Brian Atwater always makes you feel like a million bucks. He invited me to join a group of geologists meeting in the Upper Grand Coulee in July 2021 to plan an October field trip for the Geological Society of America. The group made several discoveries related to various aspects of megaflooding and the former glacial margin over the course of several enjoyable days. In this video, I describe curved shear planes exposed in shoreline bluffs of Banks Lake south of Steamboat Rock

Stokrose Gravel is a large, active pit and gravel stockpile located in Lind Coulee 7 miles east of Warden, WA off Lind-Warden Road (Road 8 SE) near intersection with Johnson Rd. Mining occurs entirely in flood gravels. The pit is owned by the Clausen family (stokrose.com). I obtained written permission from Aaron Golladay to visit the pit with Northwest Geological Society. Thank you, Aaron. An excellent exposure of west-dipping foresets in Missoula flood boulder gravels along

Geology Field Guide to the Rain Shadow Calcretes near Othello, WA Northwest Geological Society September 17-19, 2021 Skye W. Cooley
, Trip Leader skyecooley @ gmail.com Mission Valley, MT Abstract This field guide explores calcretes formed in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range near Othello, WA. The pedogenic calcretes are relict CaCO3-rich hardpan subsoils that developed in a semi-arid climate and a geomorphically-stable landscape during the Pleistocene between ~1.8 Ma and

Directions - From Othello, drive north on Hwy 17 and turn R (east) on Hwy 170/Rd 8 SE at the '76 gas station toward Warden. Follow for 0.5 miles, turn L (north) onto Rd S SE and follow for ~6 miles, passing by the Bassett Junction trestle at a sweeping curve. Rd S SE becomes Rd 3 SE at junction. Feedlots owned by El Oro Cattle Feeders on right. Continue for another 1.3 miles, crossing the canal bridge. Turn L (southwest) onto Rd 3 SE. In a hundred meters, pull off on the wide

Time did not allow our NWGS group to visit the Red Tank area in September 2021. The Saddle Mountains crest is an incredibly photogenic place. The landscape is dramatic, the shoulder season light incredible, and the geology first rate. I wonder why, after whole careers have been spent out here, there isn't a coffee table book highlighting its beauty and geology. Talking to you, Mr. Reidel. One portion of Smyrna Bench near the Red Tank (exploration well BN 1-9) Red Tank area ma

Directions - From Othello, drive Hwy 26 west to the White Bluffs Area gate. Do not turn. Instead, continue west on the highway 2.8 miles farther. Turn R (north) onto the gravel road (Corfu Rd) and locate the sign "Saddle Mountains Overlook 5 miles". Drive north up the south flank of Saddle Mountains. At 4.9 miles cross the canal, after which potholes and washboard increase. At 7.1 miles reach the saddle crest and 4-way intersection (565m elevation). Turn R (east) at the sign

Directions - Offramp stop is located just east of the Hwy 26-Hwy 17 interchange SE of Othello. There are two ways to access it depending on how many vehicles you have. If your group is small, drive south from Othello on Hwy 17 and exit via the offramp to Hwy 26 toward Pullman. Before the overpass, pull into a gravel lot on left (north side). Walk beneath the overpass and along a fence and dusty two-track between the northbound offramp road and the hay storage area. Walk a few

Directions - From the Cunningham Rd-Hwy 17 intersection at Othello, drive 4.5 miles north on Hwy 17. Turn L (west) onto Herman Rd if traffic is light. There is no left turn lane here. The safer choice for a string of vehicles is to turn R onto Herman Rd and make a U-turn in the Yancey Pallet parking lot, then cross Hwy 17 orthogonally. Drive a mile west on Herman Rd and park in small pullouts on both sides of road right next to RR tracks (6 vehicles) or proceed to the bottom

Directions - From the Cunningham Rd-Hwy 17 intersection at Othello, drive south 10.4 miles toward Scooteney Reservoir. Turn L (east) onto Coyan Rd. Continue past a house with large green barn, through an uphill bend, and past the roadcut to the top of the hill. Park along shoulder or in the private farm pullout. Get permission from the farmer at the house with green barn. Alternatively, park vehicles along highway at a wide pullout and walk to the roadcut. Roadcut is located

Park vehicles carefully along the roadside or in nearby WDFW lots. Touchet Beds unconformably overlie a calcrete at Liesle Road. At least one early scabland flood (pre-Wisconsin?) moving overland in a broad, shallow sheet, scoured the surface free of loess down to the armoring calcrete. Some loess then re-accumulated. Later floods (Late Wisconsin), following different, probably deeply-incised scabland routes to the west deposited only slackwater silts and sands (backflood rhy