdf
you can also find a new geologic map of Oregon that shows where the floods deposited sediemnts at
http://www.oregongeology.org/sub/publications/IMS/ims-028/index.htm
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I had Scott as my professor at PSU for the "Geology of the National Parks" class, I loved that class!
But in answer to the question about the Missoula Floods in my daily life... I live in NE Portland and plan my bike routes around the slope of the Alameda Ridge so that I get the most bang for my buck in pedaling up the "easy" side and speeding down the "steep side"
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When we built Stone Creek Golf Course in Oregon City we excavated tons of large boulders which were part of the flood. The most interesting find was when we were drilling our well. We found wood at the 500 foot depth. This really put the size of the flood in perspective for me.
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It might be beneficial to put the date and time of the event on this page. Just a thought. I gather that it is happening/has happened.
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If you're referring to the OMSI Science Pub event, it has already happened.
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A search for OMSI on this page and one hit is returned. This OMSI event has apparently not been mentioned before.
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Hi Scott! Great to hear you on the program. I love it that the story of the floods is getting to be better known. My favorite view from which to visualize the massive amounts of water is from near Palouse Falls in Eastern Washington where you can look from horizon to horizon and see the boundary between scoured basalt canyons below and untouched loess hills above.
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There are scablands, or swirls where water flows made scablands, in the Portland area. Metro aquired some of the Tonquin Scablands in their property prgram. You can go visit them. My favorite flood movement is up on Canemah Bluffs, a very significant site near Oregon City past the falls to the south. You see house sized chucks of basault moved slightly. While naturally beautiful, standing in front of one of those licorice fern covered monsters and figuring out how much force caused it to move the foot or so it did from its place of formation is a humbling activity.
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I5 between Tualatin and Wilsonville is in one of the major flood channels in the Tonquin scablands.
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Love listening to my long-ago (20 years) geology professor, Scott Burns (I can still ID his voice in 3 words). A 3-hour night class with the super-excited Dr Burns, it's no wonder I think geology is exciting -- and remember so much about the Missoula Floods. Thanks, Dr Burns!
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I wonder what this did to the salmon and other fish runs and how long it took for them to make a comeback. This would have scoured out the spawning beds and changed the smells of all of the creeks and rivers confusing the salmon about where to return to, wouldn't it?
People and land animals too for that matter. How did they fare and comeback?
And trees and vegetation, how much time did it take for them to go back and recover the lands?
What happened to the ocean and everthing in it? I imagine bypassing whales getting a really big thrill of a ride. And seawater fishes, clams, and crabs, etc, what did all of that freshwater do to them? Plankton blooms?
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Many cultures include a global flood legend (ex: Genesis, there are others too)... any thoughts on the part of your guests as to whether these catastrophic floods may be the source of these legends (or how they might play into these legends)?
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I think Dr. Burns mentioned at the Science Pub that there's no indication of any Native Oral tradition suggesting a cultural memory of the Columbia Floods-- unlike Crater Lake, where the Kalamath culture have vivid stories of Llao having a very major hissy fit!
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As a geologist retired to the Gorge 3+ years ago, the Floods have been a great topic of interest, education, and investigation for me, and for teaching others. I want to make sure people are aware of the Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI, http://www.iafi.org/index.htm) and the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.
I'm happy to be a member of the IAFI for it's field trips, research support, and political involvement. An important contribution has been their lobbying and support for the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.
The Trail is going to be an important educational and tourist resource for the region when (and if) it ever gets funded. Meanwhile the IAFI can help get a start on the Trail by identifying, and maybe signing, compelling and publically accessible features.
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I can't believe I missed this one. Gotta listen to the podcast or the rebroadcast tonight. Amazing and fascinating topic.
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I lived in the town of Mosier for many years. On the west side of the town there is a place that has been used as a gravel pit for many years. In it there is , (or was, I have not been there for years) a large piece of granite. The size of a small car, it had slide marks on it showing movement at some time. It sat on top of the rest of the native scab type rock. There was an artical in anewspaper at one point about erratics by I believe a geoligist named Elliot from perhaps Portland.. I wrote to him about this rock and got a reply back stating that there was no such erratic in that area so large! I probably have photos of it. I lived up away from the Columbia about 800 ft elevation and found many small pieces of granite and also one piece of black glass.
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If you have a picture, please post it and announce. A lot of interesting knowledge gets lost over the years. Professor John Eliot Allen may or may not have known everything there was to know.
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I will try to look in the next few days. I know that I took some photos from a plane , but don't know if I show that area.
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I will keep checking here. Hope some pics turn up!
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Hey there OPB! I work with an Earth Science minded artist collective ()www.craigmorecreations.com who has just launched a new children's graphic novel series called Terra Tempo: Ice Age Cataclysm!, this story is about three time traveling kids who travel to the end of the Ice Ages to witness the Sandpoint Ice damn bursting and the amazing distruction of the Missoula Floods throughout our region.
Our focus educational and our goals is to entertain. Check out www.missoulafloodstory.com for a preview of our beautifully illustrated book, more about the characters and creators of the book.
We are also hosting a book launch party on Dec 5th at Mississippi Pizza from 4-7pm. Our 3 creators of the book will be celebrating the book's launch, discussing the geological wonders of the floods, showing a preview of the Terra Tempo animated trailer, and offering activities for all ages.
We would love to have OPB join us at our event. This event is free for educators in the Portland Public School System, and to the members of the press. For more information or to reserve your spot at this event please contact us at contact@craigmorecreations.com
We can't wait to see the new Oregon Field Giude show!
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Why not contact OPB underwriting? Maybe you can do some in-kind trading that benefits both of you.
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Our Viticulturist/Winemaker Luke McCollom phoned into today's show, and spoke briefly about the Missoula floods soil and the erratic boulders in the Left Coast Cellars' Latitude 45 vineyard. You can read what he has written on this topic on our website.
http://www.leftcoastcellars.com/home/lc1/page_136
Left Coast Cellars
4225 N Pacific Hwy (99W)
Rickreall, OR
503-831-4916 -
Thank you for featuring WillaKenzie Estate's Bernard Lacroute on today's show to give the Willamette Valley's wine country perspective on the Missoula Floods.
It's amazing to see all the hillside vineyards perched right above the flood line in the valley -- especially in fall with when the colors change.
An all around great discussion on a fascinating topic.
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We live near the Lake Allison shoreline in the east valley, about 400' elevation south of Molalla. Unfortunatly, the floods left us with a whole lotta sticky clay.
Other than that, I love telling out of towners how the Columbia Floods are one of the three geologic phenomena that most significantly shaped our region (at least in my opinion). Anybody wanna guess what the other two might be?
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Volcanoes and earthquakes, would be my guess.
Volcanoes for sure over on my side in the high desert. We're on hundreds of feet of lava and ash.
And I think that earthquakes uplifted those rims down by Summer Lake and Lakeview.
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Comments are now closed.
Yaaay! Fascinating topic. I wrote about some links detailing <a href="http://wwwhistoricalthreads.blogspot.com/2010/03/oregons-geologic-history.html">Oregon's geologic history</a>, and am looking forward to this conversation tomorrow.