| During the
last Ice Age (18,000 to 12,000 years ago), and in multiple previous
Ice Ages, cataclysmic floods inundated portions of the Pacific Northwest
from Glacial Lake Missoula, pluvial Lake Bonneville, and perhaps
from subglacial outbursts. Glacial Lake Missoula was a body of water
as large as some of the USA's Great Lakes. This lake formed from
glacial meltwater that was dammed by a lobe of the Canadian ice
sheet. Episodically, perhaps every 40 to 140 years, the waters of
this huge lake forced its way past the ice dam, inundating parts
of the Pacific Northwest. Eventually, the ice receded northward
far enough that the dam did not reform, and the flooding episodes
ceased.
The IAFI website provides information about:
- The immensely powerful, cataclysmic Ice
Age Floods that swept across the Pacific Northwest during
recent geologic time
- The proposal for an Ice Age Floods National
Geologic Trail, which would be a system of travel routes linking
significant sites and interpretive facilities across the region
- The Ice Age Floods Institute, a
non-profit organization dedicated to the authoritative presentation
of the fascinating but little-known story of the floods
We invite you to use the site to investigate the floods story further,
and to visit and explore the extraordinary landscape itself. We
also invite your support and participation as an Institute member
or contributor.
Please send comments and suggestions about the site to the Webmaster.
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