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N 47' 36.423" |
Latitude |
W 119' 21.856" |
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Inscription These cliffs are skeletal remnants of what was once the world's largest waterfall. They bear stark witness to the tremendous power of catastrophic floods that swept over eastern Washington at the end of the last ice age. The falls began 20 mi. to the south, but receded upstream through powerful erosive action. The retreat of the falls gave birth to the canyon below. The lower grand coulee, with the enormous force of the floodwaters spewing several cubic miles of rock over vast areas downstream. Today Dry Falls remains as one of the most spectacular geologic wonders of the age of ice.
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Dry Falls Marker; Jordan Leskinen photo |
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State Highway 17 Milepost 94 Latitude Longitude Dry falls used to be a beautiful place twenty thousand years ago. It had rolling grasslands and not a tumbleweed or sagebrush in sight. Then the ice age glaciers melted into Lake Missoula. The only thing that was holding massive gallons of water that created dry falls was an ice dam. The ice dam didn't hold for very long. The water rushed across Idaho and Washington. As it drew closer and closer it created a plunge pool in the middle of Dry falls. J. Harlen Bretz was the first person to recognize this. |
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Dry Falls at the Interpretive Center; photo by Jordan Leskinen |
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References: Amara, Mark S.& Neff, George. E. Geologic Road Trips, Adam East Museum And Art, Center Moses Lake, Washington, 1996
Grand Coulee Dam Area Visitor's Guide 2001-2002: The Home of Hydropower", A Supplement to The Star Newspaper
Weis, Paul and Newman, William L. .The Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington. Eastern Washington University Press,1999 |
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For more information--
Call Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-268-5332 |
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Dry Falls at the Interpretive Center; photo by Jordan Leskinen |
Photo of Ice Age diagram in Interpretive Center |
We read the signs at the Interpretive Center. |
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We read the signs at the Interpretive Center. |
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Other Information: |
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DRY FALLS Links http://students.washington.edu/dfinlays/classes/geology201/floodpres/img8.htm Read what other students have learned. http://www.geo.wvu.edu/~kite/t299/sld005.htm http://www.geo.wvu.edu/~kite/t299/index.htm another slide show; looks unfinished http://www.nsd.wednet.edu/sre98/Dryfalls.html "Dry Falls and Plunge Pool Erosion by John W. Pakootas & Stephanie Stead
http://washingtonlakes.com/TopoMaps/DryFallsTopoGrant.htm topographic map
http://www.waspacegrant.org/dryfalls.html "The Dry Falls Story
Public issues at Dry Falls -- http://www.parks.wa.gov/public.asp link
http://www.geoscapesphotography.com/wa-dryfalls.htm " ID 2190 Accumulation of large basaltic boulders downstream of plunge pools at Dry Falls State Park...."
http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/mars-trip-9.html small glossary " Go Sheer Drops, Sculpted Islands and Cliff Caves...
http://www.ohwy.com/wa/d/dryfalls.htm " Dry Falls was created when Lake Missoula, created during the last Ice Age..."
http://web3.foxinternet.net/xplatypusx/pages/dry.html " Description : : This is not a waterfall. This was a waterfall at one time, but has dried up...."
http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=WASPDRYFL&CU_ID=1 " copyright: Washington State Parks-Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Dry Falls State Park Description - The formation of Dry Falls has a rich history beginning during the Miocene time. Today the traveler sees ..."
http://users.owt.com/rpeto/cyber98/evan/ http://users.owt.com/rpeto/cyber98/evan/formation.html "Information With the beginning of the Pleistocene time about one million years ago, a cooling temperature provided ..."
http://www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/northeast/Dry_Falls.htm " As the name suggests, Dry Falls no longer carries water, but is the remnant of what was once the largest waterfall known to..." The Missoula Floods http://www.opb.org/ofg/1001/missoula/sitemap.htm http://www.tri-cityherald.com/travel/stories/backyard/dryfalls.html " Dry Falls a wonder, despite lack of water
http://www.seattleinsider.com/recreation/guides/camping/dryfalls.html " Location: 7 miles SW Coulee City, SR 17. Schedule: May - Sept. 10am - 6pm daily. THE DRY FALLS STORY ..."
http://www.geoscapesphotography.com/Specialproject-MP-easternWA.html pictures http://travel.lycos.com/roadtrips/rtrips_details.asp?itemid=111 "A shipping center for the wheat farms of eastern Washington, Coulee City (pop. 600) calls itself the "Friendliest Town in the West." Despite this claim, there's no more reason to stop now ..."
http://sports.yahoo.com/parks/locs/wa/waspdryfl.html " Dry Falls State Park The formation of Dry Falls has a rich history beginning during the Miocene time. Today the traveler sees numerous coulees and small lakes as well as the giant precipice of Dry Falls, all of which are reminders of the raging..."
http://moon.timocharis.com/shallowsky/Highlights/Coulees/ " The Scablands of eastern Washington began as flood basalts, part of the great Columbia plateau. Basically, they're fairly similar to a mare area on the moon. Then a series of great floods, caused by..."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/042999/hike29.html " Monument Coulee exudes a stark beauty By KAREN SYKES SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://www.columbian.com/outerlimits/falls.html " For 25 cents, visitors to Dry Falls at Sun Lakes State Park can get a closer look at the last remains of what was once the largest waterfall in the world. ..."
http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org/vc97/VC_39/USA/DRYFALL/INDEX.HTM http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org/vc97/VC_39/USA/DRYFALL/FOR.HTM "Information With the beginning of the Pleistocene time about one million years ago, a cooling temperature provided conditions favorable for the creation of great sheets of moving ice called glaciers. ..."
Sun Lakes State Park http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Sun%20Lakes&pageno=1 |
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