01-14-2012 Dave Tucker: Mt. Baker Volcano
About the Talk Eruptive History and Hazards of the Mount Baker Volcanic Field On a clear day in Port Townsend, you can’t help but notice Mount Baker to the northeast, just beyond Bellingham. Just 60 miles away, this spectacular volcano lies restless, its history largely unknown until recently. The geologic history of the Mount Baker Volcanic Field is now well documented for the past 3-4 million years. The ice-mantled cone of Mount Baker is but the youngest in a long series of eruptive centers, which includes two calderas (large eruptive cauldrons). The past 10,000 years (the Holocene) has seen a… Read more01-14-2012 Dave Tucker: Mt. Baker Volcano
03-03-2012 Hugh Shipman: Bluffs and Beaches
About the Talk Bluffs and Beaches: Geology on the edge (of Jefferson County) Puget Sound is best distinguished from other large American estuaries by the pervasive influence of the last glaciation. This glacial legacy includes a steep, irregular coastline, an abundance of coarse-grained sediment, and a shoreline dominated by coastal bluffs. These bluffs are inherently erosional landforms, although the rate and character of this erosion varies greatly. Bluffs are a key component of a dynamic beach system that supports an incredible array of coastal landforms and environments, including spits and small estuaries. This talk will draw on local examples to show… Read more03-03-2012 Hugh Shipman: Bluffs and Beaches
04-28-2012 Dave Montgomery: DIRT
About the talk Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it’s everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it’s no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth’s soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to… Read more04-28-2012 Dave Montgomery: DIRT
11-10-2012 Richard Waitt: Missoula floods
About the Talk The great Missoula floods and other megafloods of the Columbia River: Agents of catastrophic landscape change in Washington Dr. Richard Waitt of the U.S. Geological Survey (Vancouver, WA) will present a fascinating review of the Great Missoula Floods, which has been a topic of interest of his for several decades. As a result of more than 40 years of research, the great Missoula flood is now known to have consisted of perhaps 100 repeated floods that occurred intermittently across several millennia. A single monstrous ‘Spokane Flood’ was first proposed in J Harlan Bretz in 1923, as an… Read more11-10-2012 Richard Waitt: Missoula floods
2012-07-22 First Nodule Point field trip
About the Field Trip Geology of Nodule Point, Marrowstone Island Advisors of the Geology Groups will run the rain-canceled beach walk on Marrowstone Island on Sunday, July 22, to see the Eocene and Pleistocene sections at Nodule Point, located near the southeast end of the island. This walk is timed for the low tide and participation will be limited (by parking spaces) to 50 persons. To download a recent guide, click this link Meet at Chimacum High School parking lot, NE corner. Here we’ll stage vehicles, using the largest available (vans, SUV, station wagons) and packing in the maximum number… Read more2012-07-22 First Nodule Point field trip
Shipman, Hugh
Hugh was a geologist with the Shorelands Program at the Washington Department of Ecology since 1989 but retired in 2019 after 30 years. His interests include coastal erosion, geologic hazards, and the environmental impacts of shoreline modifications. Hugh grew up near the coast of Maine but moved to the Puget Sound region in 1983. (Updated Oct. 2021) Here is his bio from Sound Waters University 2018: Hugh has been a Coastal Geologist with the Shorelands and Environmental Assistance program of the Washington Department of Ecology since 1989. He works all over Puget Sound and is interested in coastal erosion, geologic… Read moreShipman, Hugh