Bretz's Flood: The Remarkable Story of a Rebel Geologist and the World's Greatest Flood

BRETZ'S FLOOD by John Soennichsen is a 289-page geology book that takes the form of a biography of J. Harlan Bretz, PhD. The book is printed on inexpensive off-white paper. There are 24 photographs, maps, and pen-and-ink drawings. All of the photographs are of low quality. The contrast level in the photos is extremely low. The result is that the photos are almost like a uniform sheet of light gray. The maps take the form of photographs of maps, and these are of even worse quality. The pen-and-ink drawings are very good. The writing in this book is absolutely first-rate. The narratives are a wonder do behold. Even though the book emphasizes facts about geology, the book is never technical to the point where the reader needs training in geology. The book is readable for any person ten years old and up (this is not a criticism, this is a compliment). I love this book. Especially, I liked the generous quotations from Dr. Bretz's own scientific publications. Before you read this book, I suggest watching NOVA MYSTERY OF THE MEGAFLOOD. If you don't watch this movie, this book is likely to be a little confusing. The photographs in this book include the wondrous Palouse Falls. Palouse Falls is now on my to-do-list for future vacations.SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS. The writing throughout the entire book is top-notch. Much of the writing is about technical features of the Channeled Scablands, and their origin. Also, much of the writing is about the development of Dr. Bretz's career, his repeated fact-finding geology expeditions into the Channeled Scablands in eastern Washington, his publications, his detractors, and his many-decades long journey until his theory was vindicated. A smaller amount of writing is about Dr. Bretz's personal life, for example, his marriage, is habit of smoking pipes, and about the students that he took on geology field trips.(a) COMPARING GLACIAL FEATURES OF WISCONSIN WITH THOSE IN EASTERN WASHINGTON. Of utmost importance, was Dr. Bretz's early research into the glacial features of Wisconsin (drumlins, monadnocks, moraines, kettle moraines, kames, nunataks, driftless area, and so on), which enabled him to realize that the glacial landscape in Channeled Scablands was totally unlike the traditional glacial landscape found in Wisconsin. Because this book does not much describe this "traditional glacial landscape" I suggest that, as background reading, people should read, Physical Geography of Wisconsin by Lawrence Martin.(b) GEOLOGY THEORIES RESEMBLING BIBLE STORIES VERSUS "UNIFORMITARIANISM" GEOLOGY THEORIES. Another vital theme in this book, is the fact that the geological community was solidly against theories resembling Bible stories, that is, involving the sudden creation of geological features, as when God allegedly created the universe in 7 days, or when God allegedly created the Great Flood. The prevalent view, at the time Bretz developed his theories, was called "uniformitarianism" which held that geological features on the planet earth, such as canyons and mountain ranges, required thousands or millions of years to develop. Thus, "uniformitariansm" caused Mr. Bretz's career to be one long uphill battle in favor of his theory of the creation of Channeled Scablands, which was very much like Bible stories, and very much in contrast to "uniformitarianism."(c) COMBINATION OF BRETZ'S WORK WITH PARDEE'S WORK NEEDED TO PROVIDE THE ENTIRE STORY. Yet another vital feature of this book, is the fact that Bretz's theory concerned the origin of the Channeled Scablands but with the notable failure to postulate the origin of the vast, Biblical flood that created the Channeled Scablands. We learn that the origin was discovered by J.T. Pardee. The book discloses very little, regarding evidence of the origin of this flood, and discloses very little on the fact discovered by J.T. Pardee. As background for this book, I suggest watching the movie, NOVA MYSTERY OF THE MEGAFLOOD. In fact, unless you watch NOVA MYSTERY OF THE MEGAFLOOD, I think that this book will be confusing.CHAPTER ONE. We learn that in 1923, Bretz was a 41-year old geology professor who smoked a pipe, mapped the land in eastern Washington, and hypothesized that the "deep channels and gashes" in the land were created by a flood. We learn that Bretz's first geology paper was, "A GLACIAL RIVER CHANNEL NEAR NEWBERG" appearing in a 1904 student publication at Albion College. We learn that Bretz's first job was as high school teacher and that he married his childhood sweetie in 1906. We learn that Bretz's biggest influences were Karl Schimper (German geologist) and Louis Agassiz (Swiss geologist).CHAPTER TWO. We learn a small amount about geologist J.T. Pardee who had discovered the earlier existence and then disappearance of "Glacial Lake Missoula." We learn that in 1913, Bretz got a PhD in geology at Univ. of Chicago, that he got a faculty job at Univ. of Washington in Seattle, but then a year later returned to Univ. of Chicago to be an instructor and then to be a professor. The problem at Seattle was that Prof. Willis at Seattle proposed that a certain "hill of material" was caused by slowly being pushed by a glacier while, in contrast, Bretz proposed that the same "hill of material" was caused by an avalanche. Thus, Willis' theory was about a slow event (see what I wrote above about, "uniformitarianism") while Bretz's theory was about a rapid and cataclismic event (the same as his later theory of origin of Channeled Scablands).CHAPTER FIVE. A bit more is disclosed about J.T. Pardee who, in 1921, was a survey geologist exploring Channeled Scablands. This book is a short book, and it is excusable that this book never gets around to detailing the work of J.T. Pardee. We learn of Bretz's observation that all lakes in Spokane area were like string beans and that all faced the same direction (this is evidence for the MEGAFLOOD). We learn that Brietz discovered that channels in Channeled Scablands were U-shaped (not V-shaped) (see also, page 158), and that the channels were braided (and not like tree branches) (this is evidence for the MEGAFLOOD). We learn that the erratics in the Channeled Scablands were found near hilltops and not just at low spots in river beds (this is evidence for the MEGAFLOOD). Please note that "erratics" refers to boulders that originated many miles from their final resting place. In Wisconsin's glacial landscape, "erratics" are called "drift" and in Wisconsin there is a famous "driftless area." In Wisconsin, piles of erratics form something called "morraines." We learn that Bretz discovered that Channeled Scablands included "dry falls" that were very different from traditional "dry falls." Normally, "dry falls" are found at the very rear of canyons (at the upstream-most location of the canyon), but in Channeled Scablands, "dry falls" are found at a mid-way locations in canyons or at the farthest downstream location in the canyon." The book refers to the "dry falls" in Channeled Scablands as though, "suddenly sopped as if a spigot had been turned off" (page 109). This is evidence for the MEGAFLOOD.CHAPTER SEVEN. We learn about Bretz's 1923 paper, which proposed that a "sudden release of colossal quantities of water" created the Channeled Scablands, and that "natural forces operating over millions of years" was NOT the cause. We learn that Bretz knew ahead of time that his theory would be rejected and scorned by geologies (pages 124-126, 133-142).CHAPTER NINE. We learn that, at first, Bretz was skeptic of J.T. Pardee's theory of the existence of Glacial Lake Missoula.CHAPTER TEN. We learn that in 1930, Bretz published a paper stating that he accepted Pardee's proposed Glacial Lake Missoula (page 206).CHAPTER ELEVEN. The book tells us some of the evidence discovered by Pardee, taking the form of ripple marks in the former lake basin, and giant bars (page 222). This is the last we hear about Pardee, in this book.

Do you love flying over familiar territory to view the earth's surface from above? Are you fascinated by the forces that created the landscape you love to explore? Do you admire the independent thinking of someone who questions accepted theories? If so, you will delight in the story of J. Harlen Bretz and his love affair with the Washington scablands. Soennichsen immerses readers in Bretz's life and research with his lively prose and sensitive insights. Photos and maps further illuminate the land Bretz loved and the life he lived. This real life drama grips mind and heart, ties the reader to a strong man and a scarred land.

This book tells the remarkable story of J Harlan Bretz. A man who came to geology relatively late in life, yet who was able to unravel the geological story of the Columbia River basin with its maze of dry coulees. After several years of field study he came to the conclusion that the geological formations he had observed could only be the result of massive flooding. He was pilloried by establishment geologists of his time as the prevailing wisdom was that geological processes had shaped the modern world we see by acting slowly over very great time spans. He was further criticized because his theory smacked of "Biblicism". The author has done an excellent job of interweaving Bretz's discoveries with the story of his life and particularly of his field trips to the Columbia River Basin where he observed first hand the geological features he was working on. His theory has been totally vindicated with the discovery that during the later stages of the most recent Ice Age a huge lake was created in the vicinity of Missoula, Montana when the Clark's Fork River was temporarily dammed by a finger of the continental glacier. The lake was about the size of Lakes Erie and Ontario combined. The ice dam failed catastrophically and released all the water it had dammed up in the space of a week or so. This happened not just once but several times over a few thousand years. The humongous floods released when the ice dam failed created not only the coulees of Eastern Washington, but also series of rolling hills that are, in fact, giant ripple marks created by the massive amount of water flowing over them, and did much to shape the present configuration of the Columbia River Gorge. The author has done a remarkable job of weaving together the essences of a geological text book and a fascinating detective story. It is a terrific read!

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Not the material of which best-sellers are made, but surprisingly interesting. I bought out of curiosity, and found myself quite drawn to the character, as well as the historic/geologic content. I only wish that the photographic content could be displayed in larger format on a Kindle device.