scablands
Flood-carved rocky plateau
Scablands are barren, rocky terrain stripped of soil by catastrophic flooding or glacial action, leaving exposed basalt and deep channels.
The term comes from the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington, carved by ancient floods.
The landscape looks scarred or scabbed—rough, eroded, largely unsuitable for agriculture: Miles of scablands stretched before us.
Fine-grained volcanic stone
- lavaErupted liquid stone
- igneousFormed from cooled magma
- volcanicOf fiery mountain origin
- channeledDirected through specific path
coulees · bedrock · columnar · extrusive · geomorphology · landform · escarpment · outcrop
Western Montana university town
- megafloodsEnormous ancient inundation events
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
- delugeSevere overflow of water
- outburstSudden emotional release
glacial lake · torrent · inundation · catastrophic · jökulhlaup · floodwaters · spillway · ice dam
Unable to produce
- desolateBleak and abandoned
- ruggedTough and uneven
- starkSevere and unadorned
- bleakDreary and without cheer
inhospitable · rocky · bare · harsh · windswept · arid · sparse · treeless
Directed through specific path
- couleesSteep-walled dry valleys
- gulliesChannels carved by erosion
- ravinesSteep-sided narrow valleys
- canyonsDeep, narrow valleys
denudation · scoured · stripped · carved · dissection · plucking · abrasion · weathering
Era of massive glaciation
- PleistoceneAncient glacial geological period
- glacierSlow-moving ice mass
- ice sheetThick glacial landmass covering
- meltwaterWater from melted ice
outwash · erratics · Holocene · glaciation · moraines · till · interglacial · retreat
basalt
Fine-grained volcanic stone
channeled · coulees · bedrock · columnar · extrusive · geomorphology · landform · escarpment · outcrop · exposed
Missoula
Western Montana university town
- megafloodsEnormous ancient inundation events
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
- delugeSevere overflow of water
outburst · glacial lake · torrent · inundation · catastrophic · jökulhlaup · floodwaters · spillway · ice dam · discharge
barren
Unable to produce
bleak · inhospitable · rocky · bare · harsh · windswept · arid · sparse · treeless · exposed
channeled
Directed through specific path
canyons · denudation · scoured · stripped · carved · dissection · plucking · abrasion · weathering · sediment
ice age
Era of massive glaciation
- PleistoceneAncient glacial geological period
- glacierSlow-moving ice mass
- ice sheetThick glacial landmass covering
meltwater · outwash · erratics · Holocene · glaciation · moraines · till · interglacial · retreat · loess
- Pacific NorthwestAlaska, Seattle, Oregon, Vancouver, Washington
scablandsbreadbasket
Major grain-producing region
agricultural heartland · loam · bottomland · arable land · river delta
scablandsfloodplain
Flood-prone riverside lowland
rainforest · meadow · jungle · verdant landscape · woodland