Rare rock found in Oregon

Rare rock found in Oregon

By Imagene

I was SOOOO excited when I heard about this, because I actually live in Oregon myself!

Let’s start with a bit of backstory. And I mean waaaaaay far back. Like, 15,000 years ago far back. What was so important about that time period? The Missoula Floods were in that time period. It was in the middle of an ice age in Oregon. There were towering trees, mammoths, giant sloths, and a ton of other cool creatures. But there was also a huge ice dam, with a giant lake behind it. Now, this ice dam was miles across. Like I said, it was huge. Now, picture what would happen if that dam broke. There would be a huge flood. And guess what? 15,000 years ago, the dam broke. Those floods are called the Missoula Floods. The glaciers also brought a ton of rocks with them, called glacial erratics. These glacial erratics got spread all around the Pacific Northwest. One of these rocks, a rare rock called Rhyolite, just got found in Oregon. The rock weighs two tons and is about 2-3 feet across (almost a meter) and 1 foot tall. There is a picture above. The rock is currently at the Tualatin Heritage Center.