PACIFIC NORTH-WEST

PACIFIC NORTH-WEST IS–  States– 3    Countries– 2

GEOGRAPHY– COUNTRIES-United States(North-West), Canada(West)

  • STATES-Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia

TOPOGRAPHY– FEATURES- “Flat/ Rolling/ Hilly/ Mountainous/ Terraced/ Valley/ Plateau/ Basin”

TOPOGRAPHIC EVENTS- Pacific North West

  • PLATE TECTONICS- Pacific Plate(Juan de Fuca Plate) is Sub-Ducting Under the Continental Plate and the North American Plate.  This Movement is Shearing Off and Leaving Portions of Both Exposed On the Surface of Vineyards.  At the Same time the Juan de Fuca Plate and Gorda Plate is Smashed Between the Two Plates and Being Pushed Downward. This Entire Area Off the Coast of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon is Called the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
  • VOLCANISM- About 15 Million Years Ago, Molten Lava Poured From Cracks In the Earth Surface Near the Borders of Present Day Washington and Oregon. Layers of Lava Spread Out Covering 65,000 Square Miles With Lava, Andesite and Basalt Up to 2 Miles Thick. These Volcanic Provided the Bedrock to the Majority of the Columbia Valley.
  • WATER & FLOODS- The Missoula Floods- The Largest Documented Catastrophic Floods In Earths History, and One of the Biggest Geologic Events Ever On the Face of the Earth.   This Series of Floods Intervals (About 40+ Over a Period of 3,000 Years.) Swept Across the Greater Columbia River Valley at the End of the Last Ice Age 13,000 to 16,000 Years Ago.  A Advancing Glacier Dammed the Clark-Fork River Creating Glacial Lake Missoula In Idaho and Montana.  In Time the Ice Dam Which Was 50km. Wide & 600mt. Tall Violently Broke and Water Hundreds of Feet High Rushed Down In to Columbia River Valley. This Water Form Massive Waves, Lifting Giant Boulders, Carved Steep Cliffs and Leaving Rolling Ripples 25 Feet High, Gravel Sand Bars 100 Feet Tall and Shaped Columbia River Gorge.  This Mountain of Water Made Its Way to the Wahluke Gap Where it Backed Up Creating Lake Lewis, a Temporary Lake Encompassing the Entire Columbia River Valley Where it Settled For a Month Before Eventually Moving Through the Gap and Onto the Pacific Ocean.  The Alluvial Soils Deposits Precipitation From the Flood Water Laying the Foundation For the Diverse, Deep, Rock, Soils, and Sediment Deposits to the Columbia River Valley and the Pacific North-West.  These Floods Did Both Erode and Laid Sediment Deposits Where Ever it Went.  This Huge But Temporary Lake Eventually Drained and Left Behind Monumental Quantities of Silt. Prevailing Winds From the South-West Blew In the Silt and Dust to Where it Settled Out In the Hills of Loess Throughout the Columbia Valley. This Same Flood Episode Repeated Itself Every 30 to 70 Years Over 7 Thousand Years In the Late Pleistocene Are.
    • Glacial Moraine- Ridges or Glacially Formed Deposited Sand and Gravel Which Form Around Advancing Glaciers.
    • Channeled Scablands- Flat-Lying Basalt Flows That Remain After Missoula Floods In Eastern Washington.
    • PIONEERS~ ~J. Harlen Bretz~ 1900’s, Geologist Who Help Solves the Mystery of Missoula Floods.
      • ~Joseph T. Pardee~ 1900’s, Geologist Who Help Solves the Mystery of Missoula Floods.
  • WIND EROSION- Wind Erodes, Picks Up, and Moves to Creates Loess Soils.
    • Eolian- Pertaining to Sand and Rock Material Carried or Arranged by Wind.
  • SILETZIA FORMATION- Massive Formation of Eocene Epoch, Marine and Basalt Sediments Were Interbedded In the Cascadia Subduction Zone and Formed the Bedrock of Washington and Oregon.
  • CASCADE MOUNTAIN RANGE- Consists of 13 Volcanos That Runs From the Canadian Border to Northern California.
  • CORDILLERAN ICE SHEET- Major Ice Sheet That Periodically Covered Large Portion of the Pacific North-West. The Ice Sheet Stripped Away Soils From One Area and Repeatedly Transferred Them to Other Areas Hundreds of Miles Away.

SOILS– “Metamorphic”, “Volcanic”, “Sedimentary”

  • Aridisols- Soils Formed In Arid Conditions With Little Organic Matter Break- Down of Flood Water Propelled Icebergs Filled With Boulders.
  • Order Soils Accumulated Over Time-
    • Basalt (Earth Driven), Volcanic (Fire Driven)
    • Glacial Sediment (Water Driven), Loess (Wind Driven)
    • “Earths Forces”

CLIMATE– Pacific Current AKA= Pacific Ocean Current Moves Southward Along the Western Coast of North America Bringing Cold/ Moisture.

“The Pacific Northwest: Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Canada’s British Columbia With Its Unique Geography, Topography, Geology, Climate and Terroir Formed by the Result of Tectonics, Volcanic, Flood Episodes and Constant Wind the Pacific Northwest is One of the Most Distinct Soil Profile Anywhere.”

  • SUB-CHAPTERS Of PACIFIC NORTH-WEST
    • Washington
    • Oregon
    • Idaho
  • **Refer to These Proceeding Sub-Chapters For Detailed Information.

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ Sources” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced.