Channeled Scabland of Washington: New Data and Interpretations

Research Article| August 01, 1956 CHANNELED SCABLAND OF WASHINGTON: NEW DATA AND INTERPRETATIONS J HARLEN BRETZ; J HARLEN BRETZ UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; CHICAGO 37, ILLINOIS; UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST, MASS.; U. S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, EPHRATA, WASHINGTON Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar H. T. U SMITH; H. T. U SMITH UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; CHICAGO 37, ILLINOIS; UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST, MASS.; U. S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, EPHRATA, WASHINGTON Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GEORGE E NEFF GEORGE E NEFF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; CHICAGO 37, ILLINOIS; UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST, MASS.; U. S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, EPHRATA, WASHINGTON Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information J HARLEN BRETZ UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; CHICAGO 37, ILLINOIS; UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST, MASS.; U. S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, EPHRATA, WASHINGTON H. T. U SMITH UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; CHICAGO 37, ILLINOIS; UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST, MASS.; U. S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, EPHRATA, WASHINGTON GEORGE E NEFF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; CHICAGO 37, ILLINOIS; UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST, MASS.; U. S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, EPHRATA, WASHINGTON Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 24 Mar 1954 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright 1956, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1956) 67 (8): 957–1049. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1956)67957:CSOWND2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 24 Mar 1954 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation J HARLEN BRETZ, H. T. U SMITH, GEORGE E NEFF; CHANNELED SCABLAND OF WASHINGTON: NEW DATA AND INTERPRETATIONS. GSA Bulletin 1956;; 67 (8): 957–1049. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1956)67957:CSOWND2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The existence of four different interpretations of that extraordinary assemblage of erosional and depositional land forms of eastern Washington, the Channeled Scabland, indicates that rigorously definitive diagnostic characters had not been found. This study, dealing with new data, largely from extensive excavations and detailed topographic maps made by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation in developing the great Columbia Basin Irrigation Project, returns to the earliest of the four interpretations: that channeled scabland is almost wholly the consequence of catastrophic flooding of glacial water across this part of the Columbia Plateau which remade preglacial valleys into an anastomosing complex of great river channels with huge cataracts, deep rock basins, and bars attaining magnitudes unknown elsewhere on earth.The new evidence is held to establish firmly the following points: (1) Some structural basins of the region did not have exterior drainage prior to arrival of glacial water.(2) The gravel hills called bars by Bretz (1928a) have the shapes, surface markings, structures, and topographic situations possible only for subfluvial constructional deposits. In magnitudes and bouldery composition, they are sui generis.(3) Several episodes of catastrophic discharge have occurred across this part of the Columbia Plateau.(4) The Columbia Valley skirting the plateau has had comparable floods in which the scabland complex did not share.(5) Successive floods have been differentiated only by topographic relations of their records, not by differential weathering and erosion.(6) Bretz did not overestimate the magnitude of the erosion by glacial waters.(7) The existing scabland features contradict the three later interpretations. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.