Lahars - Volcanic Mudflows

Volcanic Mudflows known as lahars are prominent near Interstate 90 at Thorp, Washington. Mount Rainier produced the famous Oceola Mudflow - 5,600 years ago - that flowed as far north as Seattle. But the white cliffs near Thorp are 10 million-year-old lahars from an extinct volcano that once stood in the William O. Douglas Wilderness west of Yakima, Washington.

The Cascade Range in Washington State has a rich history of volcanic eruptions going back 40 million years. Today’s stratovolcanoes like Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, and Mount Hood are very young volcanoes - less than a million years old. But volcanic mudflow deposits like those featured in this video are much older than our current composite cones. The deposits have long outlived their source.

Tom Foster (http://HUGEfloods.com) and Nick Zentner (Central Washington University) have been hiking together in eastern Washington for years. ‘Lahars at Thorp’ is part of an “I-90 Rocks” video series.

Видео Lahars - Volcanic Mudflows канала hugefloods