Columbia River Basalt: the Yellowstone hot spot arrives in a flood of fire: Seventeen million years ago the Yellowstone hot spot, a plume see Plate Tectonics diagram of very hot rock, rose from deep within the Earth beneath eastern Oregon, setting off a huge pulse of volcanic activity. The Columbia River is the fourth largest river in North America. The maria on the Moon are additional, even more extensive, flood basalts. The Columbia River Basalt Group occurs at land surface and has been shaped by tectonics and erosion to form the scablands of eastern Washington, the rolling hills of north central Oregon, cliffs along the Columbia River Gorge, uplands within the northern Willamette Valley, and headlands along the central and northern Oregon Coast. In addition, some 50 outcrops of Columbia River basalt were observed or examined closely, and these are the subject of this report. The Columbia is one of the world’s greatest sources of hydroelectric power and, with its tributaries, represents a third of the potential hydropower of the United States. (Public domain.) General characteristics of the Columbia River basalts Figure 1. It has a composition similar to gabbro. The Rocky Mountains to the east block out most of the severe winter storms of the interior of the continent, and the Cascade Range to the west shields the basin from moist Pacific Ocean air. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. Flood basalts, the largest volcanic events in Earth history, are thought to drive global environmental change because they can emit large volumes of CO2 and SO2 over short geologic time scales. It is exceeded in discharge on the continent only by the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Mackenzie rivers. Sedimentation in the Columbia River Basalt Region. See if your knowledge of names is nimble—or numb—in this quiz of states and cities. At least 50,000 cubic miles of basalt can be found within that area, and some estimates go as high as 90,000 cubic miles. It is believed that the fronts of the lava flows were several stories (approximately … Age Range: 17 to 6 million years ago. Use your knowledge about how basalt provinces form to place the following events in sequence from oldest to youngest. Native vegetation at lower elevations of the interior basin is mostly of the shrub-steppe variety, dominated by sagebrush and bunchgrasses. Low flows occur in autumn and winter, causing water shortages at the river’s hydroelectric plants. It is 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long. A stack of basalt lava layers more than 2 miles thick that stretches from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(98)00157-5. The Columbia flows from its source in Columbia Lake, at an elevation of 2,700 feet (820 metres), in British Columbia near the crest of the Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. The Columbia River basalts (CRBs) is the youngest and the most extensively studied continental flood basalt on earth. 2. Most areas within Earth'… It is 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long. Wallula Gap (/ w ə ˈ l uː l ʌ ɡ æ p /) is a large water gap of the Columbia River through the Horse Heaven Hills basalt anticlines in the Columbia River Basin in the U.S. state of Washington, just south of the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers. https://www.britannica.com/place/Columbia-River, The Canadian Encyclopedia - Columbia River, Columbia River - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Columbia River - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Columbia River at Revelstoke, southeastern British Columbia, Canada, at the edge of Mount Revelstoke National Park. The geologic history of the modern Columbia River Gorge through the Cascades could be said to have its origin in the Yakima Basalt of the Columbia River Basalt Group, the greatest outpouring of lava in the history of North America. Physical features of western North America. It's seen in an outcrop near Wilson Creek, Washington, in the Columbia River basalts. Joseph Canyon, 610 meters deep, in northeast Oregon, was formed by the Columbia River Flood Basalts some 15 million years ago. 1; Mohl and Thiessen, 1995). In all, more than 300 individual large (average volume 580 cubic km!) Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Eruption of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) has been linked to elevated atmospheric CO2 and global warming during the mid-Miocene climate optimum (MMCO) ~16 million years (Ma) ago. Farther west the suture again runs north-south to form the eastern margin of the Pasco Basin (Fig. Columbia River basalts; MgO vs TiO2 in detail. Animal life was abundant and varied prior to white settlement. The Columbia River basalts (CRBs) is the youngest and the most extensively studied continental flood basalt on earth. The Columbia is one of the world’s greatest sources of hydroelectric power and, with its tributaries, represents a third of the potential hydropower of the United States. Columbia River Flood Basalts: During late Miocene and early Pliocene times (between 17 and 6 million years ago), one of the largest basaltic lava floods ever to appear on the earths surface engulfed about 63,000 square miles of the Pacific Northwest. Through the use of a series of locks, barge traffic is made possible to Lewiston, Idaho, more than 460 miles (740 km) inland from the river’s mouth at the junction of the Clearwater and Snake rivers. Size, however, is only one aspect of what makes the river particularly unique. Shortly below the confluence with the Snake River, its largest tributary, the Columbia turns west and continues 300 miles (480 km) to the ocean as the boundary between Oregon and Washington; in this last stretch the river has carved the spectacular Columbia River Gorge through the Cascade Range. It then flows to the south for 270 miles (435 km) to the border of Canada and the United States (elevation 1,290 feet [390 metres]), where it enters northeastern Washington. The Deccan Traps are flood basalts similar to the Columbia River basalts of the northwestern United States. The photo was … By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. High flows occur in late spring and early summer, when snow melts in the mountainous watershed. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Columbia River, largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America. The CRB's show one of the widest dispersions of chemical types known of all the major basaltic groups. 2. BRICKS & MORTAR PHASE - 8. West Bar at a sweeping curve of the Columbia River in central Washington. The Columbia River basin’s climate, strongly affected by orographic influences, is partly continental and partly marine. Origin of the Columbia River basalts: melting model of a heterogeneous plume head. COLUMBIA RIVER BASALTS: More than 300 lava flows that buried much of the Pacific Northwest! Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Deccan basalts may have played a … The Columbia River basalt and the Yellowstone hot spot. Columbia River basalts TiO2 vs K2O. Some of the more voluminous flows followed the ancestral Columbia River across the Cascade arc, Puget-Willamette trough, and the Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean. 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