30 Years of IAFI’s Vision Helped Shape the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI), a milestone that offers an opportunity to reflect on the Institute’s foundational role in bringing the story of the Ice Age floods to national prominence and in establishing the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. Founded in 1995, IAFI emerged from a collective recognition of the need to educate the public about the cataclysmic floods that shaped the landscapes of Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Through persistent advocacy, community engagement, and educational initiatives, IAFI laid the groundwork for what would become the nation’s first National Geologic Trail. The culmination of these efforts was the passage of Public Law 111-11 in 2009, which officially designated the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. This achievement was the result of a bipartisan effort, with key support from U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), who were primary sponsors of the trail legislation. Other notable supporters included Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Larry Craig (R-ID), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Gordon Smith (R-OR). Their collective commitment underscored the shared value placed on preserving and interpreting this significant geologic history. A celebratory ribbon-cutting event was held on May 27, 2009, just after Congress passed the legislation. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and U.S. Representative Doc Hastings were joined by Gary Kleinknecht, then-president of the Ice Age Floods Institute. The ribbon-cutting symbolized more than legislative success—it celebrated years of behind-the-scenes advocacy by IAFI leaders and members who worked tirelessly with elected officials to see the trail officially recognized. Since the trail’s designation, the partnership between IAFI and the National Park Service has been integral to the development and interpretation of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. Collaborative projects have included the creation of interpretive materials, the planning of educational programs, and the development of enhanced digital maps and content to guide visitors through the trail’s extensive network. These joint efforts have been essential in bringing the story of the Ice Age floods to a broader audience. Looking Ahead: Shared Leadership and Future Potential As the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail continues to develop, the professional relationship between the Trail’s current National Park Service program manager. Justin Radford, and IAFI’s president, Dr. Gary Ford, exemplifies a strong and effective partnership. Built on mutual respect and a shared commitment to public education and stewardship, our collaboration helps ensure that strategic goals are aligned, innovative educational resources are developed, and public engagement with the Ice Age Floods story continues to grow. This cooperative leadership reflects the enduring values that brought the Trail into existence and remains essential to its continued success. Plans are underway for expanded educational outreach and increased community engagement initiatives. These endeavors aim to deepen public understanding and appreciation of the Ice Age floods’ impact on the region’s geography, while strengthening the relationships that support the Trail’s future. As we celebrate IAFI’s 30-year milestone, we extend our deepest gratitude to IAFI’s members, volunteers, and supporters. Your dedication has been instrumental in transforming a vision into a tangible trail that educates and inspires countless visitors. Together, we look forward to continuing this journey of discovery and interpretation for years to come By Justin Radford, National Park Service – Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Program Manager
Discover A Landscape Carved by Ancient Mega-Floods at Fish Lake Regional Park
Just a short drive east of Cheney, Washington, lies Fish Lake Regional Park, a beautiful 76-acre space offering more than just typical park amenities. This area, easily accessible with parking, play areas, hiking trails, and a swimming beach, tells a dramatic story of a landscape shaped by immense Ice Age floods. You’ll find a paved parking lot at the northeast edge of the park, right by the Fish Lake trailhead. From here, you can hop onto the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail and start your adventure! What makes Fish Lake truly unique is its geology. It’s a double plunge pool, a fascinating feature created by powerful, swirling currents during these ancient mega-floods. These paired, counter-rotating currents scoured out the lake basins, and during periods of low water, you can even spot a partial rock ridge, or rock blade, that divides the two pools. An even larger basalt rock blade separates Fish Lake from the nearby Minnie Creek rock channel and a wide, swampy area it drains into. The significance of Fish Lake isn’t lost on those who study these incredible floods. The local chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI), now the Cheney-Spokane Chapter, has been exploring and educating about this area since 2004. Early field trips introduced members to the flood-formed features around Cheney and the Palouse region, with Fish Lake being a key example. Remarkably, even the pioneers of Ice Age Floods research, Joseph Pardee and J Harlen Bretz, visited the Fish Lake area over a century ago, recognizing the powerful forces at play. For those interested in learning more, a video explaining the formation of these scour lakes is available on the IAFI website under the Cheney-Spokane chapter. Geologically, Fish Lake sits on a fascinating junction. It was carved into a chemically weathered contact zone between very old metamorphic rock, dating back a staggering 1.47 billion years, and much younger basalt flows from the Columbia River Basalt Group, around 16 million years old. The lake’s eastward drainage into the Minnie Rock channel further illustrates the powerful erosive forces of the floods. Evidence even suggests the floodwaters in this area reached incredible heights, exceeding 2600 feet, as seen in a small scour lake near Prosser Hill. So, next time you’re looking for a park with natural beauty and a captivating history, consider visiting Fish Lake Regional Park. It’s a place where you can relax and play while standing in a landscape sculpted by one of Earth’s most dramatic events. Condensed from an article by Dr. Linda McCollum, President, Cheney-Spokane Chapter
Whispers from a Frozen Past: “We Have The Bones” – McBones Mammoth Dig
We know the story…a world gripped by ice. Some twenty thousand years ago, colossal glaciers sculpted the landscape, their icy fingers reaching down through the Idaho panhandle. They choked the ancient Clark Fork River, birthing a vast, temporary lake: Glacial Lake Missoula. Then, the inevitable happened. The icy dam buckled, unleashing unimaginable torrents of water that carved a dramatic path across the land in a series of cataclysmic floods. We see their scars today – stark strand lines etched into hillsides, the labyrinthine coulees, silent dry waterfalls, and the scattered, out-of-place “erratic” rocks, silent witnesses to a watery fury. But beyond the sheer power of these floods, a more profound question lingers: What life thrived in the shadow of this impending devastation? What world existed downstream of Glacial Lake Missoula in the fleeting calm before each deluge? The answer, astonishingly, is life. Vibrant and resilient, creatures roamed the landscape, unaware of the watery apocalypse that would soon reshape their world. And now, buried within the very sediments left by those colossal floods, echoes of this Ice Age existence are being unearthed. Just south of the Tri-Cities in Washington, a remarkable discovery is unfolding. Here, the bones of a 17,500-year-old Columbian mammoth are being meticulously excavated, offering a breathtaking glimpse into a time when ice dominated the north. Imagine this majestic creature, striding across a landscape soon to be ravaged by floodwaters, its final resting place a testament to the sheer scale of these geological events. Now a 17,500-year-old Columbian mammoth is being excavated just south of the Tri-Cities in Washington and visitors can tour the site. For many, a visit to this active dig site is within easy reach – a captivating day trip, a memorable overnight stay, or a fascinating detour along the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. Stand on the very ground where this ancient giant lay buried, a staggering seven hundred feet above the present-day Columbia River, entombed in soil deposited by the very floods that shaped this region. The incredible work of unearthing these secrets is led by the dedicated nonprofit organization, MCBONES. At the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, they offer a unique opportunity to step back in time. For a modest $10 per person (sign up at www.mcbones.org), from April until mid-October the public can join guided tours of this active paleontological dig. Witness firsthand the careful process of uncovering these ancient relics and hear the compelling story of this mammoth’s burial, the clues it offers about the pre-flood environment, and the ongoing discoveries that are rewriting our understanding of this dramatic period. Every dollar from tour admissions, gift shop sales, and generous donations directly fuels this vital research, ensuring that these whispers from a frozen past continue to be heard.
Ice Age Floods in Western WA
The Mossback’s Northwest production team met in Thurston County last week to research some geological history. We learned that the Missoula Floods that scoured Eastern Washington weren’t the only massive, earth-shaping floods at the end of the last Ice Age some 15,000 years ago. The retreating Puget Lobe — the last ice sheet’s southern extension, which stopped just south of Olympia — sent massive flows south and west as it melted. But while retreating, the ice also blocked rivers flowing from Mount Rainier, like the Carbon and Puyallup. This created a series of glacial lakes which, when unblocked, periodically let loose with floods and debris flows, shaping the valleys and prairies of the region. We talked at length with geologist Patrick Pringle who has, with his research partner Barry Goldstein, studied this phenomenon. As a result of the floods, Pringle says, there is a lot of volcanic rock — from gravel to massive boulders — in the valleys of South Puget Sound that washed down from Tahoma. More on this is coming in Season 11 this fall. Reprinted from the Cascade PBS ‘The Mossback Den’ newsletter
Where (and When) Will Yellowstone Erupt Next?
New research indicates it likely won’t blow today, but one region on Yellowstone’s northeastern side is likely to host liquid magma in the long term, possibly fueling future eruptions hundreds of thousands of years from now. Yellowstone’s melted magma lurks in four separate reservoirs within the crust of the caldera. The western reservoirs do not touch the deep mantle rocks that would heat them from below so they will likely start to cool and solidify. But to the northeast, mantle rocks are heating the magma trapped in the crust keeping them liquid and eruptable. Using measurements of earthquake waves and magnetotellurics (measurements of subterranean magma magnetic fields) researchers mapped four main hidden pockets of magma that together contain more liquid magma than was present during large, caldera-forming eruptions at Yellowstone in the past (2.8 MYA, 1.3 MYA and 640,000 years ago). These magma pockets rest as deep as about 6 or 7 miles below the surface, but only in the northeastern region of the caldera is the magma in touch with hot mantle rock that will keep the magma liquid in the long term. Despite the large volume of magma pooling below Yellowstone, the caldera isn’t likely to erupt anytime soon. The magma sits in pore spaces in solid rock, much like water in a sponge. The estimated fraction of magma filled pores is 20% or less, but only when more than 40% of pore spaces are filled can the magma link up, get mobile and start erupting. But that could change over tens of thousands of years as mantle rock warms the northeastern magma pools. Exactly how long that will take, or if it will happen before the mantle rocks in the northeastern region of Yellowstone lose contact with its magma reservoir, remains unknown. Condensed from a Live Science article by Stephanie Pappas
Gorge-ous Gathering – 2025 IAFI Membership Meeting
2025 IAFI Membership MeetingGorge-ous Gathering Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ice Age Floods Institute The annual IAFI Membership Meeting is coming to the Columbia Gorge this May 2-4, 2025, and both members and the public are cordially invited to come enjoy some of the best and most interesting nature experiences the Gorge has to offer. Several of the events are already full but there are still opportunities to explore geology and winery field trips and enjoy an entertaining presentation by Nick Zenter of YouTube fame. Gorge-ous Gathering Event check-ins begin each day at 8:00 AM at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Registrations are now closed to give us time for preparations Friday, May 2nd, Spring Wildflower Walk Prepare to be captivated as Barbara Robinson, a renowned native plants expert, leads you on a spectacular Wildflower Walk through Tom McCall Preserve on the Rowena Plateau. Located in the transition zone between the moist, heavily-forested west side of the Cascades and the drier bunch grass prairies of the east, the easy Plateau Trail immerses you in a vibrant tapestry of springtime wildflowers that cover grasslands full of arrowleaf balsamroot, lupine, bachelor’s button, and other spectacular wildflowers blooming at your feet. You’ll meander through breathtaking panoramas of the Columbia River Gorge unfolding before you, imagining the raw power of nature that created the enigmatic mound-and-swale topography and kolk pond landforms sculpted by ancient forces of volcanic eruptions and Ice Age floods that flowed 200 feet above your head. You’ll meet Barbara at 9:30AM at the Discovery Center and follow her to Rowena Crest parking circle at 10:00 AM, Friday. May 2nd (Google Maps link) for an unforgettable magical adventure on the Rowena Plateau. Remember to stay on marked trails, dress for probable strong winds, avoid poison oak, and that dogs are not permitted. Friday, May 2nd, Embark on a Vineyard/Winery “Journey Through Terroir” Experience the magic of the Columbia Gorge Wine Region with renowned soil scientist and vineyard consultant, Alan Busacca. This exclusive bus tour takes you deep into the heart of this unique region, where dramatic landscapes and diverse microclimates create wines of extraordinary character. You’ll visit stunning vineyards, sample award-winning wines, and uncover the fascinating science behind their unique flavors. Learn how terroir – diverse soils, extreme rainfall gradients, temperature, elevation and aspect – all contribute to the distinctive taste of each wine. From lush, forested hillsides to sun-drenched high-desert slopes, this is your chance to experience the incredible diversity of this “World of Wine in Forty Miles.” and taste the sensory adventure of the Columbia Gorge firsthand. May 2nd, 9:30AM-4:00PM, bus loads 9:30AM at the Discovery Center. Click here for the itinerary and route map details IAFI Membership Meeting: 5:00-5:30 – Discovery Center Auditorium – Everyone Welcome Pasta buffet dinner: 5:30-6:45 – Discovery Center Basalt Rock Cafe – Pre-registration required Friday, May 2nd, Unveiling the Gorge field trip The walls of the Columbia Gorge expose layer upon layer of similar appearing Columbia River Basalt. But exposed within those walls are features that tell unusual stories of geologic events, cultural history and inspire imaginative tales. On this field trip geologist Lloyd DeKay will lead you to several stops to explore and discuss those features and their stories as we do a 50-mile bus loop through some of the most spectacular scenic vistas the Gorge has to offer. Maars, lahars, pillows, petroglyphs, even an exotic side trip, plus much more will expand your vision and tickle your imagination. Lunch at a scenic overlook May 2nd, 9:30AM-4:00PM, bus loads 9:30AM at the Discovery Center. Click here for the route map details Friday Evening, May 2nd, Nick Zentner Presents – “Bretz, Pardee, and the Ice Age Floods” Prepare to be enthralled and captivated as Nick Zentner (of YouTube fame!) brings to life the epic tale of J Harlen Bretz and Joseph Pardee, the visionary geologists who deciphered the colossal Ice Age Floods. Their story is one of scientific rebellion and groundbreaking discovery, and Nick’s dynamic presentation of his recent collaboration to document and share the field notes and journal revelations of Bretz and Pardee will leave you awestruck. May 2, 7:00 PM. Saturday, May 3rd, Ice Age Floods Gorge Geology field trip Ice Age Floods Gorge Geology Field Trip – Explore evidence of the Ice Age Floods in the Columbia Gorge with guidance from USGS geologists Jim O’Connor and Richard Waitt. This field trip will examine the geology of the Columbia River Gorge, especially the effects of the Ice Age Missoula floods, examining key sites and discussing the latest research. The Columbia River Gorge is the Columbia River’s long-held path through the volcanic arc of the Cascade Range. Here, the myriad routes of the dozens of scabland floods were confined to a single path, forced by gorge constrictions to flow depths as great as 300 m. The intense flood hydraulics left large, coarse boulder bars in the valley bottom and bedded slackwater deposits far up tributary valleys. Taking advantage of the simpler situation of single route, O’Connor and Waitt have been examining the stratigraphy, chronology, and hydrodynamics of Missoula flood features in the gorge for decades to gain a ‘beyond the scablands’ perspective on ice-age floods in the Columbia River basin. Learn more about the Missoula Floods, explore dramatic flood landforms, and enjoy beautiful vistas, lunch at the Deschutes River Park, and a no-host afternoon recap at Maryhill Winery. May 3rd, 9:00AM – 4:00PM, buses load 9:00AM at the Discovery Center. Click here for the route map details Sunday, May 4th, Unveiling the Gorge repeat field trip. The walls of the Columbia Gorge expose layer upon layer of similar appearing Columbia River Basalt. But exposed within those walls are features that tell unusual stories of geologic events, cultural history and inspire imaginative tales. On this field trip, geologist Lloyd DeKay will lead you to several stops to explore and discuss many of those features and their stories as we do a 50-mile bus loop through some of the most spectacular scenic vistas the Gorge has to offer. Maars, lahars, pillows, petroglyphs, even an exotic side trip, plus
IAFI 2024 BRIEF YEAR-IN-REVIEW
This is a very short summary of our 2024 Year-in-Review report prepared for you, our members, who provide most of our support and much of the reason for the various materials, activities and events we provide. You can read the entire detailed report on our website. In 1996, we started with 11 members. At the end of 2024, we have 587 members in 20 US states, Canada and Germany. While we have over six hundred members, most of the work is done by a small number of people. All of your institute and chapter leaders are volunteers. We are always looking for people willing to work with us to help develop and conduct chapter programs. If you think you might be interested, please contact your chapter president or board members. All help is appreciated, both small and large. Our eleven local chapter’s lectures, field trips and hikes are possibly the most effective way we fulfill our mission to inform and educate the public about the Ice Age Floods and their long-lasting impact. IAFI projects at the Institute board level generally benefit more than one chapter or do work that all chapters might not be able to do by themselves. In 2024 we had 37 in-person lectures attended by over 1425 people with many more viewers on YouTube. In addition, our chapters conducted 22 field trips with 735 attendees and 7 hikes with 106 attendees. IAFI also shares resources and knowledge in collaborations and partnerships with over 30 other professional organizations, universities and state/federal agencies to present up-to-date information to our members and communities. IAFI is a non-profit organization supported by membership dues, donations, profit from field trips and store sales. Our funds are used for new and existing educational and informative materials and programs related to the Floods story, insurance, contract labor and to cover unplanned expenses. We appreciate your continued support, friendship and membership. Prepared January 4, 2025, by Gary Ford, IAFI President
Discovering the Telford Tract: A Hidden Gem in the Channeled Scablands
Traveling east along Lake Roosevelt from the Grand Coulee brings you closer to an area steeped in geological and historical intrigue. This journey not only unveils the legacy of ancient Glacial Lake Columbia but also leads to one of the most captivating sections of the Channeled Scablands: the Telford Tract. A critical player in the narrative of Ice Age floods, the Telford Tract offers a striking example of the power and scope of these ancient cataclysmic events. The Role of Glacial Lake Columbia The current Lake Roosevelt occupies much of the previous western Glacial Lake Columbia area, a massive lake formed when glacial ice blocked the Columbia River’s southwestward flow. The lake’s height and timing had a dramatic influence on the routes taken by the incoming Glacial Lake Missoula floodwaters. A portion of these immense floods, among the largest known in Earth’s history, surged south through the Telford region, carving canyons, depositing sediments, and shaping the land into what we now call the Channeled Scablands. J Harlen Bretz, the geologist who first described the scablands in detail, outlined these pathways or “tracts” in his seminal 1928 paper, The Channeled Scabland of Eastern Washington. Among the four major scabland tracts Bretz identified, the Telford-Crab Creek Tract is particularly significant for its geological features and historical context: “The Telford-Crab Creek scabland tract…heads in the vicinity of Telford station…as wide as the Cheney-Palouse River tract…convergence of all these (and of all but one of the Cheney-Palouse River divergences) occurs in a wide shallow structural sag (Quincy Basin) in the western part of the plateau. In this basin is the largest single area of gravel left by the glacial waters…There is continuous scabland northward from all channel heads of this tract across the plateau divide to the limits reached by the ice sheet.” Exploring the Telford Tract Today The Telford Tract, adjacent to the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, provides an unparalleled opportunity to witness the scars of Ice Age floods. Once a 900-acre homestead, the tract’s eroded flood channels and gravel deposits serve as a testament to the massive forces that shaped this region. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Telford Recreation Area invites visitors to explore this geological marvel. Hiking trails weave through remnants of these ancient waterways, offering a chance to immerse yourself in one of the major routes of the Missoula Floodwaters. Check out these resources to help plan your visit: BLM Telford Recreation Area and Washington Trails Association: Telford Recreation Area Beyond Telford: Exploring Upper Crab Creek For those looking to expand their journey through this region, the Telford Tract’s channels eventually connect to Crab Creek, another iconic feature shaped by glacial waters. The Upper Crab Creek Field Trip offers a deeper dive into this fascinating landscape, combining geological exploration with breathtaking scenery. In 2013 Karl Lillquist and Jack Powell created an Upper Crab Creek Field Trip guide for the Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute. A Landscape Worth Protecting The Telford Tract exemplifies the dynamic history of the Channeled Scablands and the profound environmental changes brought about by Ice Age floods. As part of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, this area’s preservation ensures that future generations can continue to learn from and appreciate its unique geological story. Whether you are a geology enthusiast, history buff, or outdoor adventurer, the Telford Tract promises an unforgettable experience. This landscape, shaped by forces beyond imagination, stands as a humbling reminder of nature’s power and its enduring impact on the Earth’s surface.
Geologists predict an Undersea volcano off the Oregon coast could erupt this year
Scientists say Axial, an undersea volcano off the coast of Oregon is probably going to erupt in 2025. The volcano, known as Axial, is a seamount 300 miles (480 kilometers) west of Cannon Beach, Oregon. The Axial seamount erupts regularly — it rumbled to life in 1998, 2011 and 2015, according to a blog by scientists monitoring the seamount — and it doesn’t pose a threat to people. But because of the seamount’s regular activity and its relative proximity to land, researchers made it the site of the world’s first underwater volcano observatory, known as the New Millennium Observatory. Now, the monitors at Axial are showing that the surface of the seamount is inflating — a sign of moving magma that likely presages an eruption, William Chadwick, a geologist at Oregon State University who studies the volcano and its nearby hydrothermal vents, reported at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December 2024. The volcano’s surface has now risen to 95% of what it was before the 2015 eruption, Chadwick reported. The activity follows a period of quiet between 2015 to 2023, during which the seamount barely budged. The new rise began in the fall of 2023 and increased in January 2024, with the ground moving upward at a rate of about 10 inches (25 centimeters) per year as of mid-2024. This inflation was accompanied by swarms of hundreds of small earthquakes. Since then, the inflation rate has stabilized, Chadwick reported in his blog. “The rate of inflation at Axial has been steady for the last 6 months and the rate of seismicity has moderated,” he wrote. “An eruption does not seem imminent, but it can’t do this forever.” He and his co-author Scott Nooner, a geophysicist at the University of North Carolina Wilmington suspect that the volcano will erupt before the end of 2025. The scientists are hopeful that their prediction is correct, because the well-monitored Axial is a promising location to work out the patterns a volcano experiences before eruption. The fact that the volcano has recently erupted several times over two decades – rather than once in centuries, like many volcanoes – makes discerning patterns easier. Researchers are also more comfortable offering tentative predictions for a volcano that doesn’t threaten life or property, because there are no downsides to being wrong. Volcanologists can currently make accurate short-term predictions of eruptions, but according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, predictions are rarely reliable more than a few days in advance. Reprinted from Live Science News, article By Stephanie Pappas
Ancient ‘land bridge’ that connected Siberia to US wasn’t what it seems
The boggy landscape of the Bering land bridge may have allowed some ice age animals to cross easily, while others stayed in Asia. The Bering land bridge that spanned between Siberia and Alaska during the Ice Age was more of a Bering land bog, new research finds. The discovery could help explain why some animals, such as birds, easily crossed the land bridge, while others, like woolly rhinos (Coelodonta antiquitatis), didn’t make the migration. The land bridge, now submerged under the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia, was above water from about 36,000 years ago to 11,000 years ago. Scientists thought it might have looked a lot like the grassy, arid steppe landscape in Siberia and Alaska at the time — but no one had ever investigated the ocean floor where the “bridge” once stood. Last year, researchers led by University of Alaska Fairbanks geologist Sarah Fowell set out on the research vessel Sikuliaq to extract cores of sediment from the floor of the Bering Sea. It was the first attempt to reconstruct the ancient landscape and climate of the land bridge. The researchers presented their results today (Dec. 10) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. Instead of a grassy steppe, they found a marshy landscape crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with little lakes. “We were looking for several large lakes,” Fowell said. “What we actually found was evidence of lots of small lakes and river channels.” Lake sediments were apparent in the ocean floor cores, as were pollen, small fossils, ancient DNA and organic matter. The pollen and fossils revealed that the landscape hosted trees and mosses. The researchers also found egg cases from water fleas (Daphnia), a freshwater crustacean. This marshy environment may have been particularly welcoming for some species such as birds, but there were also spots where there was evidence of larger mammals making the migration. One site hosted mammoth DNA. Bison are also known to have crossed from Eurasia to North America during the time that the land bridge existed, and horses are known to have made it from North America to Eurasia. “Even if it was mostly floodplains and ponds, the grazers were around, just uphill following higher, drier areas,” Fowell said. However, the environment may have been less conducive for species that did not make the move between continents, such as the woolly rhino (a Eurasian native), American camel (native to north and central America), and the short-faced bear (native to North America). “The watery, wet landscape could have been a barrier for some species,” said Jenna Hill, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who is also presenting research on the Bering Sea core data at the AGU meeting, “or a pathway for species that actually travel by water.” Further research will be needed to understand the full impact of the environment on migration. Republished from an article by Stephanie Pappas in Live Science