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Outburst Floods from Glacial Lake Missoula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

G. K. C. Clarke ,
W. H. Mathews  and
R. T. Pack
G. K. C. Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Geophysics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5, Canada
W. H. Mathews
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5, Canada
R. T. Pack
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5, Canada
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Abstract

The Pleistocene outburst floods from glacial Lake Missoula, known as the “Spokane Floods”, released as much as 2184 km3 of water and produced the greatest known floods of the geologic past. A computer simulation model for these floods that is based on physical equations governing the enlargement by water flow of the tunnel penetrating the ice dam is described. The predicted maximum flood discharge lies in the range 2.74 × 106−13.7 × 106 m3 sec−1, lending independent glaciological support to paleohydrologic estimates of maximum discharge.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , November 1984 , pp. 289 - 299
Copyright
University of Washington

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