Calcrete overprints a regional unconformity of Pliocene-Pleistocene age in south-central Washington. The unconformity truncates lacustrine sediments of the uppermost Ringold Formation (8.0 to 3.4 Ma) and is overlain by glacial outburst flood deposits (<2 Ma). The aridity necessary for calcrete formation post-dates drainage of the last Pliocene lake system from Pasco Basin and pre-dates Ice Age cooling. The calcretes suggest a strong rain shadow first formed in Eastern Washington around 4-5 Ma coincident with the topographic rise of the Cascade Mountains. Ten new stratigraphic sections from the eastern Pasco Basin describe a set of stacked, stage III-V calcretes and the lacustrine, eolian, ou
Courtney took all of these photos. Wickaninnish. Our marina. The other guys' marina. Tofino's surf-saturated culture gently spills over into friendly Ucluelet. Dinosaur coffee is lucky coffee. A, Double-A, and Dr. Bob ready to haul slabs on discount rack Coyotes off Wya and Swale. Wait...what? Their team beat our team in both touch football and no-net sand volleyball. Goats on the roof and hippies in isle 7. Courtney's Guide Service is the best in Ukee. "Fifty-four and one-eleven" Hil makes the cover of Bass Fisherman Monthly. Swale Rock Light. We haul another hog-slab over the rail outside the Brokens. Diving bird took a lure to the forehead, but was OK. One out of three ain't bad. #DoctorS
Stratigraphy of the Miocene-Pliocene age Ringold Formation of Eastern Washington has recently drawn my attention. In reviewing the literature, I am struck by two things. One, soft sediment deformation is all but absent in stratigraphic columns. Two, the artistic creativity shown by geologists who have depicted the unit in their reports. It reminds me of reconnaissance-age reports on Rocky Mountain strata of Wyoming. I spent many hours during my graduate school years leafing through old books and maps at the well-stocked Geology Library at the University of Wyoming. Modern reports on the Ringold resemble reports on the Wyoming foreland circa 1955. Work towards understanding of the Ringold, es
"Considerable work awaits sedimentologists on and adjacent to the Columbia Plateau before we will be cognizant of all aspects of the tectonic, volcanic, and climatic influences on regional sedimentation during the Neogene." - Gary Smith and others (1989) Where is the Neogene record of seismic shaking in eastern Washington? The Yakima Fold Belt (YFB) in central Washington is a set of west trending, fault-cored folds located in the back-arc of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The have been rising for at least the past 10 million years. The largest folds in the in the ~14,000 km2 province (i.e., Saddle Mountains anticline) have accommodated >1 km of shortening over this time (Staisch et al., 2017)
