Teaching GEOL 351 at Drumheller Channels

hi everybody geology 351 from Drumheller channels on a very peaceful Thursday afternoon thank you for joining us this is our second field trip for our geology 351 students and our theme this spring is Ice Age floods and so I will be always having this little portable map of the Pacific Northwest and the courtier and ice sheet and the Okanagan lobe and in dark gray the channels of the channeled scabland and today we are right here the Drumheller channels which is a southern outlet for the Quincy Basin if you go to nicksetner.com you click on 351 in the upper right hand corner you'll get to some science papers and the first one in the list is that paper from 1928 so feel free to look that up on your own do some reading and hear Brett's with his own words we have been looking carefully in class and we've been looking carefully at the Brett's map from 1928. he has some interpretations a few of them that are not what are currently viewed as accepted for instance he has the ice sheet over Spokane Washington which I guess most geologists agree is not the story any longer but you can see in red very clearly outlined channels that were flooded catastrophically at some time in the past says Bratz and he had one flood the Spokane flood where many of these channels that we're going to visit today were under water simultaneously hundreds of vertical feet of water coming right at you through this scene yes those are some of the famous columns the Tootsie Roll columns but really it's a chance for you to visit with us hike with us or eavesdrop on some of our conversations and many of the Juniors and seniors this quarter have never been out here it's a little more than an hour's drive from Ellensburg and so the purpose of this class is just to get these kids out to these places let them experience it for the first time and what better way to teach geology than being out here together hiking and feeling comfortable enough to brainstorm and to bounce ideas back and forth as we continue to read foreign we're taking selfies all right Lynn how's it going we can hear you so how's it going good deciding I'm not going to climb up that I understand I understand so what are your impressions this is the first time you've seen these columns how do these look different oh you weren't with us last week were you I was not but I have been to Frenchmen before okay good so do these columns seem different to you than Frenchman Cooley let's go a little closer as we talk well there's certainly not as chalk covered from the climbers oh right yeah there's no climbing here at all which is really nice this is a wildlife refuge and I think it's strictly enforced that's good I would say someone holding these for just a bit yes go ahead yes please I'd say they're more evenly segmented and more straights than that Frenchman yeah I think that's true and I think the color is a little bit different but I might not be remembering correctly so what do you guys think about those segments like Can You observe them first like um Gabe you want to eyeball the spacing between the horizontal lines within one column what do we think what are we talking there two foot yeah and you can maybe see them better from where we are but like it's so damn uniform any wild thoughts about why these things are we know they're cooling fractures but how does it make sense for you why are they why are they breaking into such perfect cracks and there's no pressure because nobody knows the answer by the way anybody maybe okay we were talking about last time where was it hot are we at the let me help you this is the base of the flow how do we know if we're at the top of the flow last time do you remember we knew we were at the top of a flow because of vesicles correct so there's no vesicles at the good job Siri not even the freaking class you got the answer nice so there's no vesicles at the top of these as we'll see so these things are forming from the bottom up so Gabe your temperature gradient it's hotter up high it's colder at the base these cracks are working in their way up but this horizontal striae business I mean it's crazy looking over by Davey that thing's so perfect so I don't have an answer for you Lynn maybe does Lynn I wonder if it was thin layers of the salt that flowed over and before they could cool too much more float over giving the um fractured look huh Let's Walk This Way and just chat a little bit more you're doing great you're a natural in front of the camera I'd say thank you so do you hike much or is this kind of a new experience for you to be out here in a place like this without trails and everything it's certainly a newer experience I did not hike at all before I came to Washington okay and uh is hiking what partly got you into geology or why did you end up studying geology and coming to our school um after I moved to Washington I decided I wanted to go back to school and ever since I was a kid I had always loved geology no more so of the rock and mineral rather than like geomorphology and Landscapes yeah yeah but I'm getting an appreciation for all of it nice I'm glad you're out here today oh yeah look we got some of our guys already up on top nice nice I'm surprised skatepaw hasn't gone up yet yeah he's well behaved I've already pre-scholded him to not be a crazy guy out here that's a nice shot hi Jasmine hello nice and easy nothing formal like you had some really good questions after class and also at Frenchman last week do you remember what you were asking me for a clarification I had that portable board yeah when we kind of got done at the at the Ice Age waterfall lip what were we talking about um I was just asking how if both of the coolies had water in at the same time yeah it's Frenchman Cooley right how it could get into the Columbia kind of if it's like converging I felt like that would be a lot of water to go in to Columbia at once yes and I was just wondering how the heck that could happen if there would be like a backup more somewhere yeah right right I thought that was a really good thought process especially because you didn't have a good scope of the size of Quincy Basin where the water was coming from and you know we really hadn't studied the Brett's thing yet really you know so yeah uh do you view it differently now after another week of like thinking about this and reading the Brett stuff are you starting to see that we need a lot more water even than what we had in those two little yeah enclaved yeah there's definitely a lot more water and I guess it just the water was filling up in the Quincy Basin yeah yeah and that's how it was able to fit in in a good manner I guess and you recall that the the elevation of that Spillway at the head of Frenchmen that little divide Brett keeps saying that's the same exact elevation is what the head of potholes Cooley and there's even some elevations over here at Drumheller that all match so yeah he was building this case that you just you can't have these kind of casual glacial Rivers doing their own thing at different times it needs to be this this uh group effort basically I was also wondering yeah since there's the columns here but we can see it because the flood water came through yeah over there in the Rolling Hills would it be would there be columns under that too but we just can't see it or how does that work across the way with the mature landscape yeah yes uh the answer is yes we have we're going to say up on top this is the Elephant Mountain lava flow and we have exposures of this flow at sporadic places throughout Central Washington and all you need to do is is connect the dots between those places so they're clearly gone here that's our question for the top of the Mesa they're over there but we're going to discuss together why we can't see them and then yes they're underneath the mantle of loose under that mature landscape so yeah that's another reason why these places are so special because we got to get rid of the overburden we gotta you know pluck out what do you think like thousands of these columns that have to be in this Basin that aren't here anymore yeah that's just crazy to think about like this doesn't even wrap my head around that well yeah you can you can be out here a lot and try to think about the just in this one little spot with the Meadowlark singing and everything like how many columns have to be taken out of here and are we really taking them all out in one event I mean geez I spent a lot of water I can't even imagine how much water I was trying to think that like when we were crossing the Columbia today like I don't know I just can't think like how could there be that much water wait a minute you were thinking about geology on the way out here yes I got I gotta I gotta go to the grade book and bump you up a little bit yeah also it was a song we came over the hill over here and looked over here I was like yeah I can see definitely where the water went now it is pretty dramatic that that changed so we were trying to emphasize that in class that this razor sharp boundary between this old landscape and the new landscape is is an Abrupt thing and by God you saw it dropping in here good you're thoroughly Wide Awake bonus points do you think can I just say if I think maybe this why we can't see it is like the soil and stuff that was brought in like deposited there maybe is that what it maybe potentially let's let's let's save it and see what other people have to think but I uh I'll give you a hint I think we need to think about when we get up high can we reconstruct what direction the water was flowing okay and therefore and we can see uh yeah [Music] so these are the columns too and we just can't see them these are the tops every one of these is uh we'll see how many people kind of make that connection but yeah we're looking at the most perfect I mean everyone is not exactly a hexagon or a pentagon or an octagon but they're about as regular as we get in nature I would say all right where'd you climb up something all right you guys I appreciate your patience I got one quick story for you it involves a question of you and then I'm going to Turn You Loose we're looking North across the biggest cut right through the middle of this plexus or this series of intricate mazes or Labyrinth of canyons in the Drumheller channels question for you what river used to flow right in front of us a through going River coming right through the heart of Drumheller channels I'm ready don't be shy what river name of a river that we know Columbia River that is the correct answer harder question why do we think the Columbia River for a Time flowed through here what do you know about Ice Age geography and geology to this point in the class and Chandler we need the simple map that you're going to be a Demi holding up for everybody who's speaking by the way who said Colombia Cato thank you uh we might have to have Chandler not fall but stand right here please and we're gonna look at Chandler's map please huddle in there please huddle in there in front of the camera and Chandler's map is showing the maximum extent of the ice sheet from Canada that's how big that ice sheet was able to get and somebody approached the map and point where we are right now please thank you Gabe thank you so that's where we are and there so when that ice sheet was there you can see the words Okanagan Loeb that's the time that we think the Columbia River was coming through here why where does the column okay somebody else where does the Columbia River flow today on that map can you trace it with your finger please don't be don't be shy I know I'm filming and everything but Gabe yep Colombia today Colombia today oh where does it go right slow down today Columbia River it goes down or no it's there right there we go who knows Chelan who can find Chelan on the map please thank you thank you that's Lake Chelan how about the little town of Chelan which is at the foot of the lake somebody else harder okay how about Wenatchee what river is that Wenatchee today Columbia thank you thank you uh Catherine Columbia River today how do we get it from what is now um I'm making this too hard here's my point when that ice sheet was in place we had the Columbia River come through the Grand Coulee come over Dry Falls and come to here and if you visualize that it makes perfect sense I'm coming in with a finger the Columbia River today does this because that ice sheet isn't there but the Columbia River whenever this time was the Columbia River was pushed South through the Grand coulia through going River into the Quincy Basin through Moses Lake through where we are right now and then the Columbia River flowed right along the base of that saddle mountains that we were just talking about isn't that a cool thought that we had a through going major river coming through here there's occasional Little River deposits down there in the hole that tell us that but otherwise it's just a temporary scene to divert that Columbia River when we finally get rid of the ice dam and I'm not talking about the famous ICE stand but I'm talking about this ice dam so we have two ice dams in our story the ice dam in northern Idaho which made Glacier Lake Missoula and this ice dam which is diverting the Colombians sending a bunch of flood water through this country we're going to get a sense of that with Jerome in the next couple of weeks excuse me two questions or thoughts feeding off of that and then we're done with our group discussion here we go hmm there any physical evidence of the Columbia running through here thank you there are some quartzite cobbles the question is is there any physical evidence of the Columbia River coming through this place uh it depends on who you talk to Cato and sometimes they go no no that's all Ice Age flood deposit stuff I don't know what you're talking about but the concept of a of a kind of a swollen Columbia River coming over Dry Falls in between major floods it's kind of an intoxicating thought if I like your question it's almost kind of skeptical in nature like are we sure like can we find any true evidence of the Columbia here depending on who you talk to not so much right over Chandler's shoulder from where I am standing right now is the highest Mesa on the horizon do you see it the highest level that's where I dropped my hammer and it went into that crack and I swore that hammer was down there for almost a decade until a couple of years ago and somebody went out there with a really powerful magnet and got it out and brought it to the house and so before I turn the camera off you have options we're meeting at the vans in two hours at 5 30. one option is to just gradually go with whoever you want and work your way down this gradual slope you can eventually get down to the valley floor where the old Columbia River was flowing it may be wet down there we've had a lot of rain I'm not sure how much of a water of course you're going to have to deal with but if you essentially just want to gradually make your way down across the valley floor and then work your way back up to that highest Plateau on the other side that's the sexiest spot out here and it's worth your time and effort and I think two hours is doable if you're feeling perky if you're not quite that perky and that seems like too much for you another option is probably well you got two options if you want to do it like a more moderate version you can work your way down like everybody else get yours and by the way it looks easy to just walk down there but you'll realize this is this is a whole staircase kind of a thing you can get clipped out pretty easily so it's kind of your trial and error if you're trying to get down to a lower elevation but you could get down to the valley floor again maybe like everybody else and then follow the valley floor down in this tan kind of Brushy area there is a bridge down by the true parking lot where you can cross the water course and then you could just work your way towards these guys these beautiful mesas which are not quite as high as the far one but still plenty of cool stuff to look at and you get a good sense of Drumheller channels from that I think the third option the least uh the most conservative option is to go back the way we came back to the rigs follow the road down to the parking lot in the little bridge and then I think you still could work your way over to that first set of little guys up in the sky okay those are the options I want you to enjoy yourself think about geology and think about life as you're out there enjoying things have a good time thank you goodbye 5 30. you know when to get back 5 30. keep an eye on the watch Lynn yeah we're good yes ma'am we can hear you I was um the water from the rivers flowed through here like in this general direction uh if we're talking about are you talking about the Columbia River or the Ice Age flood water the Ice Age flood okay yep generally kind of uh from north to south kind of sweeping right over this whole scene Ridge here here and looks different from everything else is there a reason for that you're noticing a little escarpment right in front of us here yes yeah um all of these Ledges have beautiful columns and so the water was cutting a little more easily and taking columns away on our left side versus our right side can I explain that no although keep in mind that if you come around the corner it's kind of nice and open so we can maintain some Villa maybe it's a simple I'm just thinking out loud maybe it's as simple as maintaining some velocity this way around the corner so we have enough energy to pluck but here the water is kind of choked up a little bit where most everybody is and it can't quite in fact we've got the same Plastering business here where we can't see the colony that what they what these guys just took down that was a nice gradual descent because we've we've plastered that again it's the North Face that's plastered just like the North Face behind us was plastered with sediment that's an interesting thought I hadn't thought about that before does that work for you yeah thank you sure okay Davey thoughts boom so when the ice age was like you know in that Okanogan logo was down there blocking the Columbia River yeah would that mean that it goes intermediately from the original path that we have now to this like in between ice ages and then that's why I don't know just thinking I see what you're saying and it's an important question and suddenly we're thinking about is this all Montana water or not if it's all Montana water which is the conventional story then yes your thought is accurate that we're gradually enlarging the Okanagan lobe so we're gradually Shifting the Columbia further and further east essentially I think that's what you're thinking right and then the ice sheet either gradually backs up or it busts up catastrophically but it's like this this this moving the Columbia in fits and starts but you know what's coming the next couple weeks this Canadian guy is going to be with us and he says why can't we have a bunch of water coming up from right underneath the ice sheet so suddenly we're not changing the Columbia much at all that ice sheet is in place and that okay interesting thought is that Colombia's River stories through here even we're thinking about if we're if we're listening to Jerome that's a question for him I guess huh I mean I just like the idea of a big river coming through here but um not interesting let's think about that well what if the water was still coming down this pathway with melt water coming off of the glaciers so you almost have kind of like a Duo River uh-huh yeah you still have water coming out from under under the icebergs right and coming through here but also still going out and around [Music] out and around you mean the present course of the Columbia yeah and how we doing that if are you saying the ice sheet is gone now like it's melting and you're getting water from underneath so it's going oh oh I see I see I don't know I'll have to think about that that's good freshman a student future looks bright foreign well here's what I'm after water coming down the Grand Coulee everybody agrees on that whether it's a Missoula water source or a Canadian water source we dump a hell of a lot of water into the Quincy basin there is a decreasing sediment size as we go deeper and further to the South into the basin we fill this Quincy Basin quickly like a kiddie pool there's low notches on the western edge of the kiddie pool so we have waterfalls simultaneously pouring down into the Columbia River at both potholes Cooley and Frenchman but bretts is pointing out that this Drumheller channels area on the south end of the Quincy basin if we magnify that this is the pattern that's impressive a pre-ice age landscape that's thick soft sediment with very wrinkly well-behaved dendritic stream patterns going away from a pre-ice age divide pre-iceage divide streams working their way on both sides but that divide is breached it's blown out by this massive flood or floods and in profile inside view here's the here's the class the geology 351 class some of us are still up high some of us are down low et cetera and this business about abruptly truncating this dendritic pattern an abruptly truncating in profile it's this 100 200 foot thick section of lus and Ringgold formation Ellensburg formation this is gone and we expose this incredible channeled scabland in many places in the Pacific Northwest but this is only our second field trip this quarter but these guys are getting a heavy dose of a rather dramatic landscape and we're not doing it by video we're not doing it by textbook we're not doing by graining black and white photos these guys are covering this ground on foot and you too can cover this ground on foot and be out with the professor if you enroll in geology at Central Washington University [Music] thank you I love you and goodbye from Drumheller channels in central Washington USA

Channel: Nick Zentner

Views: 20,128

Keywords: Nick Zentner, GEOL 351, Drumheller Channels

Id: oldTqIsMrgo

Length: 31min 21sec (1881 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 18 2023