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Washington Rocks!: A Guide to Geologic Sites in the Evergreen State
Active volcanoes, like Rainier and Baker, dominate Washington�s western half, and Columbia flood basalt covers much of the eastern half, but scattered here and there are other equally amazing rocks and features that make the Evergreen State one of the most geologically interesting places in the entire country. With this book as your guide, you can find limestone caves, billion-year-old gneiss, glacial moraines, petrified forests, fossilized palm leaves, upside-down sandstone beds, and ancient landslides. Or you can explore the mind-boggling canyons, waterfalls, and scabland carved by the torrential Missoula Floods, check out the glacially carved granite of the North Cascades, or watch sea stacks erode in the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean.
Washington Rocks! is part of the state-by-state Geology Rocks! series that introduces readers to some of the most compelling and accessible geologic sites in each state. The 57 sites in this book are scattered throughout the state, from Steptoe Butte in the southeast, the namesake of the steptoe geologic feature, to trilobite-bearing limestone in Box Canyon in the northeast, and from glacial gouges on Iceberg Point in the San Juan Islands to ghost forests in Willapa Bay, trees killed during the last great earthquake. Colorful photographs and instructive diagrams make this book a must-have for rockhounds, students, tourists, and residents alike.
Washington Rocks! is part of the state-by-state Geology Rocks! series that introduces readers to some of the most compelling and accessible geologic sites in each state. The 57 sites in this book are scattered throughout the state, from Steptoe Butte in the southeast, the namesake of the steptoe geologic feature, to trilobite-bearing limestone in Box Canyon in the northeast, and from glacial gouges on Iceberg Point in the San Juan Islands to ghost forests in Willapa Bay, trees killed during the last great earthquake. Colorful photographs and instructive diagrams make this book a must-have for rockhounds, students, tourists, and residents alike.
- GenresGeology
144 pages, Paperback
Published April 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 13, 2025
This book was awesome. I have read several books on the geology of Washington State, and this is one of my favorites. The book features 57 locations in the state that are real geologic curiosities. Photographs and a detailed description is provided for each one, so you can understand what you are seeing when you visit these places.
As good as these descriptions are, the best part of the book may be the history of geology in Washington State. It starts from 4 billion years ago, and explains how tectonic places are formed, how they move, and what happens when they smash into each other. For example, millions of years ago, the Pacific Ocean reached all the way to where Spokane is located today, which was the western edge of the North American tectonic place. The Okanogan Highlands and western Washington were originally created as what is know as exotic terrains that were formed way out in the Pacific Ocean, but were pushed into the North American plate.
Amazing!
As good as these descriptions are, the best part of the book may be the history of geology in Washington State. It starts from 4 billion years ago, and explains how tectonic places are formed, how they move, and what happens when they smash into each other. For example, millions of years ago, the Pacific Ocean reached all the way to where Spokane is located today, which was the western edge of the North American tectonic place. The Okanogan Highlands and western Washington were originally created as what is know as exotic terrains that were formed way out in the Pacific Ocean, but were pushed into the North American plate.
Amazing!
August 15, 2024
This book is an entertaining look at Washington state geology, detailed enough for experts while still being entertaining to casual readers. Glaciers, volcanos and the repeated instances of glacial dams and floods have made many interesting features to the terrain.
Things I learned, there was a super continent Rodinia, before Pangaea and Gondwanaland.
Another interesting picture were boulders left behind from the glaciers that are the size of houses.
Things I learned, there was a super continent Rodinia, before Pangaea and Gondwanaland.
Another interesting picture were boulders left behind from the glaciers that are the size of houses.
November 21, 2016
I've long been fascinated by geology. This book, more than any anything I had read before, gave me a much deeper understanding of fundamental geological processes, especially as they played out in the dynamic Pacific Northwest. In late August, my wife and I had made a sightseeing drive from Walla Walla to Coulee Dam (my birthplace), then back along the Grand Coulee on our way to Seattle. Fascinated by what we were seeing, I bought this book. Photographs and commentary on 57 separate Washington sites introduce a remarkable cast of characters, who keep reappearing throughout the book: the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Glacial Lake Missoula, the Columbia River Basalt, the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament, etc. There are quite a few terms I had to look up, but I was helped by the book's thorough glossary, as well as Google. The authors' enthusiasm for their subject is infectious, often expressed in playful language, such as this chapter subheading: "Ice Lobe Antics on Whidbey Island."
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews