Dry Falls
| Dry Falls | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Grant County, Washington, United States |
| Type | Block |
| Elevation | 1510 feet (460 m) |
| Total height | 400 feet (121 m) |
| Total width | 3.5 miles (5.63 km) |
| Average flow rate | None |
Dry Falls is a 3.5-mile-long (5.6 km) scalloped precipice with four major alcoves, in central
Nearly twenty thousand years ago, as
Eventually, water in Lake Missoula rose high enough to float the ice dam until it gave way, and a portion of this cataclysmic flood spilled into Glacial Lake Columbia, and then down the Grand Coulee. It is generally accepted that this process of ice-damming of the Clark Fork, refilling of Lake Missoula and subsequent cataclysmic flooding happened dozens of times over the years of the last Ice Age.[2][4]
This sudden flood put parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon under hundreds of feet of water in just a few days. These extraordinary floods greatly enlarged the Grand Coulee and Dry Falls in a short period. The large plunge pools at the base of Dry Falls were created by these floods.
Once the ice sheet that obstructed the Columbia melted, the river returned to its normal course, leaving the Grand Coulee and the falls dry. Today, this massive cliff can be viewed from the Dry Falls Interpretive Center, part of Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, and located on Route 17 near the town of Coulee City. Admission is free, although a Discover Pass is required for parking.
Today the upper Grand Coulee is filled by Banks Lake, dammed by the Dry Falls Dam.
See also
References
- ISBN 9789048130542.
- ^ ISBN 0-87842-415-6.
- ^ The channeled scablands of eastern Washington : the geologic story of the Spokane flood (PDF). USGS. 1973. p. 12. INF-72-2.
- ISBN 978-1-879628-27-4.
- Allen, John Eliot; Burns, Majorie; Sargent, Sam C. (1986). Cataclysms on the Columbia. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-215-3.
External links
- National Park Service online book about ice age floods and the Dry Falls
- Dry Falls Floodscape on YouTube
| Ice Age Glacial Floods |
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| Glacial Lakes | ||
| Temporary Lakes | ||
| Ice Age Floods Glacial Residue | ||
| Ice Age Floods Erosion & Deposition Features | ||
| Related contemporaneous events |
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