GigaFlood: The Largest of the Lake Missoula Floods in NW Oregon and SW Washington

$20.00

GigaFlood covers a brief history of Glacial Lake Missoula and the factors leading to its creation and dam-bursting flood, then follows the path of the largest of the Lake Missoula Floods, as its 540 cubic miles of water, 40 cubic miles of ice, 50 cubic miles of rock, sediment and debris tore down the Columbia River Gorge at speeds up to 65 miles per hour. It also traces the influx and exit channels in the areas north and south of the Columbia River as it overflowed the Portland/Vancouver area as well as the Clackamas, Tualatin, Yamhill and Willamette valleys up to the 400 foot level.

7 in stock

SKU: BGF Category: Tags: , , , , , ,

Description

With 208 pages, 182 photographs, 52 maps and 10 illustrations, GigaFlood reveals the many indelible marks left on the landscape such as kolk lakes, gravel bars 200-300 feet high, truncated hillsides, flood channels, and erratic boulders, by the first and largest catastrophic glacial dam failure on Lake Missoula.  Many of these subtle features were previously unrecognized though hidden in plain sight.

Like a detective story GigaFlood points out the clues in NW Oregon and SW Washington that show the effects of this cataclysm and reveals what those features are and how they were formed. You will see this area with new eyes and never see it the same again.

Author Rick Thompson, president of the Lower Columbia Chapter of IAFI, has done extensive research, field work and collaboration with experts in compiling his new book “GigaFlood: The Largest of the Lake Missoula Floods in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington“. He has led numerous field trips throughout the Willamette Valley, the Columbia Gorge, and parts of southwestern Washington, as well as on riverboat day trips.