Northwest Geology Field Trips

Middle Fork Nooksack debris flows- another one, and an update

magmatist — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:20:04 +0000

The Middle Fork has cut 10 m through the May 31 debris flow. Click to enlarge.

There is a description of ongoing dramatic changes to the new debris flow deposits in the Middle Fork Nooksack over on the MBVRC blog. There has been a second debris flow, on June 6th.

Debris flow update: http://mbvrc.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/more-debris-flows-in-middle-fork/

Comparative YouTube videos. June 9th video shows major changes in only four days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cepN93zOY8

Compare with the June 5th YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vVJPPwLgwM

Filed under: lahars and debris flows, landslides, Mount Baker, Mount Baker Volcano Research Center, natural hazards

More on Middle Fork Nooksack debris flow

magmatist — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 22:07:55 +0000

By Dave Tucker June 7, 2013

Photo by John Scurlock. Explanation on the link to today’s MBVRC blog post.

The source of the debris flow in the Middle Fork Nooksack River is now believed to be a large landslide rather than a glacial outburst flood. This is based on new aerial photos provided by John Scurlock and Steph Abegg. The updated post is on the MBVRC blog.

There is video I made when I visited the deposits two days ago. See it here on YouTube. Shows the extent of the debris flow deposit at the Ridley Creek ford.

And another YouTube video shows a volcanic debris flow [a.k.a. 'lahar'] raging down a valley in Indonesia. It is probably similar to the Middle Fork flow, except considerably smaller.

There will be another visit to the deposit Sunday AM early by a geologic team to begin serious study of the deposits and to try to begin estimating volume, velocity and other parameters of the May 31 debris flow. There will probably be an update posted on the MBVRC blog, so if you don’t already subscribe to it, consider doing so.

Filed under: floods and high water, lahars and debris flows, landslides, Mount Baker, Mount Baker Volcano Research Center, natural hazards

Glacial Outburst Flood in Middle Fork Nooksack- May 31, 2013

magmatist — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:28:30 +0000

NEWS ITEM

The ‘high-mud mark’ from the glacial outburst flood and debris flow is 20 feet above Bob’s head. Click to enlarge.

A large flood of sediment and water swept the upper channel of the Middle Fork Nooksack River early in the morning of Friday, May 31. Boulders up to 10′ across were pitched onto a terrace 15′ above water level, and the river channel was buried in mud. A seismometer on Mount Baker picked up the tremor of the debris flow, and the sudden increase in river volume was detected on the stream gage at Nugent’s Corner, 25 miles away, a couple of hours later. The river is still very turbid. A report with photos is posted on the Mount Baker Volcano Research Center blog:

http://mbvrc.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/large-debris-flow-in-middle-fork-nooksack-river-may-31-2013/

Filed under: climate change, floods and high water, glaciers, global climate change, Mount Baker, Mount Baker Volcano Research Center

Guided geology field trip by Dave Tucker: Baker River trail June 8th

magmatist — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:13:57 +0000

Dear friends,

An alluvial fan is perfectly exposed in cross-section along the Baker River trail.

Mount Baker Volcano Research Center is offering a field trip up the Baker River on June 8th. It is a fundraiser for the non-profit, and I’ll be leading it, along with Doug McKeever (Whatcom Community College) and Sue Madsen (Skagit Fisheries Enhancement).

Highlights include:

Shuksan greenschist (metamorphosed subducted seafloor basalt) which is the local bedrock;
new salmon restoration facilities;
an active alluvial fan;
river erosion and deposition;
a great variety of rocks in river bars;
rock slides;
a fantastic ‘faerie forest’ of lichen-draped maples.
If the weather be good- fabulous views into the heart of the North Cascades.

Cost is $75, includes van transport and a trip guide.

For info and registration, go to:

http://mbvrc.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/mbvrc-geology-field-trip-june-8th-geo-potpourri-plus-salmon-ecology/

An unnamed waterfall plummets hundreds of feet over a wall of metamorphic bedrock along the trail. Click to enlarge any photo.

Filed under: Geology field trips, guided field trips, metamorphic rocks, Mount Baker Volcano Research Center, News and notes, North Cascades geology

Climate change: WWU Geology refutes Don Easterbrook

magmatist — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:52:15 +0000

By Dave Tucker

I know many of the readers of this blog are concerned about global climate change. Over the years, several of you have contacted me about positions taken by Dr. Don Easterbrook, a prominent retired faculty member from Western Washington University’s Geology Department. Dr. Easterbrook is a vocal ‘global warming’ denier. His position goes well beyond healthy scientific skepticism: he claims that warming ended decades ago and we are entering a period of global cooling.

Last week, Easterbrook was invited by Senator Doug Ericksen (Whatcom County) to give ‘expert testimony’ to the Washington State Senate’s Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee. He was the only invited ‘expert’.

An article in the Seattle Times follows about his testimony. following that I’ve pasted in the position statement of the WWU Geology Department, taking Easterbrook to task over his unscientific positions he has taken using WWU as his affiliation. This statement was published as a guest editorial in today’s (March 31, 2013) Bellingham Herald. I commend the department for finally addressing Easterbrook’s contentions in a very public manner. He may say what he wishes. But if he is to pose as an expert on climate change, he can only do so if he is indeed an expert. He is not. None of his screeds on the topic have been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal.

State Senate committee hosts climate change skeptic

Posted by Andrew Garber

March 26, 2013 at 4:52 PM

Updated

OLYMPIA — The Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee hosted a global warming skeptic on Tuesday who testified for more than an hour that it’s a bunch of hooey.

Don Easterbrook, an emeritus geology professor from Western Washington University, told lawmakers that there is no global warming, that the Antarctic ice sheet is not melting, sea levels are not rising and severe storms are not increasing in frequency.

And one more: “CO2 cannot possibly cause global warming. The reason is because there is so little of it. It is a trace gas,” Easterbrook said. “If you double nothing you still have nothing.”

Easterbrook was invited by the panel’s chairman, GOP Sen. Doug Ericksen, of Ferndale, who has said he has doubts about climate change himself.

Ericksen’s committee recently stripped language out of a bill, requested by Gov. Jay Inslee, that asserted the state was experiencing a series of problems because of climate change. Inslee has testifed that there’s no debate about the science and that Washington should become a leader in dealing with climate change.

Democrats on the committee questioned Easterbrook’s statements.

“I understand that last November was the globe’s 333rd month of above average global temperatures,” Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island said, referring to studies he’d read. “What’s your opinion of the data I have which seems contrary to what you are putting forward?”

Easterbrook’s response was that government agencies had changed the data Ranker was using to make it look like the climate has warmed. “I don’t doubt it’s contrary … what you are looking at is the data that has been tampered with by NOAA and NASA,” Easterbrook said,

Ranker also questioned the professor’s assertions that the media refused to cover the truth.

Easterbrook said, “How many headlines have you seen that say we have unprecedented global warming and how many headlines have you seen that say gee folks the climate is cooling? … The answer from my own personal experience is none.”

TVW covered the Senate hearing. You can watch the video here.

Here is the statement by the WWU Geology faculty. This op-ed piece was signed by all members of the department.

WWU faculty find overwhelming scientific evidence to support global warming

Published: March 31, 2013

By WWU GEOLOGY FACULTY — COURTESY TO THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

On March 26, 2013, a long-retired faculty member of our department, Don Easterbrook, presented his opinions on human-caused global climate change to the Washington State Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee at the invitation of the committee chair Sen. Doug Ericksen, R.-Ferndale. We, the active faculty of the Geology Department at Western Washington University, express our unanimous and significant concerns regarding the views espoused by Easterbrook, who holds a doctorate in geology; they are neither scientifically valid nor supported by the overwhelming preponderance of evidence on the topic. We also decry the injection of such poor quality science into the public discourse regarding important policy decisions for our state’s future; the chair of the committee was presented with numerous options and opportunities to invite current experts to present the best-available science on this subject, and chose instead to, apparently, appeal to a narrow partisan element with his choice of speaker.

We concur with the vast consensus of the science community that recent global warming is very real, human greenhouse-gas emissions are the primary cause, and their environmental and economic impacts on our society will likely be severe if we don’t make significant efforts to address the problem. Claims to the contrary fly in the face of an overwhelming body of rigorous scientific literature.

We intend no disrespect to Easterbrook personally. We appreciate his previous service to our department and to Western. His present appointment as emeritus professor was made in light of his long-standing history at WWU. But people of the state of Washington need to understand that Easterbrook’s ideas on anthropogenic global warming have not passed through rigorous peer review in the scientific literature. Additionally, Easterbrook’s claims in this forum and elsewhere require the existence of a broad, decades-long conspiracy amongst literally thousands of scientists to falsify climate data and to prevent publication of opposing research. This opinion demonstrates a profound rejection of the scientific process and the fundamental value of rigorous peer review, and is also simply wrong.

Science thrives on controversies; it rewards innovative, unexpected findings, but only when they are backed by rigorous, painstaking evidence and reasoning. Without such standards, science would be ineffective as a tool to improve our society. It is worth acknowledging that nearly every technological advance in modern society is a direct result of that same scientific method (think the Internet, airplanes, antibiotics, and even your smartphone).

Easterbrook’s views, as exemplified by his Senate presentation, are a stark contrast to that standard; they are filled with misrepresentations, misuse of data and repeated mixing of local vs. global records. Nearly every graphic in the hours-long presentation to the Senate was flawed, as was Easterbrook’s discussion of them. For example, more than 100 years of research in physics, chemistry, atmospheric science and oceanography has, via experiments, numerous physical observations and theoretic calculations, clearly demonstrate – and have communicated via the scientific literature – that carbon dioxide is a powerful greenhouse gas; its presence and variations in Earth’s atmosphere have significant and measureable impacts on the surface temperature of our planet. Alternatively, you can take Easterbrook’s word – not supported by any published science – that the concentration and effects of carbon dioxide are so small as to not matter a bit.

In a specific example, Easterbrook referred to a graph of temperatures from an ice core of the Greenland ice sheet to claim that global temperatures were warmer than present over most of the last 10,000 years. First, this record is of temperature from a single spot on Earth, central Greenland (thus it is not a “global record”). Second, and perhaps more importantly, Easterbrook’s definition of “present temperature” in the graph is based on the most recent data point in that record, which is actually 1855, more than 150 years ago when the world was still in the depths of the Little Ice Age, and well before any hint of human-caused climate change.

As the active faculty of the Western Washington University Geology Department that he lists as his affiliation, we conclude that Easterbrook’s presentation clearly does not represent the best-available science on this subject, and urge the Senate, our state government, and the citizens of Washington State to rely on rigorous peer-reviewed science rather than conspiracy-based ideas to steer their decisions on matters concerning our environment and economic future.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Western Washington University WWU Geology Department faculty members who authored this column are Douglas H. Clark, who holds a doctorate in geology; Bernard A. Housen, who is the department chair and holds a doctorate in geophysics; Susan Debari, who holds a doctorate in geology; Colin B. Amos, who holds a doctorate in geology; Scott R. Linneman, who holds a doctorate in geology; Robert J. Mitchell, who holds doctorates in engineering and geology; David M. Hirsch, who holds a doctorate in geology; Jaqueline Caplan-Auerbach, who holds a doctorate in geophysics; Pete Stelling, who holds a doctorate in geology; Elizabeth R. Schermer, who holds a doctorate in geology; Christopher Suczek, who holds a doctorate in geology; and Scott Babcock, who holds a doctorate in geology.

Filed under: climate change, Western Washington University

NCI geology field trips- Early Bird registration discounts

magmatist — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:33:25 +0000

This just in from North Cascades Institute.

If you are interested in the geology field trips I posted yesterday, there is an Early Bird Registration Special, now open: Sign up for 2013 adult classes by April 15!

Explore the Pacific Northwest this year with North Cascades Institute and learn what makes our corner of the continent so special with hands-on, intimate experiences at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center and in the field.

Our new slate of adult classes exploring the natural and cultural history of our unique region includes printmaking * corvids * field sketching * Thunder Creek backpack * watercolors * hawkwatching * “Lookout Poets and Backcountry Tales” on Ross Lake * dragonflies * digital photography * Mount Baker geology * ecology of the gray wolf, wolverine, lynx and grizzly bear * birds of Bellingham Bay and more!

Plan now to take advantage of our Early Bird discount: sign up for any adult class starting after May 10, with tuition over $125, and receive $20 off per person for each registration.

To register with the Early Bird discount, call us at (360) 854-2599. It’s a great opportunity to sign up for as many classes as you like and save!

Offer expires April 15. Tuition must be paid in full at time of registration. This discount cannot be applied to Family Getaways, Base Camp or Skagit Tours and cannot be combined with scholarships.

http://ncascades.org/discover/north-cascades-institute/bulletin-board

Filed under: Geology field trips

Geology field trips offered by North Cascades Institute

magmatist — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:51:26 +0000

I will be leading three field courses on behalf of North Cascades Institute in late summer of 2013.Also, my friend David Williams will lead an urban geology tour in Seattle.

Migmatite in the Diablo Overlook road cut. What’s ‘migmatite’? Sign up to find out!

August 9-11: GEOLOGY OF THE NORTH CASCADES: CROSS SECTION THROUGH THE CRUST. This course will be based out of the NCI Environmental Learning Center at Diablo Lake. Over three days we will examine different sites along Highway 20 from Sedro Woolley to Washington Pass. Meals and lodging at the Learning Center.

Kulshan caldera, Mount Baker, and Table Mountain volcanics can all be examined along the Ptarmigan Trail.

September 28 and repeated on September 29: MOUNT BAKER: THE STORY OF VOLCANOES I AND II. I will lead a one day hike along Ptarmigan Ridge on the east flank of Mount Baker.We will look at volcanic deposits from the Kulshan caldera, pre-Mount Baker andesite volcanoes, and young Baker itself. These two hikes will fill up VERY QUICKLY so register right now if you are interested.

In downtown Seattle, see 3.5 billion year old Morton gneiss, probably the oldest building stone in the world!

Also on September 28, David Williams leads ‘Street Smart Naturalist’. This will be a walking tour of downtown geology. highly regarded and a must for Seattle residents interested in geology.

Registration and descriptions for all these programs begins at the NCI geology webpage.

Filed under: Geology field trips, guided field trips, Mount Baker, North Cascades, North Cascades geology, Volcanic rocks

Mount Baker venting Sunday Feb 10, 2013

magmatist — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:50:24 +0000

Several reports of a large cloud rising out of Sherman Crater this morning. Please take photos and send via email to

: this is not a link

Especially needed are good shots from the Samish and Skagit River valleys.

Many thanks.

Dave Tucker

Filed under: News and notes

Mount Baker eruption history and hazard presentation schedule: Mount Vernon, Concrete, Anacortes

magmatist — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:52:40 +0000

Three presentations about Mount Baker eruptive history and hazards are scheduled for this spring.

March 7: MOUNT VERNON Skagit Valley College, Phillip Tarro Theatre. Doors 6:30, talk 7 PM. Sponsored by SVC Veterans Club and Center for Learning & Teaching. This is a repeat of the january 31 event, which drew far too many people to get in the doors. GET THERE EARLY.

March 21: CONCRETE at the Concrete Theatre. 7PM. Fundraising event for MBVRC, Concrete High School Band, and KSVU Radio. There will probably be an admission charge at the door- stay tuned via your subscription to this website or the MBVRC blog www.mbvrc.wordspress.com.

April 27: ANACORTES. Fidalgo Bay Resort. One of several presentations at the Fidalgo Bay Academy. Sponsored by Skagit Beach Watchers. Pre-registration to the Academy will be required, watch here for details.

As usual, the MBVRC t-shirts will be available for purchase, $20.

Filed under: Mount Baker Volcano Research Center, Presentations

‘Central Rocks”: Washington’s virtual geology

magmatist — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 03:24:45 +0000

Dear friends,

screen capture from a Nick Zentner virtual field trip. This is not an active to the video.

I’m passing along links to some wonderful geology field trips on the east side of the Cascades. These are virtual field trips hosted by new subscriber Nick Zenter of the geology faculty at Central Washington University. Visit his website, ‘Central Rocks’, at http://www.geology.cwu.edu/geologytv/ . You can select ‘Roadside Geology’ and immediately take field trips to cool spots in eastern Washington hosted by Nick. You can also listen to interviews with top drawer geologists working in various places all over Washington and elsewhere in the world (China, Hawai’i…). And last, you can watch public lectures by some of the folks in the interviews about the geologic work they are doing.

Another of Nick’s projects is a collaboration with Tom Foster called Ice Age Floods. This is about much more than those stupendous events. Scroll down at the blog http://iceagefloods.blogspot.com to find video shot by Tom as he flies around eastern Washington geology sites in his ultralight.

screen capture from one of Tom’s ultralight geotours in eastern Washington

Both of these links are now listed in the ‘blogroll’ in the right side margin of Northwest Geology Field Trips. There is more stuff on those two sites than you can shake a stick at. (What in blue blazes does THAT mean, anyway? And, just what is a blue blaze? Are there green ones?)

Filed under: Columbia River Basalt, Eastern Washington Geology, Geology field trips