Ice Age Floods

April 19, 2004 1:09 AM

Ice Age Floods Institute. In recent geological time immensely powerful, cataclysmic Ice Age Floods regularly swept across the Pacific Northwest. A proposed Ice Age Floods National Geological Trail is in the works. Virtual tour of Glacial Lake Missoula.
posted by stbalbach (6 comments total)

Neat stuff, thanks!
posted by saladin at 6:33 AM on April 19, 2004

More links and writing from a local prespective.
posted by Wulfgar! at 9:15 AM on April 19, 2004

Everywhere you look in the northwest, you see evidence of Glacial Lake Missoula; from the shorelines on Mt. Sentinel in Missoula to the erratics out in the plains in Washington. It's pretty cool that it's finally getting some publicity.
posted by event at 11:06 AM on April 19, 2004

I remember Kim Stanley Robinson mentioning the force of these floods in the Red Mars series. I think he talked about cavitation on the scale of hydrogen bombs. I mentioned it to a relative on a visit to Portland, Oregon, and he walked me out to a street near his home where you can stand at the edge of a massive, ancient cut that the flood waters etched. It was amazing.
posted by coelecanth at 1:24 PM on April 19, 2004

Fascinating! My favorite post in a looooong time. They've done an excellent job with the virtual tour and photos.
posted by Feisty at 3:18 PM on April 19, 2004

To think that the backed up floodwaters came all the way up the Willamette Valley to Eugene. . .it's pretty amazing. That, combined with the Columbia River Lava Flows makes this area subject to two of the most catastrophic events in known geologic history.
posted by Danf at 3:51 PM on April 19, 2004