Introduction and Background PaperIntroductionMy project area is Palouse Falls, which is located specifically in La Crosse, WA. I chose this location because I have heard numerous times of how amazing the falls are and I felt this would be a great opportunity to finally see the 198 feet high falls. Palouse Falls interestingly enough doesn't reside in Palouse County; its closest recognizable city is La Crosse or the smaller town of Washtucna, which are in Franklin County. The towns run right along Highway 26. However even when in these towns you still face a little drive either down Ward street Or get onto 261 to get to Palouse falls state park. ("http://wwwfs.org/")Geologic Setting, Historical, and Geological significanceMore than 12,000 years ago the largest and most power ...view middle of the document...
("Waymarking"). Eventually, water got into the ice dam, which broke down the dam from the inside. The water exploded out of the lake, swept across northern Idaho into eastern Washington, then rushed southwest across the Columbia Plateau, and split at a bluff--part of the flood traveled east but the main thrust traveled down the Columbia River. The floodwaters, moved up to 60 miles per hour, which in turn caused the soil to be stripped away and helped to create created the 198 feet high Palouse Falls. This giant event is known today as the Missoula ice age flood. The glacial lake truly was an inland sea due to its immense size. (Alt)Rock Types and Rock AgesThe main type of rock at Palouse falls is going to be basalt. Basalt is an igneous extrusive rock it is also the most abundant bedrock in the world so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise. Basalt is produced when a mantle plume or hotspot delivers enormous amounts of basaltic lava through the continental crust and up to Earth's surface. These eruptions can be from either vents or fissures. They have produced the largest basalt flows on the continents. The eruptions can occur repeatedly over millions of years producing layer after layer of basalt stacked in a vertical sequence. The Columbia River Flood Basalts in Washington, Oregon and Idaho are an example of extensive flood basalts on land. (Reidel)Works cited"Palouse Falls & the Missoula Ice Age Flood." Waymarking. N.p., 2011. Web. 1 Mar 2011. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM14GE_Palouse_Falls_the_Missoula_Ice_Age_Flood"Trips." http://wwwfs.org/. N.p., September 2010. Web. 1 Mar 2011. <http://wwwfs.org/2006/LowerSalmon_Aug06/>.Alt, David. Glacial Lake Missoula: and its humongous floods. Missoula MT: Mountain Press Pub, 2001. Print.Reidel, Stephen. Big black boring rock : essays on Northwest geology. Columbus OH: Battelle Press, 2006. Print.
