Randall Carlson

And you can see, and there are reasons we, we can.

Just blew all of this land. Yes, now the blue, they're using Upper Grand Coulee as a temporary reservoir. The water that's backed up in Franklin Roosevelt Lake is being pumped up into Upper Grand Coulee, and then it's distributed from there over the eastern Washington for irrigation purposes. But follow that down to the south, Ryan, and we'll see, we'll come to the Great Cataract Complex.

Just blew all of this land. Yes, now the blue, they're using Upper Grand Coulee as a temporary reservoir. The water that's backed up in Franklin Roosevelt Lake is being pumped up into Upper Grand Coulee, and then it's distributed from there over the eastern Washington for irrigation purposes. But follow that down to the south, Ryan, and we'll see, we'll come to the Great Cataract Complex.

Just blew all of this land. Yes, now the blue, they're using Upper Grand Coulee as a temporary reservoir. The water that's backed up in Franklin Roosevelt Lake is being pumped up into Upper Grand Coulee, and then it's distributed from there over the eastern Washington for irrigation purposes. But follow that down to the south, Ryan, and we'll see, we'll come to the Great Cataract Complex.

There we go. Stop right there. Now zoom in on where it says Sun Lakes Park. That is the Great Cataract Complex right there. Now that is an extraordinary feature. And what we're looking at there is called a recessional cataract. And the water's coming from the north, and it's scouring and sculpting. It's all exposed bedrock terrain, basalt bedrock terrain.

There we go. Stop right there. Now zoom in on where it says Sun Lakes Park. That is the Great Cataract Complex right there. Now that is an extraordinary feature. And what we're looking at there is called a recessional cataract. And the water's coming from the north, and it's scouring and sculpting. It's all exposed bedrock terrain, basalt bedrock terrain.

There we go. Stop right there. Now zoom in on where it says Sun Lakes Park. That is the Great Cataract Complex right there. Now that is an extraordinary feature. And what we're looking at there is called a recessional cataract. And the water's coming from the north, and it's scouring and sculpting. It's all exposed bedrock terrain, basalt bedrock terrain.

And as that water, the water flowing here was about five miles wide and 400 feet deep. That was roughly the scale. It's from the far left over there where the highway wraps around the cliff. right there over all the way to the far right, uh, right in there. That's between five and six miles wide in there. And like I said, the cliffs are about 400 feet high.

And as that water, the water flowing here was about five miles wide and 400 feet deep. That was roughly the scale. It's from the far left over there where the highway wraps around the cliff. right there over all the way to the far right, uh, right in there. That's between five and six miles wide in there. And like I said, the cliffs are about 400 feet high.

And as that water, the water flowing here was about five miles wide and 400 feet deep. That was roughly the scale. It's from the far left over there where the highway wraps around the cliff. right there over all the way to the far right, uh, right in there. That's between five and six miles wide in there. And like I said, the cliffs are about 400 feet high.

The water flowing down through the coulee was about 400 feet. And, uh, There we go. We're looking down. Yes, there is the, we're looking at the great cataract complex right there. So the water's coming towards us during the peak of the flood.

The water flowing down through the coulee was about 400 feet. And, uh, There we go. We're looking down. Yes, there is the, we're looking at the great cataract complex right there. So the water's coming towards us during the peak of the flood.

The water flowing down through the coulee was about 400 feet. And, uh, There we go. We're looking down. Yes, there is the, we're looking at the great cataract complex right there. So the water's coming towards us during the peak of the flood.

Now picture this, as the water's coming over, the shearing force, picture this, the water's pouring over and the shearing force is so intense, it's literally quarrying or plucking the stone from the cliff face. Where the cliff is now is essentially where it was at, where it had receded to at the time the spigots from the north finally stopped.

Now picture this, as the water's coming over, the shearing force, picture this, the water's pouring over and the shearing force is so intense, it's literally quarrying or plucking the stone from the cliff face. Where the cliff is now is essentially where it was at, where it had receded to at the time the spigots from the north finally stopped.

Now picture this, as the water's coming over, the shearing force, picture this, the water's pouring over and the shearing force is so intense, it's literally quarrying or plucking the stone from the cliff face. Where the cliff is now is essentially where it was at, where it had receded to at the time the spigots from the north finally stopped.

And so what we're looking at is a fossil feature there. It's completely a fossil feature. And again, this is like 350 million cubic feet per second, which is just almost unimaginable. The water level was about the same height, the same depth as the cliffs are high. So at the peak of the flood, it wouldn't have even been a waterfall. It was just a bump in this enormous five mile wide river.

And so what we're looking at is a fossil feature there. It's completely a fossil feature. And again, this is like 350 million cubic feet per second, which is just almost unimaginable. The water level was about the same height, the same depth as the cliffs are high. So at the peak of the flood, it wouldn't have even been a waterfall. It was just a bump in this enormous five mile wide river.

And so what we're looking at is a fossil feature there. It's completely a fossil feature. And again, this is like 350 million cubic feet per second, which is just almost unimaginable. The water level was about the same height, the same depth as the cliffs are high. So at the peak of the flood, it wouldn't have even been a waterfall. It was just a bump in this enormous five mile wide river.

And, uh, Pretty, yeah. This is the kind of thing, when you see this firsthand, it really drives home the scale of these events we're talking about. And then if you follow this South Ryan, you can see that there's all these distributary channels. And then you get down to the mouth there at Soap Lake. South of Soap Lake, you have an outwash plane.