The Purcell Lobe
<p>A text recently popped up from my long-time friend, fellow geologist, and nature photographer— <a href="https://medium.com/@christopherlovelace" rel="noopener">CF Lovelace</a>. He pointed me to a recent article by Rebecca Latson — <a href="https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2022/06/photography-national-parks-exploring-along-ice-age-floods-national-geologic-trail-part-1" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Exploring Along The Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail — Part 1</em></a>. It was a great article with wonderful photographs detailing fascinating geomorphic features created by the Missoula floods. These floods started in Montana and ravaged large portions of the Pacific Northwest near the end of the last ice age. I highly recommend the article.</p>
<p>But one aspect of these historic floods the article didn’t delve into was their geological/hydrological origins. The story started in Western Montana about 15,000 years ago. Earth was in the throes of its most recent ice age, and ice dominated the Northern Hemisphere. Large glaciers pushed southward from the Arctic, traversing Canada and pushing massive lobes of glacial ice into the northern regions of the US.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/earthsphere/the-purcell-lobe-5220376f9ca0"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>