The Ancient Ice Age Floods in the Pacific Northwest
Dr. Scott burns will talk about ancient glacial flooding that preceded the most recent Glacial Lake Missoula Floods in the Pacific Northwest
10 events found.
Events
-
-
Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee, WA, United States
-
Google Earth & the Field Notes of Bretz & Pardee
North Spokane Library 44 E Hawthorne Rd, Spokane, WAJoin Glenn Cruickshank as he shares a look at 16 years of J Harlen Bretz’s field notes about the historic ice age floods and 30 years of Joseph Pardee’s USGS field notes, now publicly available for the first time in 100 years and visible through Google Earth. This presentation will introduce you to a large and growing collection of historic notes by early ice age floods investigators, but if you can't make the presentation you can explore much of the material on Nick Zentner's CWU webpage. Presentation will be by Glenn Cruickshank, Vice President, Cheney-Spokane Chapter, IAFI, Liberty Lake Presented in partnership with Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI) (Registration required on SCLD website. Registration opens at 6:00 PM Wednesday, January 15, 2025.)
-
Oregon Gold – This valuable mineral is brought to you by Geology
Tualatin Heritage Center 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR, United StatesGeologist and professor, Sheila Alfsen, will show how geologic processes that occurred in Oregon paved the way for the discovery and utilization of gold in our state. Sheila is an Adjunct Instructor of Geology at Portland State University, Chemeketa Community College, and Linn-Benton Community College. Tuesday, February 18, 2025, In Person 6:45PM PST at Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR 97062 Simultaneous Live ZOOM from THC if you cannot attend the in-person THC meeting yourself. Click here for Zoom meeting, Meeting ID: 869 4651 3479 Passcode: 322382
-
Take a Bee-Line to the Wild Side
White Salmon Valley Community Library 77 NE Wauna Ave, White Salmon, WA, United StatesWild bees are a diverse group of bees that are important pollinators for many crops and plants. The U.S. has roughly 4,000 species of wild bees that pollinate thousands of plants, including many common foods like apples and almonds. Wild bees, along with many pollinators, are declining around the world due to land changes, human activities, pesticide use, and other threats. Despite growing concern about population declines, there are limited data about wild bees. You can help wild bees by providing nesting boxes, restoring pollinator-friendly habitats, and encouraging legislation that protects bees. In his “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” presentation, Steve Castagnoli will provide an introduction to the natural history of wild bees in the Pacific Northwest. Steve Castagnoli is an apprentice level melittologist with the Oregon Bee Atlas. The Oregon Bee Atlas Master Melittologist Program trains and equips citizen scientists to: a) create and maintain a comprehensive and publicly accessible inventory of the state’s native bees and their plant-host preferences, b) to educate Oregonians on the state’s bee biodiversity and c) to conduct an on-going survey of native bee populations in order to assess their health. Specimen records are added annually to newly digitized historic records from the Oregon State Arthropod Collection to build the first comprehensive account of the native bee fauna of Oregon.
-
-
Terroir and the floods
(12Dec24) Scott Burns is back in March to talk about the impact the Ice Age Floods had on vinticulture in the Pacific Northwset. Join us as Scott explains how the Floods influenced the regional properties of Northwest soils and ultimately made the Pacific Northwest one of the prime wine producing regions in the United States. The "virtual wine tasting" will happen at our chapter meeting 04Mar2025 at 7:00pm at Bellevue College, Building B ,ROOM 104. This lecture will be in-person and livecast on Zoom. Click on Zoom link: https://us02web.Zoom.us/j/82985244730 Bellevue College, Bldg B Rm 104
-
Cheney-Spokane Chapter Hike – Escure Ranch / Towell Falls
Escure Ranch WashingtonThe Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the IAFI is scheduling a hike at Escure Ranch on the BLM Rock Creek Recreation Site on Saturday, March 15th. The hike will start at 10:00 a.m. It will be led by Don Chadbourne, geologist and board member of the Cheney-Spokane Chapter. You will meet the leader at the trailhead. Description of the Escure Ranch Hike The hike will begin and end at the Escure Ranch parking area, of the Bureau of Land Management, Rock Creek Recreation site. The hike will follow an old ranch road to Towell Falls and return on the same route. The out and back hike will be about 6.5 miles. The trail is mostly double track over dirt and rock, with an elevation gain and loss of about 160 feet. The hike is a pleasant trek through a remote scabland canyon. Features will include rock benches and basins, flood bars, Mima mounds, mesas and waterfalls. This hike is included in the book, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods – Northern Reaches, by Bjornstad & Kiver. Directions to the trailhead will be provided to hikers after registration. Click on the Register button to sign up for the hike. The hike will be limited to 20 hikers. Items to bring with you: appropriate shoes, day pack, water, snacks, appropriate clothing for changes in the weather, sun protection, emergency items, camera and binoculars. Walking poles will be helpful. The hike is free; however, donations for support of Chapter activities will be accepted. For additional questions, contact Don at 509-891-5875.
-
Othello Sandhill Crane Festival
Othello, WA WA, United StatesThe 27th annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival - March 21, 22, and 23! Founded in 1998, the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival highlights the spring return of Sandhill Cranes to the greater Othello area and the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Not only are there bird lectures and tours on all three days, but the Festival always incorporates many geology talks; and field trips into Flood Country. Please see the events brochure here: https://www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org/_files/ugd/00304c_e3ceea5f94c44279af5e6e7a1cd036d7.pdf?index=true General admission is $10 and covers lectures and activities at the School and Church. All other tours and activities priced as noted in the schedule along with general admission. Friday Night Featured Lecture - Bruce Bjornstad – The Grand Coulee Nowhere is the evidence for Ice Age Megafloods so dramatic and awe-inspiring than Grand Coulee. The evolution of Grand Coulee will be presented via a unique bird’s eye view of this unique 50-mile-long canyon. Evidence for dozens of megafloods through Grand Coulee, as recently as 15,000 years ago, will be examined. This Lecture is free to attend in the Red Room at 7 PM. Saturday, March 22 there will be several talks on geology at the Crane Festival.. Ice Age Floodscapes. Bruce Bjornstad tells of an appreciation of the huge scale of Ice Age Megafloods and the features they left behind are often hidden and lost at close range. An aerial perspective of dozens of different unique flood features will be presented to bring the immense power and magnitude of the Ice Age Floods into focus Coulees, Canyons, and Valleys, Oh My! Lloyd Stoess will present a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at how scientists can’t always agree on the definition of landforms, like coulees. Coulees interlace the landscape of the channeled scablands of eastern Washington which were carved by the Ice Age Floods, but what really defines them and how do they differ from canyons and valleys? Coyote Canyon: A Mammoth Burial in Ice Age Floods Sediments. Gary Kleinknecht will introduce the audience to Columbian Mammoths, North America’s elephant. He will present evidence for the assertion that this specimen is buried in slack water deposits left by a series of huge floods which created temporary Lake Lewis in the southern Columbia Basin. The discovery of mammoth bones, the on-going excavation of the site, and the paleoenvironmental study at Coyote Canyon will also be discussed. Sunday, March 23, Geology Field Trips Mega Floods Through Wild Drumheller Channels Hike, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. $60.00. This moderately difficult 3-4-mile hike, led by geologist Bruce Bjornstad, will directly explore the flood channels (including the former path of the Columbia River), potholes, erratic, and streamlined basalt islands rimmed with towering 50’ basalt columns. One hundred years ago, J Harlen Bretz recognized this area as one of the most spectacular examples of Ice Age Flood erosion in the Channeled Scabland. Note that there will be no restrooms available on this hike. Bagged lunches are available for order on the registration form. This tour is six hours in length, so bring food, drink, and sturdy walking shoes. SONY DSC The Great Escape of Quincy Basin, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. $60.00. Join Lloyd Stoess and Ken Lacy on a tour to showcase some of the most impressive floodscape that they have ever shown. It will focus on the impact of flood waters escaping the Quincy Basin. Imagine 150 feet of water dropping 800 feet in less than 3 miles, we will see this at the Potholes Coulee. We will also visit places with particularly dramatic views in the Drumheller Channels, Frenchman Coulee, West Bar, and the Ephrata Fan. There will be no hikes but open-toed shoes will not be appropriate. There will be bathroom breaks along the way. This tour is about 8 hours from start to fin
-
-
Margins of the Eastern Cascades Field Trip
Central Washington University 400 E University Way, Ellensburg, WA, United StatesMargins of the Eastern Cascades: Western Kittitas Basin—Lower Teanaway—Lower Swauk Loop Topics will include volcanism, tectonics, alpine glaciation, landslides, and stream channel changes in the area between Ellensburg, Cle Elum, and Lauderdale Junction. Here’s the schedule and the topics to be covered: 9:30 Meet at CWU Parking Lot O-5 9:45 Depart 10:00 Stop 1—WA Highway 10 Along Yakima River—Climate transitions; Yakima River Watershed; Ellensburg Formation origin & age; 10:45 Depart 11:00 Stop 2—Hayward Hill Road—Thorp Gravels origins & age; Alpine glaciation; Outwash terraces 11:45 Depart 12:00 Stop 3—Teanaway River Floodplain—Columbia River Basalts; Teanaway River floodplain, discharge & flooding; Lookout Mountain landslide 12:45 Depart to find restrooms in Cle Elum 1:30 Stop 4—Swauk Prairie—Teanaway Formation flow origin & age; Glaciers & climate; Glacier impacts on Teanaway & Swauk paths 2:15 Depart 2:30 Stop 5—Horse Canyon Overlook—Horse Canyon enigma; Wrap-up 3:15 Depart 3:30 Arrive in Ellensburg Logistics: This trip is free and open to the public. Plan on carpooling. We have, at most, about 30 parking spots at Stop 1. There will be very little hiking associated with this field trip. On all stops, we will be within a couple of hundred feet of our automobiles. There are no restroom or picnic facilities along our field trip route. Therefore, we will break briefly so you can make a very quick trip to Cle Elum between Stop 3 and Stop 4. Plan on eating lunch/snacks on the road or at the stops. There won’t be a formal lunch stop given the lack of facilities and time. Dogs and kids are fine to bring as long as they are well-behaved. Dress for the weather. Early April here can vary from sunny and warm to windy & chilly, all in a day! A windbreaker is a really good idea. I will post a pdf of the field guide by 19 March on my CWU website at https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/_documents/karl-lillquist.php. Scroll down the page to “Field Guides”. You will find it under “Margins of the Eastern Cascades”. Feel free to download and bring it on the field trip in digital format or print it out. The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will also provide ~40 hard copies of the field guide for the trip. There is no cost for the field guides. However, if you are not a member of the Ellensburg Chapter, please consider making a donation to the chapter to help cover the costs of the field guides (each cost ~$12). I hope you can join us on Saturday April 5th. Karl Lillquist
-
Cheney-Spokane Chapter Hike – Fishtrap Lake Scablands
Fishtrap Lake North Loop Sprague, WA, United StatesThe Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the IAFI is scheduling a hike at the north loop trailhead of Fishtrap Lake on Saturday, April 5th. The hike will start at 10:00 a.m. It will be led by Don Chadbourne, geologist and board member of the Cheney-Spokane Chapter. You will meet the leader at the trailhead. Fishtrap Lake, Washington (BLM Photo) Description of Hike The hike will begin and end at the north trailhead at Fishtrap Lake. The hike will follow the north loop trail, with a total length of about 5 miles. The trail is mostly single track over dirt and rock, with an elevation gain and loss of about 500 feet. The hike will provide an intimate view of the channeled scablands that were carved out by the ice age floods. Features will include pothole lakes, rock benches, Mima mounds, and streamlined and scarped Palouse hills. The hike will also provide wide open views of Fishtrap Lake and the surrounding country. This hike is included in On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods – Northern Reaches, by Bjornstad & Kiver. However, we will be following trails that were constructed after the book was published. Directions to the trailhead From I-90 take Exit 254 and proceed south 2.4 miles on the Sprague Highway. Turn left (east) on Fishtrap Road and proceed 0.6 miles to the trailhead parking on the right. Register for the hike using the buttons below. This event will be limited to 20 hikers. Items to bring with you: appropriate shoes, day pack, water, snacks, appropriate clothing for changes in the weather, sun protection, emergency items, camera and binoculars. Walking poles will be helpful. The hike is free; however, donations for support of Chapter activities will be accepted. For addition questions contact Don at 509-891-5875.
-
Mapping the Pacific Northwest’s Glacial Legacy
Cheney Community Library 610 1st St, Cheney, WAEnhanced LIDAR images (WA-DNR) Glaciers have shaped much of the Pacific Northwest’s landscape over the past 15,000 years. The Cordilleran ice sheet, repeated ice age floods, and expansive alpine glaciation have left their distinctive fingerprints on the topography of our region. Geologists and cartographers have been mapping and interpreting glacial landforms since the late 19th century. In the past decade, the Washington Geological Survey has created new maps that build upon this rich cartographic history by fusing older datasets and techniques with modern insights and technology, such as lidar. Using both historical and modern maps, this presentation by Daniel Coe, Washington Geologic Survey, Seattle, will be a visual journey through the Pacific Northwest’s glacial past and present. Presented in partnership with Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI) This event will be live via Zoom. Watch at the library or from anywhere you have an internet connection. Register in-person at the library to view the online presentation at Cheney Library. Register online to view the online presentation from home or anywhere. Note: as of April 2 at 9 PM there are still 33 in-person seats available and 93 online seats available! Registration is required.