w V :::::, 0 WASHINGTON w VOL. 23, NO. 2 JUNE 1995 G EOLOG"I I (. INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 Field sketches of late-1840s eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington, p. 3 WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENTOF I Preliminary observations on marine stratigraphic sequences, central and western Olympic Peninsula, Washington, p. 9 Natural Resources I Palm fossils from northwest Washington, p. 21 Jennifer M. Belcher - Commissioner of Public Lands 1 Application of reflection seismology to the hydrogeology of the Kaleen Cottingham - Supervisor Spokane Aquifer, p. 27 I WASHIII\IGTON Goal-Based Management in the Department of GEOLOGY Natural Resources Vol. 23, No. 2 June 1995 Raymond Lasmanis, State Geologist Washington Department of Natural Resources Washington Geology (ISSN 1058-2134) is publi shed fuur times Division of Geology and Earth Resources each year by the Washington State Depar tment of Natural PO Box 47007, Olympia, WA 98504-7007 Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources. This pub­ lication is free upon reques t. The Division also publishes bulle­ ti ns, information circulars, reports of investigations, geologic uring the regular 1993 Legislative sess ion, Engrossed maps, and open-file reports. A list of th ese puhl ications will be Substitute House Bill 1372 was passed into law. This bill sent upon request. D established a state policy mandating that each state agency es­ tablish mission or goals statements. The bill further stated that DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES each agency shall establish program objectives for each major Raymond Lasmnnis. Srure Geolo,:ist program in its budget. J . Eric Schuster, A <si.,1,1111 Stare Geo/11,:i.<1 William S . Lingley. Jr. , Assis/uni Slate Geo/o,:i.H During I 994, under the leadership of Commissioner Jennifer Belcher, the Department of Natural Resources pro­ Geologists !Olympia) Editor duced a document with four elements to guide the department foe D. Dr:tgovich Kathe rine M. Reed 1oward the next century-the Commissioner's vision state­ Wendy J. Gerstel Computer Information ment, the department's mission and guiding principles, a sec­ Robert L. (Josh ) Logan Consultant tion for regulatory programs and service to the public, and a David K. Norman Carl F. T . Harris Stephen P. Palmer five-year goal statement. Palrick T . Pringle Cartographers The five-year goal is " to ensure that the Department of Nancy A. Eberle Katherine M. Reed Natural Resources is recognized a<; the agency of choice: Henry W. (Ha nk) Schasse Keith G. Ikerd Timothy J . Walsh Production Editor/ I For leadership in natural resource issues Weldon W. Rau (vo lunteer) Designer I As the model for exemplary stewardship in resource Geologist (Spokane) Jaretta M . (Jari) Roloff Robert E. Derkey Data Communications management Geologists (Reglonsl Technician I As the acknowledged expert in our areas of Garth Anderson ( Northwest) J . Renee Christensen responsibility Charles W. (Chuck) Gulic k Administrative Assistant ( No rtheast} Janis G. Allen I As a partner with the public, other governments, other Rex J. Hapala (Southwi,.<1) Regulatory Programs age ncies, and interests Lorraine Powell (Southeast) Assistant I For effective listening and communications Stephanie Zurenko (Centrnlj Mary A nn Shawver Senior Librarian Clerical Staff I As the model public agency." Connie J. Manson Judy Henderson As we enter the 1995-97 biennium, each unit of the depart­ Library Information Heidi Tho msen Specialist ment, including the Geology and Earth Resources D ivision, Rebecca A. Christie has been developing program goals and objectives that com­ plement the department's published goal s. Further, the bien­ MAIN OFFICE FIELD OFFICE nium budgeting process will be linked to carrying out the Department of Natural Resources Department of Natural Resources goals. To facilitate this linkage, the division is fine-tuning in­ Division of Geology Division of Geology and Earth Resources a nd Earth Resources dividual tasks that will be undertaken to fulfill objectives cur­ PO Box 47007 904 W. Riverside , Room 209 rently under consideration. Olympia. WA 98504-7007 Spokane, WA 9Y20l-1011 These efforts will help us evaluate agency performance Phone: (360) 902- 1450 Phone: (509) 456-3255 and improve our accountability. • Fax: (360) 902-1785 Fax: (509) 456-61 15 Internet: [email protected] Publicatio11s available from 1he [email protected] Olympia address only. Northwest Mining Association Convention (See map 0 11 inside back cove r ~.. Printed on recyr.ledpaper. Set for December 5-8,. 1995 f or office location.) \ifl" Printed i11 lhe U.S.A. The 1995 Northwest Mining Association International Con­ vention and Exposition is scheduled for December 5-8, Cover Photo: Artist Paul Kane's studio painting of an 1995, at the Sheraton-Spokane Hotel, Convention & Agri­ eruption at Goat Rocks dome on Mount St. Helens' north­ cultural Trade Center in Spokane, Washington. For more in­ northwest flank on March 26, 1847. (Courtesy of the Royal formation, contact: Ontario Museum, Toronto. Canada, item 91 2 .1.78). This is Northwest Mining Association the best known early painting of Mount St. Helens. Kane 10 N. Post Street, Suite 414 may have used artistic license in adding the foreground, Spokane, WA 99201-0772 since we have not been able to find a similar viewpoint. The left side has been cropped to fit. (See article on p. 3.) Phone: (509) 624-1158 Fax: (509) 623-1241 Z Washington Geology, vol. 23, no. 2, June 1995 Field Sketches of Late-1840s Eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington David K. Yamaguchi Patrick T. Pringle Donald B. Lawrence Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute Washington Department of Natural Resources Department of Plant Biology 7 Hitsujigaoka, Toyohira Division of Geology and Earth Resources University of Minnesota Sapporo 062, Japan PO Box 47007, Olympia, WA 98504-7007 St. Paul, MN 55108-6097 INTRODUCTION & Ashes shot up into the Air, and hung as a Canopy over the dazzling Cap contrasting strongly with the Clear blue On two occasions in September 1845, British spy Henry Warre Sky behind it; this was an incipient Eruption, and my curi­ saw and sketched watercolors of eruption columns forming osity was excited the more from being the first Volcano I over the north flank of Mount St. Helens, Washington. Yet have ever seen in action. ... Warre's drawings have not been widely known. No prior men­ tion of them has been made in the scientific literature on the A f ew Miles above the Cowlitz, on the left bank of the volcano's erupti ve hi s tory. (See Pal lister and others, 1992, and Columbia River, is a ... singular isolated Rock. ... Further down 011 the right [Washington} bank is another peculiar references ci ted by these authors.) This situation occurred feature, called Mount Coffin ... [Figs. 2 and 3] largely because Warre's watercolors had not been publi shed when Holmes ( 1955) wrote his classic paper on 19th-century Cowlitz accounts of Mount St. Helens activity (Hol mes, 1980). CANADA On two days in March 1847, artist Paul Kane observed "' Mount Baker eruptions from the same vent. Kane made watercolors in the field of each scene he witnessed; his second sketc h inc ludes an eruption column. K ane later used his sketches and associated journal entries as the basis for three oil paintings, one of which WA has been widely publi shed and extensively studied by geolo­ OR gists and historians (see, for example, Hoblitt and others, 1980, and Harris, 1988). rn the famous painting (see cover), River the eruption has been transformed into an incandescent ni ght eruption; other artistic embelli s hments include eight Native MountainSpud A ® American spectators, streaming clouds of opaque smoke, and a reflection of the eruption on the surface of the water (paint­ Mount W ing previously reproduced in Holmes, 1955; Harper, 1971; St. Helens Harris, 1988; and elsewhere). While the artistic nature of this painting has previously been recognized (Holmes, 1955, 1980; Majors, 1980), Kane's second field sketch and his remaining two paintings have largely been ignored. Yet, based on Kane's journal entries, these three artworks more accurately depict the scenes that he witnessed. This article presents the fi eld sketches of Warre, the for­ N gotten sketch and paintings of Kane, the associated journal ac­ counts, and related background information. We then consider A the geological significance of the set as a whole. THE FIELD SKETCHES, PAINTINGS, 45030· N ,o 20 mi AND NARRATIVES 10 2.0 JO km In 1845, Warre wrote in his journal (Warre, 1976): Fort Between Vancouver and the mouth ofthe Cowelitz River /sic/there is not much to attract the Eye or worthy ofnotice . The Views are certainly very pretty and the dista11ce is al­ ways broken by the presence of one of the several snowy 123° W Mountains standing high above the surrounding Moun­ tains .... Mou11t Hood & Mt. St. Helens being the nearest & Figure 1 . Maps showing vantage points for field sketches and other therefore the most conspicuous... [Fig. I] text localities. The Cowlitz Farm locality (46°28'28"N, 122°47'32"W) The Momi11g was Lovely and as we were descending one was determined from a description of the mission near the farm by an­ of the long reaches in the [Columbia/ River my attention other traveler (Harper, 1971, p. 98) and from George Herron (resident, Winlock, Washington), whose grandfather's farm occupied part of the to was attracted Mount St. Helens standing as it were, at the Cowlitz Farm site. The mission site is shown on the U.S. Geological head of the bend! .. .Suddenly a long black Column of Smoke Survey 7 .5-minute Toledo quadrangle (1993). Washington Geology, vol. 23, no. 2, June 1995 3 Figure 2. "Mount Coffin and Mount St. Helens (volcanic)", a watercolor by Henry James Warre, September 13(?), 1845 (cou rtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts, Warre sketch no.