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Mt. St. Helens in Washington erupted in 1980. It
was a small volcano by past standards. Yet it showed us how layered
deposits could be laid down rapidly. It also demonstrated in later
eruptions that these deposits could be carved out rapidly. |
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In this photograph you can see a wide canyon that was
carved out in just a matter of days. Within this large canyon is
now a river flowing. This river is slowly carving out
a completely different type of canyon within the larger one. See
the similarities within the Grand Canyon as shown in Exhibit
23A The Grand Canyon formation. |
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Here are more examples of large canyons carved out rapidly
with streams now flowing in them. |
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Thousands of logs are still floating on Spirit Lake.
These living trees had their branches sheared off from the blast of 1980.
Compare this to the Petrified Forest in Arizona which is actually a petrified
log jam. Also see Exhibit 23K The Petrified
Forest. Click here for a live web camera on Mt. St. Helens. |
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The Salton Sea in California was formed accidentally
from 1905 to 1907 when the Colorado River broke through irrigation channels
near Yuma Arizona. The powerful flood of water rapidly carved
a new river channel up to 60 feet deep and over 1000 feet wide!
The roar of the raging waters could be heard miles away. By the time
the irrigation breach was repaired and the flow of the Colorado River returned
to its original banks, the newly formed Salton Sea was about 40 miles long
and 13 miles wide and 30 feet deep. |
