Glacial Geology of Grand Coulee Dam, Washington by Richard Foster Flint and William H
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BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA GLACIAL GEOLOGY OF GRAND COULEE DAM, WASHINGTON BY RICHARD FOSTER FLINT AND WILLIAM H. IRWIN CONTENTS Page Abstract............................................................................................................................... 662 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 662 Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. 663 Advance summary............................................................................................................. 663 Description of the fill section........................................................................................... 665 Sources of data........................................................................................................... 665 West side of river....................................................................................................... 665 General statement.............................................................................................. 665 Basal Sequence................................................................................................... 665 Till Zone.............................................................................................................. 667 Later deposits..................................................................................................... 667 East side of river........................................................................................................ 667 Landslides.................................................................................................................... 668 Morphology of the fill........................................................................................................ 669 Nespelem silt terrace................................................................................................. 669 Higher, ice-marginal terraces.................................................................................... 669 Lower, stream terraces.............................................................................................. 669 Interpretation of fill section.............................................................................................. 670 General statement...................................................................................................... 670 West side of river....................................................................................................... 670 East side of river........................................................................................................ 672 Related features upstream and downstream from the dam.......................................... 675 Section near Keller Ferry.......................................................................................... 675 Sections between the dam and Nespelem River..................................................... 676 Columbia canyon between Nespelem River and Okanogan River...................... 677 Date of glacial deposits..................................................................................................... 678 General conclusions............................................................................................................ 679 Works to which reference is made................................................................................... 680 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Map showing regional relations of Grand Coulee Dam......................................... 664 Plate Facing page 1. Cross section of the fill in Columbia River canyon at Grand Coulee Dam. 666 2. Grand Coulee Dam..................................................................................................... 668 3. Fill section at the dam............................................................................................... 669 4. Terraced fill upstream from Grand Coulee Dam................................................. 672 5. Stratigraphy and morphology of the fill.................................................................. 673 6. Glacial fill downstream from Grand Coulee Dam.................................................. 676 (661) Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/50/5/661/3430825/BUL50_5-0661.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 662 FLINT AND IRWIN----GRAND COULEE DAM ABSTRACT Sections of the fill in Columbia canyon near Grand Coulee Dam, together with the stratigraphy and morphology of related features downstream, record the expansion and later shrinkage of the Okanogan glacier lobe during the last glaciation. Three stratigraphic zones are recognized: (1) A Basal Sequence of lacustrine fines inter bedded with fluvial sediments, recording oscillatory ponding of the Columbia River as the glacier dammed it downstream. At first the lake was shallow and drained west around the ice margin. Later it was more effectively dammed, deepened, and forced to discharge south through Grand Coulee. (2) A Till Zone, recording the arrival of ice, with fluctuations, at Grand Coulee Dam during the glacial climax. (3) Later deposits stratigraphically (but not everywhere vertically) overlying the Till Zone, recording oscillatory deglaciation accompanied by transition from lacustrine to fluvial conditions. The San Poil glacier lobe entered the lake-filled Columbia canyon at Keller Ferry, 15 miles upstream from Grand Coulee Dam, and contributed sediment to the lake. The maximum of this lobe appears to have been approximately contemporaneous with the maximum of the neighboring Okanogan lobe. While residual ice was still present locally in Columbia canyon downstream, drain age abandoned Grand Coulee and resumed its former (and present) course. There after, grading of the long profile of Columbia River proceeded both by erosion of the lake fill and by deposition in depressions partly of ice-block origin and was marked by at least one delay recorded by a particularly conspicuous stream terrace. INTRODUCTION The unusually complete and detailed section of the glacial fill fully exposed by excavations during the construction of Grand Coulee Dam and the glacial features in the region of the dam combine to furnish a far more complete picture of the continuous expansion and shrinkage of a large glacier than could have been reconstructed from natural exposures alone. It was thought desirable to interpret and correlate the features and to present the results in condensed form, not only as a contribution to the glacial history of eastern Washington, but as a yardstick that might prove useful for comparison with somewhat similar but less well- exposed glacial sections elsewhere. Irwin, as assistant to Dr. Charles P. Berkey and Junior Geologist in the United States Bureau of Reclamation, spent 4 seasons (summers 1935- 1938) studying the general geology of the Grand Coulee Dam region. Part of this time was given to the study of the glacial deposits at and near the dam. Flint, with a background of 4 seasons’ study of the glacial deposits of this general region and visits to the dam during the earlier stages of con struction, spent 2 weeks in July 1938 in the vicinity of the dam and 2 weeks farther downstream. Flint and Irwin visited together the critical localities at and near the dam. They are jointly responsible for interpreta tion, worked out in preliminary form by Irwin, of the features at these places; Flint is solely responsible for inferences drawn from localities more remote from the dam. Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/50/5/661/3430825/BUL50_5-0661.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 663 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to express their appreciation to the United States Bureau of Reclamation, through Mr. R. F. Walter, Chief Engineer, for permission to publish Reclamation data and photographs; and to Mr. Frank A. Banks, Construction Engineer for the United States Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam, for the opportunity afforded the junior author of conducting the investigation. It is a pleasure to acknowl edge the active interest and cooperation of Mr. Banks and the members of his staff. Sincere thanks are due to Professor Charles P. Berkey of Columbia University for making available memoranda prepared by him as Consulting Geologist for the United States Bureau of Reclamation in addition to his personal observations made during the initial stages of the excavation operations. Acknowledgment is hereby given of a grant from the Penrose Bequest of the Geological Society of America which made possible the work of the senior author during the season of 1938. Dr. Paul D. Krynine of Pennsylvania State College kindly made a mechanical and mineralogic analysis of a sample of silt from the Basal Sequence, with the results briefly outlined in the text. The efficient cooperation of the 116th Photo Section, Washington National Guard, through Mr. Miller Cowling, Chief Scientific Aid, in making aerial photographs has been especially helpful. Finally, the senior author cordially acknowledges the work of his field assistants, Mr. M. B. Canning and Mr. W. E. Benson, both of Yale University. ADVANCE SUMMARY The Columbia River (Fig. 1) follows a broadly sinuous course along the northern margin of the Columbia Plateau and occupies a capacious canyon approximating 1500 feet in depth. The elevation