Tsunami in Japan- Lots to Ponder for Washington State

On the east of of Japan the Anthropocene met a very non anthropogenic force. The deposits left behind by the tsunami will be markedly different than those in the past. Between the earth quake in Christchurch New Zealand and this most recent event in Japan there is much to be learned for residences of Washington State.

Location where most of the videos I have seen of the tsunami are centered near Sendai, Japan

Warnings have been issued for the Washington coast and other west coast areas of North America. The tsunami will have spread out and will be significantly weaker when it reaches the coast. I am particularly interested in how the wave will behave when it arrives at Discovery Bay. The shape of this bay makes it a bit more vulnerable. I have noted large wood on the shores at locations well above even the highest winter waves/high tides that I have speculated are tsunami related.

Entrance to Discovery Bay with Protection Island on the right and the low point is Diamond Point

Beckett Point, near the entrance to Discovery Bay 

Very old logs on the back beach at Beckett Point.

Evidence of the Anthropocene in Washington

The term Anthropocene was first suggested by Paul Crutzen, a Nobel prize winning atmospheric chemist. The term has not yet officially been adopted by the International Geologic Congress, but the term is being used more and more frequently and is becoming generally accepted. One question that will need to be resolved is when the Anthropocene epoch began. That is at what point did humans start to impact the planet so much that it warrants the delineation of a new epoch. And depending on the date determined, what will become of the current official epoch, the Holocene. Tricky stuff and likely great fun to argue about. Zalasiewicz and lots of others (2008) lay out many of the issues in a fun paper that also is a bit disturbing when you consider the impacts humans are having on the planet relative to geologic and atmospheric processes.

I will say that in my work as an engineering geologist trying to read the landscapes I see and figure out why the ground looks the way it does, I routinely distinguish between pre Anthropocene and Anthropocene events. Of course there are many natural processes that dwarf anything humans do, but the idea that humans are having more and more of an impact on the landscape is abundantly evident.

Water ski lake southeast of Blaine, Washington

The above lake caught my eye today while looking at another site in part because not only can the boat be seen in the lake but the water skier behind the boat can be seen as well. This lake is an Anthropocene lake. It is erosional feature. The eroded material was then deposited in linear parallel lines that can be seen on the lower left of the image. Or put in another way: gravel was mined down to below the water table to provide aggregate for the construction of Interstate-5 in the early 1960s. By that time the Anthropocene was well underway in Whatcom County and Washington State. 

Almota, Washington and the US Supreme Court

Almota, Washington and the Snake River

I stumbled across this little legal tidbit regarding the little community of Almota, Washington and the US Supreme Court. Up front I am not an attorney, so my understanding of the importance of this case is limited. But the small, off the beaten path, location on the lower Snake River apparently became an important eminent domain case.

In the 1960s the US government was proceeding with building dams on the lower Snake River in Washington State. The building of the dams would lead to flooding of the railroad along the river. Hence, the government had to purchase the land. If a property owner does not want to sell, the government can take the land through eminent domain, but the government still must compensate the property owner. Fairly straight forward and one of the fundamental rights spelled out in the United States Constitution.

At Almota the railroad had leased a chunk of land to Almota Farmers Elevator. The elevator company had built grain storage and loading facilities on the leased land next to the rail. There was a bit over seven years left on the lease with the railroad. The government contended that just compensation for the property should be the fair market value of the legal rights possessed as of the date of the taking, and no consideration should be given to any additional value based on the expectation that the lease might be renewed. Almota argued that just compensation should be measured by what a willing buyer would pay in an open market for the leasehold. Almota further argued that it was more than reasonable to expect that lease would be renewed and all the improvements would remain past the time of the current lease on the site and hence the value of the improvements over a longer time period than that remaining on the lease should be considered in compensation. It would be hard to expect any other shipper wanting to use the lease. And it stood to reason that the railroad would want to continue to lease the land as the railroad profited by hauling wheat. The railroad and grain elevator company had been working mutually together for many years.

The question before the court was not if Almota was to be compensated, but what should be considered in determining the compensation. Almota's argument prevailed at the US Supreme court by a 5-4 decision. This case is one of several cases that have over the years refined how just compensation is determined. Essentially the value of the land subject to eminent domain must be considered as though a purchaser was buying the land with no thought toward eminent domain.

The grain shipping port at Almota set a precedent that is referenced in discussions and court cases associated with three party eminent domain cases. The three parties being the government, the property owner and the lessee. It is a narrow ruling and was a close ruling that the judges attempted to layout in a manner that would not be interpreted too broadly. Indeed on the very same day the court ruled compensation was owed only on condemned land and did not have to account for the extra value associated with holding grazing rights on adjacent land would have had on the condemned land.

So tiny Almota has its place in eminent domain jurisprudence. And it is still a place that is one stop in getting Washington wheat to world markets. New grain elevators were built and currently most of the grain is shipped by barge down the slack water pools of the lower Snake River. The railroad line has been replaced with a new line that follows the shore line.

Previous posts on Almota and wheat shipping getting-wheat-to-river and almota-washington-1882-and-2010.

Moses, an Epic Figure of 19th Century Washington

Sulk-tash-kosha (Moses), bronze medallion by Olin Warner, 1891

A few years ago I came across a set of bronze medallions at the New York Metropolitan Art Museum. The medallions were of famous northwest First Nations peoples. It was a rare glimpse at art of the late 19th Century era depicting images associated with what is now Washington State. I came across the same set of medallions at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in December. Some of the individuals portrayed in the medallions were not only famous, but played a significant role in shaping what is now the landscape of Washington State. One medallion is of Chief Moses.

Moses Lake, both the City and the Lake are named after Moses as is Moses Coulee. Both interesting geologic features. The lake occupies a former Missoula flood channel downstream of the famous Dry Falls and other Missoula Flood channels. Moses Coulee is carved into the southern part of the Waterville Plateau as a result of the continental ice sheet diverting the Columbia River during the last glacial period approximately 18,000 years ago. Both of these features are located in central Washington in the area that had been Moses' homeland.

Moses' life spanned the American settlement of the far west of America and he lived through and played a significant role in nearly all aspects of the wrenching changes that swept his homeland and what is now eastern Washington. His general reputation is that he was peaceable, but that really is the result of a couple of key moments when he decided not to go to war. Moses was perfectly willing to fight and indeed at times he did.

In 1855 Washington's first territorial governor Stevens brought together Indians in western Washington for a treaty and then traveled to eastern Washington near Walla Walla for a treaty negotiation with eastern Washington tribes. Many tribal leaders participated and signed the treaty, but certainly not all and matters were far from settled when Stevens left the future state.

Moses was not happy with the treaty. And for good reason. The treaty would have extinguished his peoples claims to land they were living on. Post 1855 treaty, Moses is reported to have participated in battles near Toppenish fighting off soldiers attempting to quell the dissatisfied Indians. He along with several other Indians headed towards the Palouse to join the Spokanes and other non treaty tribes to fight off Colonel Wright's counter attack avenging the defeat of Colonel Steptoe in May 1858. But Moses arrived after the Spokanes and their allies were defeated. Wright definitely wanted Moses for Moses' actions against settlers and miners in eastern Washington, but Moses slipped away. It is very likely Moses would have been hung by Wright as one of his associates was hung.

After the Spokane War, Moses as well as most First Nations peoples kept a low profile and he kept his people in check allowing the passage of cattle drives from Oregon to the Caribou mining district in Canada through his land. The Civil War also allowed time to pass before a more active effort at resolving the issue of numerous non treaty Indian groups. Another factor may have been diseases including small pox that swept through First Nations peoples of the area in the 1860s greatly reducing the population and severely disrupting the cultures of the people.  By 1872 a new reservation was established in northern central Washington, the Colville Reservation. But Moses refused to agree to go to the reservation and remained part of the non treaty Indians attempting to hang on to their land.

Peace held even during the Nez Perce War as Moses declined to join Joseph's Nez Perce band's battles with the army and did not take advantage of the the otherwise preoccupied army. After Joseph was captured, Moses went to council with General Howard in 1878. Moses requested that the Columbia Basin northwest of a line running from Spokane to Yakima be set aside as a reservation for the Columbia Indians. Howard ordered no further white settlement and the request was forwarded to President Hayes. In 1879 Hayes turned down the request.

However, Hayes asked that Moses come to Washington DC. After Moses' trip to DC, Hayes ordered a new reservation to be created west of the Colville Reservation covering the west slope of the North Cascades. Hayes shortly afterwards extended the reserve to the south to the south shore of Lake Chelan.

This Indian Reservation was called the Columbia Reservation.  Look at a map today and there is no Columbia Reservation. It did not take long for objections to be raised. Initially geology came into play. The northern portion of the reservation was an identified mining district that had been overlooked. The northern 15 miles was subsequently removed by Hayes. Problems and objections to the Columbia Reservation continued including the fact that Moses was now living, not on the Columbia Reservation, but on the Colville Reservation. Hayes asked Moses to come to Washington DC again.

A couple noteworthy things can be said about Moses' trips to DC. One was on the first trip he had a pending murder charge against him that he was acquitted from after his return. Another was that his first trip required a steamer boat trip to San Francisco to catch the train to the east. On his second trip Moses was able to take a train from Spokane. While in DC Moses was asked if he and the other Indians he was traveling with would accept payment to be viewed on stage. Moses said of the event "We went and all we had to do was sit on stage, look wild, smoke a pipe of peace and give an occasional yell."

During the second trip Moses agreed to cede the Columbia Reservation in exchange for a sawmill, grist mill, cows, wagons, plows and a payment of $1,000 per year. The treaty was ratified in 1884. This agreement received a mix response by Columbia Basin and Cascade slope Indians. In fact there are bands of Columbia Basin Indians that never agreed to a treaty and remained off of reservations continuing to claim their land.

Moses lived on the Colville Reservation the rest of his life. He invited Chief Joseph and part of Joseph's band of Nez Perce to live near Nespelum with him. Perhaps he saw opportunity to gain more services and supplies for his people and Joseph's. Moses may have taken advantage of his leadership position, but he certainly never got a very good deal from the US Government. One last betrayal took place in 1891. Again geology played a key role. Gold and other minerals were discovered on the northern portion of the Colville Reservation. The government offered to buy the land from the tribes on the Colville Reservation for $1.5 million. Moses counseled "Yes, take the money because the whites would take the land anyway." He had seen the pattern before. The tribes of the Colville agreed to the deal. The money never came; Congress removed the funding from the budget.

The Colville Reservation is an interesting place and governing must be interesting with multiple tribes making decisions as a confederated group. Moses lived out his days on the southwest part of the reservation. Chief Joseph lived there as well and the two very different famous personalities made an intriguing pair that historians of that period frequently comment on. I am not sure I fully can ever understand the remarkable changes that took place during Moses' life or how he had to deal with those changes.

Besides the medallion depicting Moses, a bronze medallion of Joseph and other northwest Indians are hanging in the Smithsonian and the New York Metropolitan Museum. The story of the how the medallions came to be is for another post.

Sin-kah-you Chief Moses (seated on the left), Umatilla Chief Pee-peo-mox-mox (seated on the right) and two other delegates sent to Washington, D.C. to petition President Hayes in 1879

The Puget Ice Lobe Turns West

Blue arrows indicate glacial ice movement, red line marks approximate ice margin (click image to enlarge)

As glacial ice retreated from the Puget Sound the retreat stopped for a period when the ice had retreated back to approximately Coupeville on Whidbey Island. The direction of ice flow changed at that point from a north to south flow to a northeast to southwest flow towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The last ice flow direction can be seen in LiDAR image. South of the ice margin near Coupeville the land is streaked by the ice in a series of gentle north-south ridges. North of the ice margin near Coupeville the ridges are oriented toward the southwest marking the last glacial movement direction prior to the ice melting even further back.

The glacial lobe likely hung up at this location for a time after the ice spanning the entrance of Puget Sound collapsed when the lake that had formed south of the ice lobe in what is now Puget Sound drained out to the west. A lumpy area of kettles and moraine material can be seen in the LiDAR image immediately north of the text block indicating the glacial margin.  

Windy Day and an Alternate Ferry Route to Orcas

Saratoga Passgae between Whidbey Island and Camano Island

Had to do some field work yesterday despite the wind. My first job was on a shoreline bluff on the east side of Whidbey Island and then I headed up to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Orcas Island. Due to the wind the ferry took an alternate route as shown on the map to avoid the southern end of Rosario Strait and the exposure to ocean swells rolling into the strait via the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Alternate ferry route to Orcas in red (Google Maps)

I enjoyed the alternate route as it gave me some views of islands and passages I had not seen before.

Cliffs on the east side of Cypress Island (named for junipers that are cypress like (juniperus maritima))

Tombolo connecting small island to Cypress

Cone Islands with Cypress in the background. Note balds on Cypress

Approaching passage between Cypress on the left and small Towhead Island on the right

Towhead Island with Lummi Island across north Rosario Strait in the distance

Eagle Cliff at the north end of Cypress during brief hail storm.

While named eagle the cliff has been a nesting site for falcons

Approaching Peavine Passage with Blakely Island on the left and Obstruction on the right.

Airport on Blakely. Numerous San Juan Islands are primarily accessed via plane

Rainbow near the end of the journey looking up East Sound with snowy Mount Constitution on Orcas Island

Belated One Year Synopsis of Reading the Washington Landscape

I started this blog about one year ago with the idea of writing up thoughts on the Washington Landscape from observations I make while working and traveling about the state combined with some research I am doing on various aspects of Washington State landscape as well as ideas that just bang out of my head.  A few months ago I added tags to the posts to break the posts into general categories. In some cases posts receive multiple tags such as a recent post on Crescent Beach on Orcas Island.

One area that I have not posted much on explicitly is policy. Every now and then a post will have policy as a secondary issue and it is tagged as such. Often the policy issues are simply a way of understanding how policies influence the way certain areas have developed or not developed and those policies are from many years ago.

More recently I have delved into an ongoing policy issue regarding coal terminals. I hope I can bring a different angle on the issue based on my research or experience with public policy. I try as much as practical to be neutral on policy matters. In the case of coal terminals I have not expressed my own views on coal terminals and large scale shipping of coal overseas on this blog. I simply think fleshing out some of the issues are well worthwhile both for the proposed Longview facility and the potentially proposed Cherry Point facility. Understanding landscapes means sometimes you have to delve into how policies develop. Hence, I thought a perspective on PR campaigns was warranted for the Cherry Point coal terminal because it is actually taking place currently and may influence policy. I hope to bring more of that sort of policy posting in the future. For those that know my past political ventures, it is not as though I have fear of offending anyone on policy matters, but I do not want that to be part of this blog.

However, I may at times take noxious newspaper editors to task. Editorials that can not get their point across without disparaging community members or getting the facts right deserve opinions aimed at them - They should know better.

The other aspect of this blog I have enjoyed immensely is "meeting up with" the geology blog world. Very good for my professional development and learning and I hope that a few of my geology posts do the same. I do enjoy that the most read post I have done was on eskers. I post I wrote on Sumas Mountain and landslides over a year ago was viewed 60 times yesterday - Is someone doing a class project somewhere? Another post I wrote on pronghorns started getting lots of reads a few months after I wrote it. That caused me to get curious as to why and I found that Yakima Nation had released pronghorns on the Yakima Reservation.

Anyway I hope regular readers continue to get something out of this, and for geologists I hope to have some contributions in the near future.