What caused the mega flood?
A megaflood is a flood which suddenly releases a huge amount of water. In geomorphology it is sometimes called an outburst flood. At the end of the last ice age, many large floods were caused by the collapse of ice sheets or glaciers which formed the dams of glacial lakes.
What did J Harlen Bretz think caused the strange features in the Scablands?
But during the 1920s a geologist named J Harlen Bretz outlined a startling hypothesis. His fieldwork convinced him that the scablands were not the result of slow geological weathering, but of an enormous catastrophe that had taken place almost overnight when a titanic flood engulfed the region.
What caused the Great megaflood in Missoula causing the Scablands?
When Glacial Lake Missoula’s ice dam shattered, a northern arm of the lake drained in a matter of hours through a narrow gap in Montana’s Blackfoot River valley. One can only imagine the extraordinary upheaval that took place along this portion of the gap as the flood pounded through.
Why didn’t Other scientists believe Harlan Bretz’s idea of how the Scablands formed what couldn’t he explain?
Harlen Bretz outlined a theory of what he thought had really happened to the Scablands, but Bretz’s theory defied all scientific convention. He claimed the Scablands were not the result of a slow geological evolution, but of an enormous catastrophe that had happened almost overnight.
When did the mega flood happen?
1861-62
The only megaflood to strike the American West in recent history occurred during the winter of 1861-62. California bore the brunt of the damage. This disaster turned enormous regions of the state into inland seas for months, and took thousands of human lives.
What happened after Glacial Lake Missoula broke through the ice dam?
At the end of the last Ice Age, 18,000 to 15,000 years ago, an ice dam in northern Idaho created Glacial Lake Missoula stretching 3,000 square miles around Missoula, Montana. The dam burst and released flood waters across Washington, down the Columbia River into Oregon before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
How long did it take Lake Missoula to empty?
It is estimated that the maximum rate of flow was equal to 386 million cubic feet per second. At that rate, the lake probably drained in a few days.
Where on earth is there evidence for a mega flood other than the Scablands and Iceland?
Others were associated with mountain areas, such as the Altai Mountains, the Sayan Mountains, and some of the mountains around Lake Baikal.
When did the Missoula ice dam break?
18,000 to 15,000 years ago
At the end of the last Ice Age, 18,000 to 15,000 years ago, an ice dam in northern Idaho created Glacial Lake Missoula stretching 3,000 square miles around Missoula, Montana. The dam burst and released flood waters across Washington, down the Columbia River into Oregon before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HWXHH_jWsY