Episode Details

A trip to upstate New York turns into a forensic investigation. Darren and Randall Carlson ask why Niagara Falls, Letchworth Gorge, Watkins Glen and the Finger Lakes look so much like the flood-scarred terrain of the Channeled Scablands, and what that says about how much water once moved across North America.In this episode:- Niagara Falls versus Dry Falls, and what ancient flood discharge rates really looked like- Why the Finger Lakes radiate toward Lake Ontario, and what the Valley Heads Moraine marks- Letchworth Gorge and Devil's Canyon as breached spillways- Drumlins, giant current ripples, water gaps and underfit rivers as signatures of high-energy flow- The sediments at Tammany Gully and Burlingame Gully- What Wallula Gap, the Columbia Gorge and the Finger Lakes have in common- The bigger picture: glacial outburst flooding from the Rocky Mountain Trench and Flathead Lake to the Missouri River Breaks and Lake AgassizRandall's argument is that the landscape preserves evidence of repeated catastrophic surges, not slow and gentle change. If you've ever looked at a river valley and wondered how it got there, this one will change how you see it.