Awe

Prompt: Awe

“Ah!” you will say in awe of what you see.

Every time I drive down Highway 155 by Banks Lake, I am in awe at the story of the Grand Coulee.

Those walls are basalt from millions of years ago, which flowed for years and years.

The coulees themselves, box shaped, dry canyons, were created by massive floods with immense receding waterfalls from thousands of years ago during the Ice Age, which eroded the basalt of the coulees. Basalt cools in cracks that make the chunks of basalt easy to pluck off by the flowing floods.

Current thoughts are that this coulee, the Grand Coulee, eroded hundreds of thousands of years ago in an even more massive flood than previously thought. The data comes from analyzing the work of scientists from the 1920s and 1940s.

Here’s a long video about the new information as informed from an older book about these floods. Grand Coulee – Ice Age Floods – New Thoughts.

And here is an older video of the erosion of the lower grand coulee, just south of this spot at Dry Falls. It’s the same process as formed the upper grand coulee. Video:

About The Challenge

Flickr’s 21st Birthday Photo Challenge Today’s prompt: Awe

Flickr turns twenty-one this year and I’ve been a member since 2009, for sixteen years. I love Flickr — sharing, albums, descriptions, groups, license choices. It’s a great way to connect and share with others– and stay in charge of your own work.

So, I’ve joined the birthday challenge, which follows these prompts. I’ll add a note about the photo in each description. See the Flickr 21 Birthday Challenge Group pool here.

I’ve added these photos to a new album, Challenge Photography, which will hold any photos I take for different challenges. When you click the tag for the challenge #flickr21challenge, you’ll see a list of your own submissions, recently tagged photos, and then all the photos with the tag.

Come along, join a group on Flickr, join the fun!