Chris, I hope you read this, since I am typing it a couple of days late. The Palouse hills were formed not by the waters of Lake Missoula, but rather of dust and sand that probably was part volcanic ash and part glacial till dust. The hills are, or were, actually more or less sand dunes that formed when this area was a whole lot dryer than it is now.
There was a lot more area covered by similar dust/sand hills than there is now, but when the ice dam(s) that held the water back in Glacial Lake Missoula broke loose, it released hundreds of cubic miles of flood water very quickly. Since the current Columbia River gorge was also blocked by glaciers, the flood water could not follow that path to the ocean. So the floods followed the paths of least resistance, and formed new channels. Probably the most impressive channel formed the Dry Falls, but there were also several other channels, including one that went nearly straight South from what is now Spokane, and another that went through the Connell area. The huge amounts of flood waters eroded away much of the soil in the channels, leaving rocky, almost canyonlike areas. These channels often have Palouse hills on either sides of them.
I live on property in Spokane County that obviously encountered a large amount of erosion, as it is very rocky. Yet only a half mile away, there is rich farmland with very deep soil and no rocks at all. As a child, I always wondered why our property would be so very rocky, yet only a little distance away, they were not rocky. Obviously, our property is in one of the "channels.
The areas of Eastern Washington that were washed by the various Lake Missoula Floods are called the "channeled scablands". From the air, it is very obvious that a WHOLE LOT of water carved the channels. But it took a bunch of thinking by the scientists to determine what must have happened to have caused that much destruction. The mystery was: where could that much water have come from?
Lots of the soil that was washed off of Eastern Washington was deposited in the Columbia Basin, and it is believed that the wonderful soil in the Willamette Valley in Oregon also was washed down the Columbia River and deposited when the floods backed up the Willamette River.
As you might have guessed, this topic is something that fascinates me, and I have studied everything I could find on it. I am quite sure that the floods did not create the Palouse Hills, but rather the floods reshaped some of the Palouse Hills and removed others, leaving the patterns of rocky areas seen today.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - The Day Mom Drove the 8N - by Brian Browning. My Dad was wanting to put in a garden but couldn't operate the 8N and handle the old horse drawn plow he had found and rigged up to use with the tractor. Well, he decided to go get Mom out of the house and have her drive the tractor while he walked behind the plow. You got to understand that while my Mom is a hard worker who will always help whenever she can... she had never operated farm machinery before that day. Dad got her out there, explained how the clutch was the same as in our o
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
Oliver 550 Diesel runs like a watch three point hitch pto engine gone threw about two hundred hours ago nice clean tractor
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
