Observations of Washington State Landscapes, Geology, Geography, Ecology, History and Land Use
Thursday, September 2, 2010
I really do not like seeing this unit on steep shoreline slopes. It is ill behaved. This particular exposure is likely the Whidbey Formation, an interglacial unit deposited approximately 100,000 years ago. It contains some clay, has a bad habit of soft sediment deformation and is associated with a number of large deep-seated land slides. I was not happy to see this unit on a recent field project assessing slope stability. More on this after I get the report written.
Dan McShane is an engineering geologist with Stratum Group, a geology and environmental consulting company based in Bellingham, Washington. Dan has been reading Washington State landscapes since driving across the Horse Heaven Hills with his father and brother in 1970. Dan's wife has started painting Washington landscapes. The intent of this blog is to help all Washington travelers better understand the landscapes we see and share field observations.