Cataclysms on the Columbia: The Great Missoula Floods (OpenBook)

This book was a pleasure to read. I'm currently doing research and frankly used to drab and technical writing. This book was neither. It is well written, allows for the person completely new to geology and geography to understand easily, without missing the facts. The book explains how the Missoula Floods' geographic remnants were discovered and then explains the discoveries, as others have noted here, in a format that allows the reader to use the book as a travel guide (if one wishes). He includes excellent images that explain the floods' movements and also show actual evidence in roadside sites right off of the highways one would travel to see the route of the great floods. I recommend this book.

Written for layperson but not “dumbed down” . Shows how and why gorge formed. Your next trip might be more than a pretty way to get west to east in Oregon as the formations will have more relevance. Permanent place on my bookshelf!

I live in the north west where so much of this happened. This is a fascinating history of both the flood and the struggle to have the theory accepted. Great pictures and an entertaining book on a subject that could be pretty boring, but the authors keep it interesting!

The new edition is wonderful! Lots of great color photos of fascinating evidence of multiple epic flood events. All the detailed information in this book makes the drive between Seattle and Walla Walla a geological tour.

General and detailed discourse on the stupendous flooding that occurred along the Columbia River and its tributaries in geologically recent time. Informative and fascinating description of these events that seem to me to come from a teller of fictional and fantastic stories. Just as interesting as the geology is the story of the struggle of the originator of the theory to gain acceptance of his ideas in the scientific arena of human endeavor.

This a great read, it focuses heavily on the Washington State features. I personally preferred David Alt's book on the subject, if I were to read only one on the subject I would pick his, but I have read several books on the floods and I am a big Missoula Floods nerd. I like the revised edition with additional material by Dr. Scott Burns of Portland State, Scott's material really updates this classic.I hate must reads but this should be a must read for any Northwesterner who enjoys the outdoors or a geologist or pedologist or even someone who just likes a great detective story, with vast open spaces and mind blowing action.The book really comes to life if you travel the route of the Floods and stand in the immenseness of its features.

Very interesting book, especially if you’re in the Pacific Northwest. Covers in detail all the areas that were affected by the floods, so it’s almost a geological tour guide. Great coffee table book, too.

As a geologist, I welcome this succinct and beautifully illustrated summary of one of the most fascinating sequences of events in North American prehistory - the great Missoula Floods, which shape the Columbia River Gorge. Land forms of eastern Washington were also shaped by these floods. I bought five copies so I could give a copy to a number of friends. I will probably buy more!

This is an accessible book on a technical but engaging subject that most people know little about. The book is organized like a detective story with the key investigators and their characters described. The evidence is presented in all of its glory (including photos, both black and white and colour), and the reader is led down the path toward understanding the enormity of the events that shaped the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington, the scouring and erosion of the basaltic strata underlying the Palouse, and the shaping of the Columbia Gorge and Willamette Valley. But that's not all. There are more adventures than the multiple cataclysmic emptying of Glacial Lake Missoula. And the geological context of the story is beautifully described.