Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA
Late Pleistocene outburst megafloods, mostly from glacial Lake Missoula, hydraulically ponded behind downstream constrictions in the Columbia River in southeastern Washington State, USA. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for flood deposits from the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, located in a...
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doaj-cfb06a80777c4958b3f86eecb2b1fb972021-09-26T01:10:30ZengMDPI AGQuaternary2571-550X2021-07-014202010.3390/quat4030020Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USAGeorge V. Last0Tammy M. Rittenour1Mid-Columbia Basin Old Natural Education Sciences (MCBONES) Research Center Foundation, Kennewick, WA 99338, USADepartment of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USALate Pleistocene outburst megafloods, mostly from glacial Lake Missoula, hydraulically ponded behind downstream constrictions in the Columbia River in southeastern Washington State, USA. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for flood deposits from the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, located in a high (315–320 m asl) distal portion of the transient lake, indicate that at least seven floods ponded high enough to inundate the area during the period 20.9 ± 2.6 ka to 16.3 ± 2.8 ka. This is consistent with a radiocarbon age of about 17.4 ± 0.2 ka cal BP from the middle of the flood sequence. OSL ages from loess deposits overlying a paleosol at the top of the flood sequence range from 14.0 ± 2.3 ka to 10.9 ± 2.0 ka, suggesting a hiatus of about 2.3 thousand years. These datasets are consistent with current understanding that multiple late Pleistocene megafloods occurred between 20 ka and 14 ka and that earlier floods produced higher flood stages than later ones. The lack of flood deposits in the Coyote Canyon area younger than 16 ka supports the hypothesis that younger megafloods did not hydraulically pond in the Pasco Basin above about 230 m asl.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-550X/4/3/20Missoula floodsLake Lewisice age floodsmammoth<i>Mammuthus</i>OSL |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
George V. Last Tammy M. Rittenour |
spellingShingle |
George V. Last Tammy M. Rittenour Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA Quaternary Missoula floods Lake Lewis ice age floods mammoth <i>Mammuthus</i> OSL |
author_facet |
George V. Last Tammy M. Rittenour |
author_sort |
George V. Last |
title |
Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA |
title_short |
Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA |
title_full |
Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA |
title_fullStr |
Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA |
title_sort |
chronology of missoula flood deposits at the coyote canyon mammoth site, washington state, usa |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Quaternary |
issn |
2571-550X |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
Late Pleistocene outburst megafloods, mostly from glacial Lake Missoula, hydraulically ponded behind downstream constrictions in the Columbia River in southeastern Washington State, USA. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for flood deposits from the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, located in a high (315–320 m asl) distal portion of the transient lake, indicate that at least seven floods ponded high enough to inundate the area during the period 20.9 ± 2.6 ka to 16.3 ± 2.8 ka. This is consistent with a radiocarbon age of about 17.4 ± 0.2 ka cal BP from the middle of the flood sequence. OSL ages from loess deposits overlying a paleosol at the top of the flood sequence range from 14.0 ± 2.3 ka to 10.9 ± 2.0 ka, suggesting a hiatus of about 2.3 thousand years. These datasets are consistent with current understanding that multiple late Pleistocene megafloods occurred between 20 ka and 14 ka and that earlier floods produced higher flood stages than later ones. The lack of flood deposits in the Coyote Canyon area younger than 16 ka supports the hypothesis that younger megafloods did not hydraulically pond in the Pasco Basin above about 230 m asl. |
topic |
Missoula floods Lake Lewis ice age floods mammoth <i>Mammuthus</i> OSL |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-550X/4/3/20 |
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