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Ice Age Floods Institute Newsletter April, 2020
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Explore the Ice Age Floods
While Covid-19 Distancing
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First and most importantly, we send our sincere wishes for your well-being as you and those close to you adjust to the changes brought on by COVID-19. For most people, COVID-19 has severely curtailed activities, and that goes for IAFI as well. We have suspended or canceled all in-person IAFI presentations, meetings, field trips, hikes, etc. (crowd gathering activities) to ensure the health of our community. We urge all our members to do what is necessary to protect their health and we hope to resume our normal programs as soon as possible.
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Meanwhile, a couple of our creative leaders have come up with a couple of novel ways you can continue to explore the Ice Age Floods and the geology of our fascinating region, even as you social distance and remain in lockdown to keep yourself and others safe from the novel coronavirus. We hope you'll enjoy using these suggestions to safely explore, learn and prepare for the time to come when you can explore further in-person.
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Nick Zentner is
Livestreaming Geology
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Are you looking for a new and captivating take on the Ice Age Floods ant the geology of our region? The incomparable Nick Zentner is livestreaming geology from his home in Ellensburg, and posting videos for later viewing to his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/GeologyNick.
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Zentner Geology Livestream from Home begins at 6:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10:00 AM on Saturdays and Sundays. You can join his livestream at any of those times or catch up on Nick's previous livestream videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/GeologyNick. You can also subscribe to receive notifications when new live lectures are happening (it’s free).
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#1 Volcanoes
#2 Earthquakes
#3 Ice Age Floods
#4 Ancient Rivers
#5 Ellensburg Blue Agates
#6 Flood Basalts
#7 Ginkgo Petrified Forest
#8 Liberty Gold w/ Rob Repin
#9 Supercontinents
#10 Baja BC Exotic Terranes
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#11 Olympic Peninsula
#12 Cascade Volcanoes
#13 Ghost Volcanoes
#14 Great Earthquakes
#15 Bridge of the Gods
#16 - Lake Chelan
#17 - J Harlen Bretz
#18 - Grand Coulee
#19 - Washington is Disneyland
#20 - Supervolcanoes
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While Locked Down, Explore the Floods with Our Interactive Online Map
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If you've ever tried to explore the Ice-Age Floods with a guidebook you'll know how difficult and frustrating it can be to find and learn about the features in the area you're visiting. Well, there's now a solution to that problem; an interactive map at https://iafi.org/floodscapes that's available wherever you have internet access. And with us all in covid-19 lockdown this is a great time to plan for new adventures when we're free to move around again!
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The map features over 300 points of interest throughout our 4-state area, with a description and images that slide out when you click on one of the markers. More features are being added all the time, and we're planning to expand the map with features related to the Lake Bonneville Flood event that rampaged through the area during the time of the Ice-Age Floods.
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Since this is an internet-based map, it's also easy to get driving directions to the site from wherever you are starting from. You can also easily build an informative field trip, exploring and learning about a number of other nearby features with just a few clicks of your mouse.
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We feel this may be the most useful field guide ever developed to explore ice-age Floods and glacial features throughout our 4-state region. AND it's absolutely FREE! The only shortcomings we see are 1) the map requires internet access, which isn't always available in far-flung areas of our region, and 2) we may not have every point-of-interest on the map (YET!). If we're missing something you think is important we encourage you to submit your suggestion. We also appreciate any comments and/or corrections by email to Webmaster@IAFI.org. We sincerely hope you enjoy using this guide to explore the many fascinating ice-age features.
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Ice Age Floods Institute
Chapter News and Updates
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FIELD WORK CONTINUES TO DECIPHER THE CHANNELED SCABLANDS
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In August, Scott David, a postdoctoral researcher and Karin Lehnigk, a 2nd year PhD candidate from the University of Massachusetts visited the scablands for a week to do field studies.
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Karin was in search of granite erratics. Samples of these were taken to be processed for Beryllium-10 exposure dating, a robust geochemical technique which enables researchers to determine how long the object sampled has been sitting on the surface of the Earth. This information combined with computer simulations of a range of flood sizes is to test the hypothesis that the earliest floods through the Cheney-Palouse Scabland Tract were also the largest.
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Scott was in search of potholes. Measuring the geometry of potholes and the rocks that comprise them in a variety of locations, he is using these measurements in numerical and physical modeling experiments to explore what erosion mechanisms could generate these massive features. Were they produced by retreating waterfalls, rocks circulating at the base of the flow, large scale turbulence, or some combination of these mechanisms? The results of the study should provide insight into how the remarkable canyons that comprise the Channeled Scablands formed.
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On a Friday afternoon, I met up with them in Ritzville and proceeded to some granite erratics near Cow Creek southeast of town to take samples. They spent the night at our house in Washtucna and were thrilled to have hot showers, a home-cooked meal and soft beds. The days before they slept in tents on a gravel parking lot. The next morning, Chad Pritchard from EWU joined us as we took measurements from four pot-holes along the south side of Washtucna Coulee between Washtucna and Hooper. They also took granite samples from the Midcanyon Bar near Lyons Ferry before returning to the Grand Coulee area. The results of their studies were not available at time of printing.
Article by Lloyd Stoess in Palouse Falls Chapter's "The Scablander" Newsletter
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IAFI Annual Fieldtrip Recap
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First and foremost, a huge thank-you to all who helped our chapter host the fall meeting at the end of September. We have received nothing but congratulatory notes from those who attended. The town of Ritzville showed that they can easily host such an event. We appreciate the Bronco Inn for their hospitality and help, those who led the tours and open houses on Friday, and the Chamber of Commerce who helped us along the way.
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Everyone seemed to enjoy the field trip despite the rain. The lunch catered by the band students in Washtucna was applauded by all. Gary Ford, President of the IAFI, summed up his letter to me concerning the trip “I want you to know that it was a highly successful day. Thanks from all the board members and the two buses of people who had a very enjoyable day”.
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With that behind us, we are already planning the bus tour for this fall where we will be heading south to explore the Lake Lewis area. Planned stops include Lake Sacajawea Bar, Wallula Gap (like you have never seen it before), the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Dig, and much more. The tour will probably be the last Saturday in September. More info in the summer issue and as usual, those of you who are members will receive details first.
Article by Lloyd Stoess in Palouse Falls Chapter's "The Scablander" Newsletter
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New Items in the IAFI Online Store
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Set of 12 Ice Age Floods Brochures
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Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI) has compiled 12 brand-new, full-color brochures to help guide you in visiting spectacular ice-age features in any of our 11 Ice Age Floods chapter areas. Packages of all 12 full-size brochures are NOW available through the IAFI Store and participating local outlets.
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With these brochures as your guides you can explore the paths of the Ice Age Floods from Montana through Idaho, central Washington and northern Oregon, and even delve into the many glacial features of northwest Washington. Each chapter brochure features a local map and articles that highlight five or more key local sites that will help bring the story of the Ice Age Floods to life in your mind.
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Glacial Geology Maps of North Idaho
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This two-sided geologic map includes a GLACIAL GEOLOGIC MAP OF NORTH IDAHO on one side and a SHADED RELIEF MAP OF NORTHERN IDAHO AND PARTS OF WESTERN MONTANA AND EASTERN WASHINGTON on the other side.The maps are 33.75” x 21.5” in size and are available as both flat and folded versions at a price of $9.95 + tax and shipping.
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Roadside Geology of Montana, 2nd Ed
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Over 30 years after the first Roadside Geology of Montana, with this completely revised full-color second edition by Don Hyndman and Robert Thomas as your guide, you'll discover a panorama of world-class geologic features around every bend of the road throughout Montana.
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RIP - Tom Foster, Remarkable IAF Chronicler
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We very sadly report that Tom Foster passed away recently of an apparent heart attack while home sleeping with a chest cold. Tom was a talented photographer and videographer who worked tirelessly behind the cameras with our own Nick Zentner to bring PacNW geology and the story of the Ice Age Floods to life through photographs and videos.
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His HugeFloods.com website was also a rich resource for images and information about the Ice Age Floods. His obituary has more details about this remarkable man:
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Thomas Alan Foster, 60, with his love for the outdoors, died at his home in Pasco, WA March 4. Tom took great pleasure photographing beautiful Northwest scenery including Ice Age Flood features. He learned the art from his father John P Foster, professor emeritus at Central Washington University. Tom was born September 18, 1959 in Roswell, NM to John and his wife Barb. His family was proud when he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. A graduate of Ellensburg High School, he took classes at CWU and Edmonds Community College.
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Tom will be sorely missed by all who gained understanding and pleasure from the work behind the camera that he shared with us all.
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Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit educational organization
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IAFI was founded in 1994 and is recognized as an official authority on the Ice Age Floods, providing accurate/scientific-based advice to members and the public. IAFI was instrumental in Federal designation legislation, passed in 2009, authorizing the National Park Service to establish the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail (IAFNGT).
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