National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Whitman Mission National Historic Site Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2014/839 ON THE COVER View of Memorial Hill. Memorial Hill is comprised of rhythmites, layered deposits from Glacial Lake Missoula floodwater ponded behind Wallula Gap. The Whitman Memorial obelisk was erected atop the hill in 1897. Photograph by user “Patricedward,” used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC BY SA 3.0). Available at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whitman_National_Monument.JPG (accessed 22 August 2013). THIS PAGE Columbia River basalt in Palouse Canyon, downstream from Palouse Falls on the Palouse River in southeastern Washington, about 70 km (43 mi) northeast of Whitman Mission National Historic Site. The photograph illustrates the exceptional thickness of Miocene basalt. Public domain photograph available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palouse-Canyon-Washington-State.jpg (accessed 29 July 2013). Whitman Mission National Historic Site Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2014/839 John P. Graham Colorado State University Research Associate National Park Service Geologic Resources Division Geologic Resources Inventory PO Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225 August 2014 US Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the US Government. Printed copies of this report are produced in a limited quantity and they are only available as long as the supply lasts. This report is available from the Geologic Resources Inventory website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/inventory/ gre_publications.cfm) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). To receive this report in a format optimized for screen readers, please email [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: Graham, J. P. 2014. Whitman Mission National Historic Site: geologic resources inventory report. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2014/839. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 371/125813, August 2014 ii NPS Geologic Resources Division Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................. iv Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... v Products and Acknowledgments ................................................................................ vii GRI Products ............................................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................................... vii Geologic Setting and Significance ................................................................................ 1 Park Setting ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Geologic Setting .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Geologic Features and Processes .................................................................................. 7 Pleistocene Rhythmites from Lake Missoula Floods ....................................................................................................... 7 Holocene Alluvium ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 Loess Originating from Pleistocene Glaciers .................................................................................................................. 8 Miocene Columbia River Flood Basalts .......................................................................................................................... 8 Faults and Folds ......................................................................................................................................................... 10 Landscape Features .................................................................................................................................................... 10 Geologic Resource Management Issues ..................................................................... 11 Flooding .................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Seismic Activity (Earthquakes) .................................................................................................................................... 12 Doan Creek Restoration ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Geothermal Energy Development ............................................................................................................................... 14 Geologic History .......................................................................................................... 15 The Columbia Basin before Basalt Deposition: Pre-Miocene ........................................................................................ 15 Massive Flows of Basalt: The Miocene ........................................................................................................................ 16 Catastrophic Floods and the Rhythmites of Whitman Mission: The Pleistocene ............................................................ 17 After the Floods: The Holocene .................................................................................................................................. 19 Geologic Map Data ...................................................................................................... 21 Geologic Maps .......................................................................................................................................................... 21 Source Maps .............................................................................................................................................................. 21 Geologic GIS Data ..................................................................................................................................................... 21 GRI Map Poster .......................................................................................................................................................... 22 Map Unit Properties Table .......................................................................................................................................... 22 Use Constraints .......................................................................................................................................................... 22 Glossary ........................................................................................................................ 23 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................ 27 Additional References ................................................................................................. 31 Geology of National Park Service Areas ...................................................................................................................... 31 NPS Resource Management Guidance and Documents ............................................................................................... 31 Climate Change Resources ........................................................................................................................................