Episode #068: Problematic Lake Missoula - Ice Dam, Mega-ripples, Strandlines

Summary

Randall Carlson challenges the mainstream understanding of the Clark Fork Valley Ice Dam and Lake Missoula, arguing that evidence points to rapid flooding events rather than prolonged rainfall. He claims that the geological features indicate multiple drainage and refilling events, contrary to established theories. This discussion invites listeners to reevaluate the historical narratives surrounding Ice Age Floods.

Key takeaways

• 1Evidence suggests Lake Missoula was filled suddenly by flows from the north, not by a century of enhanced rainfall.
• 2Carlson identifies evenly-spaced remnant shorelines as key indicators of a static lake that drained and refilled over forty times.
• 3The presence of mega-scale current ripples contradicts expectations of increasing size over time.
• 4The broad valley would need to be perfectly sealed to retain a 2100-foot water depth, raising questions about the long-accepted models.

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

This is Cosmographia, the Randall Carlson podcast. And welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to Cosmographia, the Randall Carlson podcast. We are about a week out at time of recording from, is that right? We're going to Scablands? Yeah, we're leaving Monday. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we're leaving Monday. Flying out Monday. Not sure when this will be published, but we're flying out Monday as of right now. And we're very excited about that. Randall, are we going to be talking about that area today? Or what's the plan? Where are we going to be going today? Oh, we have to have a plan? I mean, we're just going to wing it. Kind of a plan. I thought this would be purely improvisational. Well, that's what I've been pushing for. But you guys seem to be set on having plans. So I figured you must have a plan. Actually, I do have a rough outline of where we're going to go and what we're going to be talking about. And yeah, I do. Because we have kind of been leading up to this with our journey around North America and looking at the various flood evidence. And now we're getting to where some of the most spectacular flood evidence on the entire planet is to be found. And we kind of left off by following the Bonneville flood up along the Snake. And we ended up at Tammany Bar, I recall. And Tammany Bar was where the very coarse Bonneville flood sediments, the bouldery, gravelly Bonneville flood sediments, being washed up out of Utah and southern Idaho and Hell's Canyon, were overlaid by Missoula flood backflood silts. So that was where the two floods met. ...

Excerpt from Kosmographia, Jul 21, 2021. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.