IAFI Booth at WSTA-CSTA Conference in Wenatchee
Ken Lacy of the IAFI Wenatchee Chapter hosted an information booth at the 2022 Washington Science Teachers Association Conference on Oct. 14-15 in Wenatchee, WA. His was the first use of a new table-top display that we recently developed for conferences, meetings and conventions. Ken felt the display,with its impressive graphics, showing maps and images of Ice Age Floods features, attracted a lot of interest and attention and fostered great opportunities to further engage with the conference goers as they came in for a closer look. He felt there was a high level of interest in the Ice Age Floods topic and people were keen to learn more about the floods, which led to many good conversations. It also gave Ken and opportunity to talk to as many as 10 ESD Science Coordinators about our project to provide 4th Grade level education materials about the Ice Age Floods. Their response was uniformly that this idea would not be well received because there was no time available for additional non-formulary classes. One of these Science Coordinators suggested it might be possible to combine our Floods program with an existing program, such as Language Arts, by presenting Floods information and having the students “prove” the existence of the floods by listing facts that supported this hypothesis. In another discussion with a retired school administrator about the issue of available time for our 4th Grade Floods program, she cited two examples of havin had to turn down outside offers of valuable educational programs because there was just not enough class time available for those programs. However, when Science Coordinators and teachers were asked about the idea of having IAFI people either conduct classes themselves or help the teachers develop such a class, the response was quite positive. The different response to the idea of our 4th Grade Floods program and the proposal for individual classes is significant in terms of class-time and preparation required. A single class session can often be fit into the schedule, but a multi-class program may cut too deeply into the time needed for required cirricula. Still, there are several sections in the Washington State Fourth Grade Curriculum that can support the inclusion of our proposed Ice Age Floods program. It will therefore be necessary for IAFI to work with the ESD Science Coordinators in each school district to get their support for the inclusion of our project.
Remembering Jim Pritchard
We’re sad to report that James “Jim” William Pritchard of Ephrata, WA, passed away on August 3, 2022. Jim was 95 years of age (born: September 4, 1926), was deeply interested in the Ice Age Floods, and was devoted to and involved with the Ice Age Floods Institute. A fond remembrance: In the fall of 2000, Charlie Mason gathered together anyone from the greater Wenatchee Valley with an interest in the Great Missoula Floods. He had taught adult classes at the Community College and led field trips and had quite a following. At that meeting, Charlie being the perfectionist that he was, held elections, called for name suggestions, took votes for the name Wenatchee Valley Erratics, and subsequently filed for 501-C status, knowing these all would be needed to charter the first IAFI chapter. The following spring, he and I attended the IAFI spring meeting (there were 2 board meetings every year back then), held at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce. Charlie and I presented everything he knew was needed, and the then-IAFI President, Dale Middleton, put to a vote that we would become an interim chapter. Charlie argued there was nothing more our group needed to do to become an actual chapter. It was argued for 20 minutes that we had to be an interim chapter first. After much debate, Jim Pritchard had had enough, quite forcibly told everyone to ‘shut up’, pointed out that Wenatchee was the first to file to be a chapter so set precedent, and put it to a vote. No more argument, and the Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter was born. Those of us who worked with Charlie, Dale and Jim over the years, might know that this meeting was much more ‘spirited’ than what I’ve indicated here. When I later joined the board, it was refreshing that Jim, who was treasurer, didn’t mince words, kept the meetings going, and brought a perspective that was down to earth and always well thought out. The Erratics were so lucky when in later years, Jim, and his wife Eula, made the drive from Ephrata to join our chapter meetings.He always brought interesting questions, and wasn’t shy to ask them. Ken and I were lucky to have visited with him last year after the death of Eula. He was still as sharp as ever, and as devoted to the story of the great floods. He will be missed. (by Susan Lacy)
Nick Zentner – More Geology Videos
Are you looking for new geology videos? Nick Zentner has done a long series live geology lectures from his home in Ellensburg and posted them online to his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/GeologyNick/videos He is now recording a series of “Nick on the Fly” virtual field trips and posting them on the same YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/GeologyNick/videos Join Nick as he explores the geology of the Pacific NW and many other topics.
Use Social Distancing Time to Explore the Floods with Our Interactive Online Map
If you’ve ever tried to explore the Ice-Age Floods with a guidebook you’ll know how difficult and frustrating it can be to find and learn about the features in the area you’re visiting. Well, there’s now a solution to that problem; an interactive map that’s available wherever you have internet access. The map features over 300 points of interest throughout our 4-state area, with a description and images that slide out when you click on one of the markers. More features are being added all the time, and we’re planning to expand the map with features related to the Lake Bonneville Flood event that rampaged through the area during the time of the Ice-Age Floods. Since this is an internet-based map, it’s also easy to get driving directions to the site from wherever you are starting from. You can also easily build an informative field trip, exploring and learning about a number of other nearby features with just a few clicks of your mouse. We feel this may be the most useful field guide ever developed to explore ice-age Floods and glacial features throughout our 4-state region. AND it’s absolutely FREE! The only shortcomings we see are 1) the map requires internet access, which isn’t always available in far-flung areas of our region, and 2) we may not have every point-of-interest on the map (YET!). If we’re missing something you think is important we encourage you to submit your suggestion. We also appreciate any comments and/or corrections by email to Webmaster@IAFI.org. We sincerely hope you enjoy using this guide to poke around these fascinating ice-age features.
Explore the Ice Age Floods with 12 New IAFI Brochures
IAFI has compiled 12 brand-new, full-color brochures into a packaged set to help guide you in visiting spectacular ice-age features across all of our 11 Ice Age Floods chapter areas. With these brochures as your guides you can explore the paths of the Ice Age Floods from Montana through Idaho, central Washington and northern Oregon, and even delve into the many glacial features of northwest Washington. Click on any of the brochure covers below to see a full size printable PDF version (note: you’ll need to scale down to print on 8.5×11 letter size paper). Packets of all 12 full-size brochures are NOW available through the IAFI Store and at participating local outlets. Click a cover to open a PDF of any of the brochures below
Grand Coulee Area Hikes Report
Gene Kiver and Bruce Bjornstad led two hikes in the Grand Coulee area. A group of ~30 hikers joined in a moderately difficult hike into the Castle Lake Basin, part of a 4-mile wide cataract complex that extends all the way to Dry Falls. The hike started out near Coulee City by following the Main Canal, which delivers all water from the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project into two siphons that cross Don Paul Draw at the head of Deep Lake. From here the water disappears before flowing two miles, underground, through a pair of tunnels to Trail Lake Coulee. The hike continued by crossing a berm of basalt boulders, dug out for the Main Canal, into the Castle Lake Basin. A descent to the floor of the basin was possible via two steel ladders that crossed the cataract above the Castle Lake plunge pool. From there hikers traversed out to a potholed bench to a spectacular view above Deep Lake Coulee. The next day ~20 hikers joined a ~3 mile roundtrip hike to Giant Cave Arch, near Barker Canyon, along the west side of Upper Grand Coulee. For anyone interested, both these hikes are featured in “On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: The Northern Reaches” a geologic guidebook published by Bjornstad and Kiver in 2012.
Castle Lake Basin
Castle Lake fills a plunge-pool at the base of a 300-ft tall cataract at the opposite (east) end of the Great Cataract Group from Dry Falls, above the east end of Deep Lake. A set of steel ladders put in place during the construction of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project allow for a safe descent into the basin. In the basin are great views of giant potholes, the flood-sheared face of Castle Rock, as well idyllic Deep Lake. The Castle Lake Basin lies along the east end of the Great Cataract Group. At the base of the cataract is lovely blue-green Castle Lake plunge pool nestled into the rock bench below. Castle Lake lies within a single recessional cataract canyon eroded down to a flood-swept, pothole-studded rock bench that stands 100 feet above Deep Lake. This is the same rock bench of Grande Ronde Basalt where dozens of potholes occur at the opposite (western) end of Deep Lake. Castle Rock itself is an isolated butte along the west side of the Castle Lake basin. It is a faceted butte escarpment nearly sheared off by monstrous flood forces moving across the cataract.
Bretz and His Floods Story – National Geographic
National Geographic has published an outstanding article, “Formed by Megafloods, This Place Fooled Scientists for Decades”, about J Harlan Bretz and his outrageous, fantastical theories of a landscape shaped by huge floods. Most Ice Age Floods aficionados are generally aware of the story, but this one is so detailed and well written it’s worth reading for the story-telling value alone. Please see: This National Geographic site:
Beryllium-10 dating of late Pleistocene megafloods and Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat
Balbas et. al. use cosmogenic beryllium-10 dating methods to further constrain the timing of ice sheet retreat, as well as the potential pathways for megafloods from both Lake Missoula and Lake Columbia. Read this fascinating Geology article summarizing their findings. Balbas2017 – Missoula Flood Chronology In summary, our new chronological information suggests the following: (1) Blockage of the Clark Fork river by the Purcell Trench lobe by ca. 18.2 ka, resulting in Missoula floods following the Columbia River valley. (2) Blockage of the Columbia River valley by the Okanogan lobe before 15.4 ± 1.4 ka, which shunted Missoula flood water south across the Channeled Scablands. (3) The final Missoula floods at ca. 14.7 ± 1.2 ka, signaling retreat of the Purcell Trench lobe from the Clark Fork valley, yet these floods entered a glacial Lake Columbia still impounded by the Okanogan lobe. (4) Down-Columbia floods at ca. 14 ka from breakouts of glacial Lake Columbia, signaling the retreat and final damming of the Columbia Valley by the Okanogan lobe
Washington’s Ice Age Floods – ESRI Story Map
The Washington Geological Survey (formerly the Division of Geology and Earth Resources) has just released an ESRI story map about the Ice Age Floods in Washington. The story map: “tells the story of cataclysmic outburst floods that shaped the landscape of the Pacific Northwest during the last ice age. With imagery, maps and video, this story map follows the devastating deluge of the Missoula floods as it tore across the landscape, from its origins in western Montana to its terminus at the Pacific Ocean. Sites along the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail are featured, with an emphasis on flood features in Washington State.” Entitled Washington’s Ice Age Floods, it is best viewed on a desktop or laptop computer. Mobile devices will not show all of the content. It is navigated by scrolling your mouse through the slides. There are a few animated sections that may take a second or two to load. [weaver_iframe src=’https://wadnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=84ea4016ce124bd9a546c5cbc58f9e29′ height=600 percent=100]