Sharing the Fascinating Ice Age Floods Story Since 1995
The Okanogan Lobe landscape was studied early in the last century by well-known geologists J Harlan Bretz, Richard Foster Flint, and Aaron C. Waters. How the ice sheet shaped the landscape underneath it was a source of controversy back then, and remains a subject of scientific debate today.
The Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute’s next program will be Tuesday, December 12 at 7:00 PM. This is a hybrid program, with the speakers presenting remotely via Zoom from Seattle. For those who are not computer- or Zoom-savvy, you can attend in-person for a screening at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee. Or at home via Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84520197937 Webinar ID: 845 2019 7937 In Washington, you are never far from the past, including evidence of plants and animals that came before. Fossil flowers in Republic. Trilobites near the Idaho border. Primitive horses on the Columbia Plateau. Tracks of giant birds near Bellingham. Curious bear-like creatures on the Olympic Peninsula. With abundant and well-exposed rock layers, Washington has fossils dating from Ice Age mammals from only 12,000 years ago, to marine invertebrates more than 500 million years old. Join co-authors Dr. Liz Nesbitt and David B. Williams as they discuss this rich array of past life, which is featured in their new book, "Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils in Washington State"— the first book ever on fossils in the state! Why did they choose the fossils they did? What is the new science that has allowed paleontologists to tease out the 500-million-year long story of life in this region? Liz Nesbitt is curator emerita of invertebrate and micropaleontology at the Burke Museum. David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, tour guide, and Curatorial Associate at the Burke Museum. Please sign in, or show up, at 7:00 PM, December 12! The program is free and open to the public.
The Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter’s next program will be Tuesday, February 13 at 7:00 PM. Our speaker will present live at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee. There is also a Zoom link so one can watch remotely: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84520197937 Webinar ID: 845 2019 7937. Joseph T. Pardee Bill Burgel is coming up from Portland to tell us about “Joseph T. Pardee and Glacial Lake Missoula.” Pardee was a USGS Field Geologist whose expertise was in Western Montana, where he was raised and worked for years. He was the first to recognize, around 1910, the features of a vast, ancient Glacial Lake Missoula. In the 1920s, working independently of Pardee, Harlan Bretz had determined from field evidence, that only an extraordinarily huge flood, or floods, could have carved out the Channeled Scablands and the big coulees associated with them in eastern and central Washington. But he didn’t know the source of the water. Pardee quipped that he “knew the source of Bretz’ water.” In 1925, he suggested to Bretz that the draining of a glacial lake could account for the magnitude of water flows needed to create the Scablands and coulees. The program is free, and open to the public. ---- Bill Burgel worked in the railroad industry for 40 years, in engineering and operations. With his background and training in geology, he was often called upon to resolve landslide issues and rerouting studies, earthquake warning strategies, and to conduct long tunnel analyses. Contact information: Brent Cunderla - Erratics Chapter President cunderla@nwi.net (509) 860-6067 Susan D. Freiberg - Erratics Chapter Publicity wenvalerratics@yahoo.com
The Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will meet Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 PM, at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee. Or via Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84520197937 Webinar ID: 845 2019 7937 Dr. Earl F. Cater, Director of the Douglas County Museum in Waterville, will present “The Geology of Sunset Highway.” Topics he will discuss include: Early Euro-American explorations of the Big Bend country; Difficulty in getting to Douglas County because of elevation and size; Barriers to Euro-American settlement: Rocks and no roads, Banks Lake area’s 800-feet high basalt cliffs, Corbaley Canyon’s fractured gneiss and schist, rockslides from basalt layers; Obstacles from glaciation: Yeager Rock and multiple haystack rocks and other glacial features; The first stage in Okanogan, March 1884: The Jack Smith story; 1913 Declaration of the Sunset Highway as the Red Trail; 1926 Declaration of the Sunset Highway as the Yellowstone Trail. The program is free and open to the public. Contact information: Dr. Earl F. Cater Director, Douglas County Museum efcater@gmail.com 515-371-3535 Susan D. Freiberg Erratics Chapter Publicity wenvalerratics@yahoo.com
The Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will meet Tuesday, June 11 at 7:00 PM, at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee. Or via Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84520197937 Our speaker will be Philip Long of the Lake Chelan Research Institute (LCRI). Phil will talk about “Exploration of Geomorphic Features in Lake Chelan with an Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)” Swath bathymetry, chirp sub-bottom reflection profiles, and sediment cores…. These were techniques recently used by the U.S. Geological Survey (June 2023) to collect data from Lake Chelan, WA, The resulting information has provided insights into late- and post-glacial history of Lake Chelan. In addition, LCRI’s ROV dives have distinguished bedrock from till on lake bottom sediment profiles, and have directly observed landslide scarps, debris aprons, and other geomorphic features of interest to many of us here. Some of the features on the bottom of Lake Chelan resemble surface glacial features we are familiar with on the Waterville Plateau! Moraines, kames, drumlins, kettles, underwater landslides…. Find out what’s going on at the bottom Lake Chelan! The program is free and open to the public. Contact information: Ken Lacy 1geospiracle2@gmail.com (509) 787-9755 Susan Freiberg Wenatchee Valley Erratics Publicity wenvalerratics@yahoo.com
Glaciers have shaped much of the Pacific Northwest’s landscape over the past 15,000 years. Geologists and cartographers have been mapping and interpreting glacial landforms since the late 19th century. And now LIDAR helps create incredibly accurate, detailed, and stunning maps.
How the twisting and turning of 19th-century society crossed up with the Ice Age Floods
Dr. Scott burns will talk about ancient glacial flooding that preceded the most recent Glacial Lake Missoula Floods in the Pacific Northwest
Celebrating Ice Age Floods Institute's 30th Anniversary The annual IAFI Membership Meeting is coming to the Columbia Gorge this May 2-3, 2025, and all our members and their guests are cordially invited to come experience some of the best and most interesting features the Gorge has to offer. There’ll be opportunities to explore storied Gorge wildflowers and native plants, geology and winery field trips, whitewater rafting, a membership meeting/dinner and a presentation by the ever-entertaining Nick Zenter. Friday, May 2nd, will be action packed with activities during the day. Choose between a guided Spring Wildflower Walk, a Journey Through Terroir field trip, an Unveiling the Gorge field trip (repeated on Sunday, May 4). There are also opportunities available every day for full-day or half-day adventure whitewater raft trips on the Klickitat or White Salmon Rivers with Wet Planet Rafting, a local world-class rafting company. Friday evening will feature our members meeting and dinner, followed by an entertaining and informative presentation by the inimitable Nick Zenter exploring and geolocating J Harlan Bretz’s field notes. Jim O'Connor Richard Waitt Saturday, May 3rd, will feature the main Ice Age Floods Gorge Geology Field Trip – Explore evidence of the Ice Age Floods in the Columbia Gorge led by USGS expert geologists Jim O’Connor and Richard Waitt. This field trip will examine the geology of the Columbia River Gorge with emphasis on the effects of the Ice Age Missoula floods, examining key sites and discussing the latest research. Learn more about the Missoula Floods, explore dramatic flood landforms, and enjoy beautiful vistas, lunch at the Deschutes River Park (order a box lunch or bring your own), and a no-host afternoon recap at Maryhill Winery. Check-in begins each day at 8:00 AM at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Find more detailed information here There is also plenty to see and do in the Gorge to keep you fascinated and engaged if you can stay another day. Visit iconic Multnomah Falls (I-84 access only) and spectacular Vista House at Crown Point overlook. Visit Timberline Lodge, a stunning 1930’s CCC project, on the snowy upper flanks of Mt. Hood. Travel the Hood River Fruit Loop or ride the Mt Hood Railroad Hike one (or more) of the innumerable and spectacular Gorge hiking trails Take Windsurfing and Kiteboarding lessons or just watch the action Enjoy fine dining, artisan wineries, breweries, museums and shops throughout the Gorge. There’s so much more to see and do that we can’t even begin to list it all.
Building new roads, and connecting roads, was difficult and expensive. No entity wanted to do that. Not the Federal government, nor the states, not the counties. They got pushed into road-building. What happened?