Resources that describe the geologic history of the Tri-Cities Washington region are provided in this section.

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Wallula Gap in South Central Washington

U.S. Geologic Survey
U.S. Geological Survey - Columbia Plateau Columbia River Basalt Group provides references to information on the Columbia Plateau and the Columbia River flood basalts.

U.S. Geological Survey - Glacial Lake Missoula and the Missoula Floods describes the formation of the Glacial Lake Missoula and the effect the Missoula flood had on the different land transformations in this region.

Note: Lyn Topinka, listed as the technical point-of-contact for the two references above, also created "The Columbia River - A Photographic Journey" that you can view in the Travelogue section.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Ice Age Floods Near Richland, Washington, published by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, describes two routes to explore near Richland, WA that pass through geologic features formed by the Ice Age floods.

Ice Age Floods Institute
The Ice Age Floods Institute is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization that is committed to the recognition and presentation of the Ice Age Floods as a significant part of the nation's, and the world's, natural heritage. The Lake Lewis Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute represents the Tri-Cities area.

In addition, this Institute is committed to working with Congress to support the National Park Service's effort to form the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail which would essentially be a network of marked touring routes extending across parts of Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, with several special interpretive centers located across the region.

Wines Northwest
Wines Northwest published an interesting article on the Forces of Nature: How the last Ice Age shaped the Northwest wine industry.

NOVA
NOVA Science Programming On Air And Online produced a documentary on the Mystery of the Megaflood that originally aired on PBS (TV Program Description) on September 20, 2005.

This documentary describes the physics behind the "Megaflood" and how the flood waters carved the basalt layers.

Maps and Books
The Northwest Map and Travel Book Center, based in Spokane, offers geologic books and maps of Washington.

On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A Geological Field Guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin by Bruce Bjornstad, shows the best places to hike, bike, drive and fly to see the unique and awesome geologic features in this region.