Ice Age Floods Explorer

Medical Lake Bluff, Diving into the Geology

Looking at the beauty of Medical Lake is very relaxing, especially seeing the stoic bluffs or cliffs at the south end of the lake next to Waterfront Park. But have you ever wondered what kind of…

Mammoth Undertaking for Cheney Students

By Larry Cebula

In the early 1990s, second-graders in Mrs. Sara Jane Aebly's class at Windsor Elementary School discovered that Washington State did not have an official state fossil. Encouraged by their teacher,…

The Joso High Bridge

By Josh M Bliesner

Around 1910 when construction began on this massive span, it was still the golden age of railroads. The Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company planned a new track between Portland, Oregon,…

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The Palouse River Zig-Zags

By Forest Trampush

At first glance the straight river paths of the Palouse River may not seem apparent due to steep basalt cliffs. However, at a second glance, the river makes numerous sharp turns at specific angles. This is especially evident looking to the south at…

The Ancient War Scars of Hooknose Mountain

By Connor Stark

Do you ever get self-conscious about your nose? What if your nose looked so weird that people named you after it? That’s what the early people of what is now known as the northern Pend Oreille County area did to a mountain. While the adjacent…

Granite Boulder in the Scablands: Mountain Top or Glacial Erratic?

By Justin Luppens

Due to the ice age floods, when a large granitic rock is found near the Spokane Airport it can be hard to determine if it is an old mountain top surrounded by younger geological features or rafted in on glaciers during the ice age floods. This may…

You wouldn’t want these pillows on your bed:

By Rosilee Beretta

Deep Creek Canyon is a hidden gem of Spokane County that is located in Riverside State park. It is the remnants of ancient basaltic lava flows that have been carved out by cataclysmic glacial floods. The valley holds a bounty of discovery through its…

Creation of Palouse Falls State Park

By Miranda Caudill

Palouse Falls State Park, located 18 miles southeast of Washtucna, is a beautiful recreational campground that offers a breathtaking view of the Palouse Falls. The Palouse Falls and the surrounding land were carved out by the ice age floods that…

The I-90 ash-filled paleochannel

By Amie Andersen

Driving west on I-90 near the Garden Springs exit, number 277A, you can see more and more basalt...and then a short exposure of white layers in the rock overlying gravel. These layers are mostly ash, or tephra, from highly explosive volcanoes. When…

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Ice Age Floods Explorer

Ice Age Floods Explorer is a web and mobile platform for telling stories of the Missoula Floods and is an ongoing endevour focusing on student research. Ice Age Floods Explorer is a project of the Public History program and Department of Geology at Eastern Washington University. Most of the stories were created by EWU students. Co-editors are Drs. Chad Pritchard, Larry Cebula, and Paul Lindholdt from Eastern Washington University. Dr. Chad Pritchard is an Assistant Professor in the Geology Department. Dr. Larry Cebula is Editor of Spokane Historical. He is a Professor of History at Eastern Washington University and the Assistant Digital Archivist for the State of Washington. Dr. Paul Lindholdt is a Professor or English. Assistant Edit... Read more About Us