Glacial_erratic_boulders_of_the_Puget_Sound_region

Glacial erratic boulders of the Puget Sound region

Glacial erratic boulders of the Puget Sound region

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Many glacial erratic boulders (often simply called glacial erratics) can be found in the Puget Sound region as far south as the Yelm area where the Puget Lobe of the glacier reached its maximum extent.

The Pleistocene ice age glaciation of Puget Sound created many of the geographical features of the region, including Puget Sound itself,[1] and the erratics are one of the remnants of that age.[2] According to Nick Zentner of Central Washington University Department of Geological Sciences, "Canadian rocks [are] strewn all over the Puget lowland, stretching from the Olympic Peninsula clear over to the Cascade Range."[3] Erratics can be found at altitudes up to about 1,300–1,600 feet (400–490 m) in the Enumclaw area,[4] along with kames, drumlins,[5] and perhaps also the unique Mima mounds.[6] The soil of Seattle, the state's largest city, is approximately 80% glacial drift, most of which is Vashon glacial deposits (till),[7] and nearly all of the city's major named hills are characterized as drumlins (Beacon Hill, First Hill, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne Hill) or drift uplands (Magnolia, West Seattle).[3][8] Boulders greater than 3 meters in diameter are "rare" in the Vashon till,[2] but can be found, as seen in the table below.

List of erratics

A few of the larger or otherwise most notable erratics can be found in this table. More erratics are noted in the area-specific lists in the navigation box.

More information Name and description, Height ...

References

  1. Troost & Booth 2008, p. 12 "During the period that the Vashon-age ice sheet covered the region, a tremendous volume of pressurized water was carried by subglacial streams and was responsible for carving the deep troughs of the modern Puget Sound."
  2. Geology of Seattle and the Puget Sound on YouTube, narrated by Nick Zentner (Central Washington University Department of Geological Sciences). Uploaded March 2, 2015 by Hugefloods.com (Nick Zentner and Tom Foster: Discover the Ice Age Floods).
  3. Bretz 1913, p. 34.
  4. Pailthorp, Bellamy, "Mima Mounds continue to mystify scientists", KPLU Wonders, KPLU
  5. Martha Lake Airport Park, Snohomish County, Washington, retrieved 2015-04-05
  6. David C. McConnell (March 8, 2012), History of Martha Lake Airport Community Park and "Big Rock", Snohomish County Parks Department
  7. Snohomish County Parks e-Newsletter, Snohomish County, Washington, April 2012
  8. Jacob Smith (October 31, 2012). "Airport Boulder". SummitPost.org.
  9. Dave Tucker (April 12, 2011), Dave Tucker (ed.), "Bellingham area glacial erratics: The Arroyo Park erratic", Northwest Geology Field Trips
  10. Hutton, Jane (December 2012), "Distributed Evidence: Mapping Named Erratics", in Ellsworth, Elizabeth; Kruse, Jamie (eds.), Making the Geologic Now;Responses to Material Conditions of Contemporary Life, pp. 99–103, ISBN 978-0-9882340-2-4
  11. Dave Tucker (December 12, 2009), Dave Tucker (ed.), "'Big Rock' (another one) in Duvall, Washington", Northwest Geology Field Trips
  12. Duvall Visitors Guide (PDF), Duvall Chamber of Commerce, 2015
  13. "Washington Rock is County Park", Reading Eagle, Reading, Pennsylvania, p. 42, May 15, 1977
  14. "UW professor puts Big Rock in its geologic place", South Whidbey Record, June 25, 2008, archived from the original on June 9, 2015
  15. Burnett, Justin (January 4, 2012), "Big Rock for sale: Giant stone goes with Coupeville apartments", Whidbey News-Times, retrieved June 1, 2015
  16. Whalen, Nathan (January 27, 2012), "Coupeville Town Council unmoved by Big Rock", Whidbey News-Times, retrieved June 1, 2015
  17. McShane, Dan (July 18, 2011), "Conglomerate Erratic and Link to Northwest Geology Field Trips Write Up of a Huge Erratic", Reading the Washington Landscape
  18. Leslie Aickin (January 2008), The Geology of Fort Townsend State Park (PDF), Jefferson Land Trust Geology Group, p. 1
  19. Ray 1891, p. 37.
  20. Puget Sound – Shilshole Bay to Commencement Bay (PDF) (Natucial chart), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey, 2015, NOAA Chart 18474, archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-27, retrieved 2015-05-25
  21. Timothy J. Walsh; Robert L. Logan (2005), Geologic Map GM-56: Geologic Map of the East Olympia 7.5-minute Quadrangle, Thurston County, Washington (PDF), Washington Department of Natural Resources
  22. Measured on Google Maps overhead imagery August 24, 2017.
  23. Tucker, Dave (February 11, 2010), "Whidbey Island Erratics", Northwest Geology Field Trips
  24. Sheets, Bill, "Big boulder in Edmonds one of many left by long-gone glaciers", Everett Herald, archived from the original on June 21, 2015, retrieved June 1, 2015
  25. David Wilma (July 24, 2001), "Seattle Neighborhoods: Wedgwood -- Thumbnail History", HistoryLink, Seattle: History Ink
  26. Dave Tucker (January 21, 2011), Dave Tucker (ed.), "A Really Big Erratic White Rock in Jefferson County", Northwest Geology Field Trips
  27. Dave Tucker (23 April 2011), "White Rock, a large erratic at Hood Head, Hood Canal", Northwest Geology Field Trips

Works cited


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