Disasters...Naturally

Owen is currently taking a natural disaster geology class. It seems to be pretty fun for him. And yesterday, as part of the class, he got to take a field trip to some of the nearby natural disaster sites. He went to...

The Teton Dam Site (which failed and resulted in a ginormous flood on June 5, 1976 -- my Dad helped place sandbags along the banks of the Snake River when this happened...if I remember correctly)

This is what is left of the Teton Dam













The area it first washed through before flooding Rexburg and surrounding South East Idaho areas















Madison Slide Site (a massive landslide of 80 million tons of earth killing 28 people in 1959 caused by the 7.5 magnitude Hebgen Earthquake)















Cabin Creek Fault Scarp (also caused by the Hebgen earthquake, resulting in a 18 foot displacement across a normal fault)

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this is really 18 feet















and Upper Mesa Falls (which was caused by one of the biggest volcanic explosion in the United States -- 1.3 million years ago)

It's not Niagara, but it is 112 feet tall



















He got to see many others, but these were the highlights to him. And he even saw snow in June...Idaho has crazy weather!