The Long Days

Lingering evening light almost due north on Interstate 5

In December the field day ends at 4:00 pm. But in June it is hardly ever dark. I had a cloudy day in the field a couple of days ago, but noted that 10:45 the sky to the north was still lit with light as I headed back to home. The long days make getting field done a lot work easier.

The long days we have make a big difference for farming as well. Even though the soil temperatures take awhile to warm up in northwest Washington, the long days make up for the difference. 

Agate Pass, Bainbridge Island

I had a recent down slope traverse between recent landslides on a clayey slope on Bainbridge Island. This traverse entailed sliding from tree to tree down the slope. Better for slugs than people, but at least this slope had minimal blackberry brush and I guess I could claim it is one of my skill sets. 

Recent slide scarp

Dense clay on slide area

Random cobble embedded within the clay

I noted a few random cobbles embedded within the clay indicative of the unit being an ice margin lake. When glacial ice blocked off the north end of Puget Sound approximately 18,000 years ago, a lake formed over the Puget lowlands. In the Seattle area, the lake deposits associated with this lake are referred to as the Lawton Clays. Haugerud (2005) has utilized the Lawton Clay in his mapping of units on Bainbridge Island. based on what I observed this is a very reasonable interpretation.

I was not real keen on crawling back up the slippery steep slope and there were a couple of pitches I was not sure I wanted to try again with my shovel in hand so I set my sites on Agate Pass and using the bridge over the pass as a possible easy route back up.

Bridge at Agate Pass with casino on opposite shore

The Port Madison Indian Reservation is on the opposite shore from Bainbridge Island, and like many reservations in Washington has casino and hotel. Agate Pass itself had a favorable south wind and a northward tidal current at the time of my visit allowing for an easy passage for north bond sail boats. 

Agate Pass looking west

The route back up off the shore was an easy climb under the bridge span. And I got to see a bit more geology this way.

The east shore of the pass is a platform beach with a bare covering of sand and gravel over glacial drift.

A Different Era for Orcas

I has some work around Penn Cove on Whidbey Island this week. Penn Cove was one the site of an Orca roundup. It was one of these well publicized captures that led to a shift in thinking about Orcas and hunting for capturing was banned

Whatcom County Council Moves Forward on 8,700 Acre Park

The Whatcom County Council voted on sending a letter to the Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands affirming their support of a land exchange followed by a reconveyance of Department of Natural Resources managed Forest Board Lands to Whatcom County. The reconveyed land will become a 8,700 acre forest preserve County park. The vote which is a clear indication that the park will go forward passed 5-2. More by Jared Paben HERE.

I attended the meeting and took some pictures. The issue was kind of a big deal for me and a few other folks. But really it is a big deal for Whatcom County. More later - lots of field work over the next few days.

Whatcom County Council from the left Carl Weimer in favor, Bill Knutzen opposed, Ken Mann in favor, Kathy Kershner in favor, Barbara Brenner opposed, Pete Kremen in favor and Sam Crawford in favor.



On the Trail of Bjornstad and Kiver

Rainbow at sunset over Dry Falls

In some manner I feel I have been on Bruce Bjornstad's trail for many years. I went to high school in eastern Washington and later worked on figuring fate and transport mechanisms of various groundwater contaminants at the Hanford area. Most anyone with even a minimal understanding of the of the ice-age floods in eastern Washington will recognize J. Harlen Bretz's work, the work of understanding these floods and how exactly they shaped our landscape has been ongoing and it really continues to surprise and thrill. Whenever I get over on the east side of our state or down to the Columbia River and Portland and Longview areas, I have to look at things through the lens of the huge floods. Some of the features are so unique that a little help is always appreciated.

Having been trailing behind the work of Bjornstad and others I am looking forward to getting a little help on the features across the northern and upper end of the flood paths. Thanks to Dave Tucker and Dale Middleton for the heads up.

 
The book can be ordered from http://www.sandpointonline.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=228

Certified

Just signed a contract for a small project that is in part funded by federal funding. A clause in the contract included Certification Regarding Material Support and Resources to Terrorists .

The clause is three paragraphs long. I assume that this clause is likely in all contracts that have to filter through the federal system. We do not do a lot of government work at Stratum Group so I find the wording of contracts kind of interesting. I picture attorneys hashing over nuances of language and words that then become a requirement of all government contracts. Long arguments over sentences such as "Contractor will implement reasonable monitoring and oversight procedures to safeguard against assistance being diverted to support terrorist activity".

Deep-Seated Landslide in Upper Trout Creek, Lewis County

I was doing some landslide evaluation off of aerial imagery. When I focused down on the image below to determine if a bare area was a landslide, I noted that the logging road was criss-crossed with arcuate fractures of a large deep-seated slide. 

High view of upper Trout Creek, Lewis County

Red dots denote probable landslide initiation locations (my own designations)

 (image 2009 via USGS)

Close up of the above image with arcuate surface fractures of a deep-seated landslide

 (image 2009 via USGS)

Topographic map of the area (USGS)

Red dots denote recent landslides (my own designations)

I pulled up the Department of Natural Resources FRAP map to see if this deep-seated slide area showed up on the map.

Slope designation map of section showing slide site

The locations shows as a mix of medium stability (green) and stable (white) landforms

outside of designated high hazard areas (Map is WADNR)

Plenty of shallow landslides within landform areas designated as high instability and moderate instability, but this deep-seated unstable area got missed. It would be interesting to see how this landform looks with a better digital elevation model or on the ground.