Columbia River Flood Basalt Province detailed in new GSA special paper

Even though the Columbia River Flood Basalt Province is the smallest and youngest flood basalt province in the world, it still covers nearly 210,000 square kilometers of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Because it is well-exposed and easily accessible to geoscientists, it is also one of the best-studied. This new book from The Geological Society of America details how studies here serve as models for understanding stratigraphic development and petrogenesis in large igneous provinces through time.

Flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group crop out mostly in eastern Washington and the High Lava Plains of central Oregon, but also extend westward through the Cascade Range to the offshore continental slope, eastward to western Idaho, the Snake River Plain, and the Yellowstone plateau, and south to include northernmost Nevada. Throughout its 17 chapters, this volume updates readers on the current knowledge of the stratigraphy and physical volcanology of the area; the extent, volume, and age of the lava flows; the tectonic setting, evolution, and history of the province; the petrogenesis of the lavas; and the hydrogeology of the basalt aquifers.

More information:
rock.geosociety.org/Store/detail.aspx?id=SPE497

Provided by Geological Society of America