Ice Age Floods Explorer

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

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…

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,…

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,…

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The Birth of a Cave

By Jordyn Trent

Have you ever gone spelunking? Spelunking, also known as caving, is not well suited for everyone. It can be an extremely dangerous pastime for the ill prepared and foolhardy, but it can also be a fun and exciting adventure for those who know what…

The Bank of Starbuck

By Josh M Bliesner

The Bank of Starbuck has stood for over 100 years and looks ahead for the next century. When the bank was constructed in 1904, there were no federal protections for depositors. What kept money safe were the strong walls for protection. In…

Balancing Rock near Omak Lake

By Kirsten Brudevold

Precarious boulders are peculiar naturally occurring geological formations that showcase large rocks resting on another rock. This particular balanced rock rests upon a small slope overlooking Omak Lake on the Colville Indian Reservation in…

Potholes of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge

By Katie Leyde

When visiting Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, you will find a great deal of wetlands and beautiful skies. Turnbull is located in northeastern Washington on the eastern edge of the Columbia Basin. A specific characteristic that many may not…

Stream Piracy on the Palouse River

By Michael Wilson

Looking at the path of the Palouse River today, we might find it hard to imagine the river didn’t always flow down its current path, but instead was diverted some 15,000 years ago by a series of at least 40 catastrophic floods known today as the…

The Starbuck Sand Flower

By Rachel Hill

At first glance it may not appear that the remote farming town of Starbuck, Washington, contains much geology. However, the unique slackwater deposits of the Tucannon Valley are perfectly exposed on the western side of town. The most notable feature…

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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