HOW WA STATE WAS FORMED

Techtonic Plates Pangea The landmass that existed when all the continents were joined from about 300 – 200 million years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUk94AdXPA Plates move around an inch a year.

Tectonic Plates Divergent Boundary Convergent Boundary Subduction Zone Transforma-tive Boundary The point where one tectonic plate is being pulled away from another The point where one tectonic plate is being pushed into another The point where one tectonic plate slides under another When two tectonic plates slide past each other

Techtonic Plates https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-HwPR_4mP4 Tsunami So What?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-HwPR_4mP4 A large title wave created when a convergent boundary slips

Tectonic Plates Facts Cascadia subduction zone runs for 700 miles off the PNW coast Juan de Fuca plate =90,000 square miles in size Juan de Fuca plate is not sliding under the North American plate…it’s stuck, building up lots of pressure!! When it lets go, North American Continent will rebound like a spring causing massive earthquake Estimated earthquake will be 8.7 – 9.2 (VERY BIG!)

Tectonic Plates Facts Continued Results?? When slips, from Cali to Canada…from continental shelf to Cascades will Drop as much as 6 feet Rebound 30-100 feet to the west Huge quantities of displaced ocean water will surge up forming a “water mountain” (Tsunami) which will split in half West side will rush to Japan East side will rush to PNW coast Tsunami will reach the PNW coast within 15 minutes Fun Fact: A grown man is knocked down by ankle-deep water going 6.7 mph… this Tsunami will travel about 20mph and range from 20 – 100+ ft, high!!!

Tectonic Plates Results Continued When earthquakes and tsunami stops, the region will be unrecognizable. Predict everything west of I-5 will be toast. Impact will cover around 140,000 square miles and 7 million people Will be the worst natural disaster in history of North America Predict 13,000 dead 27,000 wounded Millions displaced (lose home) 2.5 Million will need food and water Fun Fact: This Tsunami is not just water! It’s a 5 story deluge of cars, pickups, cinder blocks, fishing boats, utility poles, chunks of houses and evertything else that once made up a town!!

Techtonic Plates Results continued Search and rescue expected to extend 100,000 miles and up to 453 miles off the coast. Along I-5 corridor Estimated to take 1-3 months to restore electricity Estimated to take 1month to a year to restore drinking water and sewer service 6 months to a year to restore the major highways Estimating 3 or more years without hospitals

HOW PUGET SOUND WAS FORMED Step 1 Step 2 Tectonic processes related to the subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate The Vashon Glaciation (15,000-20,000 yrs ago)

HOW PUGET SOUND WAS FORMED Vashon Glaciation Ice sheets advanced across Puget Sound Deposited large amount of glacial sediment Left a general rise of about 330 ft in elevation Fun Fact: The glacier was about 1 mile high above this classroom! It extended past Olympia!!

HOW PUGET SOUND WAS FORMED Vashon Glaciation Melted water flowed south beneath the ice Gouged out major valleys and the Puget Sound

HOW PUGET SOUND WAS FORMED Step 4 Water Erosion of hillsides Materials flow into tributaries of major rivers from Cascades and Olympics This dug out smaller valleys and made deltas Deposits are re-deposited in narrow floodplains and at the marine shoreline.

HOW PUGET SOUND WAS FORMED Step 5 Changes of the shoreline Changes in sea level Land slowly rebounds after weight of glaciers are gone Local tectonics Last 5,000 years sea level has remained relatively the same in Northern Puget Sound Southern Puget Sound has gotten lower in last 5,000 years

HOW MOUNTAINS ARE FORMED Fold Mountain Ranges Tectonic plates crash together and fold. Think of cars in a head-on collision. Example: Rocky Mountains Fun Fact: All ways mountains are formed take millions of years

HOW MOUNTAINS ARE FORMED Fault Block Mountains Two plates grind together, resulting in blocks of earth lifting up and tilting. Lifted part forms a mountain Lowered parts are filled with eroded material Example is Okanagan Mountains Fun Fact: To be a mountain the land must be at least 2,000 feet high and have at least a 2 degree slope

HOW MOUNTAINS ARE FORMED Volcanic and Dome Mountains Formed when magma Is pushed up and breaks through the surface Pushed up to cause a bulge in land then stops before it breaks through Example is Mt. Rainier (volcano) and Dome Peak (Dome)

HOW MOUNTAINS ARE FORMED Erosion Rain, rivers and wind pound mountains over time to carve and smooth mountains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Cr_pplBIo Fun Fact: The older the mountain the smoother it is

HOW EASTERN WA WAS FORMED Volcanic Fissures Ginormous cracks in the earth’s crust (fissures) covered the Columbia Plateau with lava Sometimes lava spread out more than 100 miles from the crack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG3YunIcZ54 Fun Fact: Although dinosaurs have been found all over North America, none have been found in Washington. Some think dinosaurs are buried in the 4,000 feet basalt (igneous rock) formed by the volcanic fissures!!

HOW EASTERN WA WAS FORMED Rich Palouse Soil After lava flows ended, loess was built up Loess = a mixture of volcanic ash and dust carried by wind before being deposited on the ground in another place Soil up to 150 ft. deep gradually covered basalt caused by volcanic fissures. Fun fact: Palouse is the wheat growing region in WA State

HOW EASTERN WA WAS FORMED Ice Age Long after major lava flows ceased, air got colder and snow fell for most of the year. Polar ice cap moved south into northern United States, then the earth warmed and the ice melted and receded back This happened many many times Last one was called the Ice Age 1 million to 10,000 years ago

HOW EASTERN WA WAS FORMED Columbian Mammoth Our State Fossil 6 mammoth remains taken from Spokane County in 1870’s Combined to make 1 mammoth

HOW EASTERN WA WAS FORMED What is the coolest thing that formed Eastern Washington?