Unleashing the Divine Power: The Miraculous Story of the Lake Missoula Flood

The Lake Missoula Flood—Clues for the Genesis Flood

The Lake Missoula flood provides us with a glimpse of what a gigantic global-scale flood, like the Genesis Flood, could accomplish in a short time. This flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago during the peak of the Ice Age. Glacial Lake Missoula, one of the largest temporary lakes in the world at that time, formed in western Montana due to meltwater ponding behind a finger of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet.

Glacial Lake Missoula had a volume of about 2,200 cubic kilometers (540 cubic miles), which is nearly five times the volume of Lake Erie. The lake developed shorelines along the nearby foothills, indicating that it filled up gradually over time. However, when the ice dam holding back the lake gave way, glacial Lake Missoula catastrophically emptied within a few days. The water rushed across eastern Washington and northern Oregon at speeds exceeding 100 km/h (60 mph). As it flowed, it eroded approximately 200 cubic kilometers (50 cubic miles) of soft silt and hard basalt.

This rapid erosion gives us an idea of the massive amount and speed of erosion that likely occurred during the Genesis Flood, which was thousands of times larger than the Lake Missoula flood. The Lake Missoula flood also left behind evidence of wide erosion followed by narrow erosion. In some areas, wide currents planed the basalt to create a nearly flat surface called a planation surface. Then the flow became channelized, leading to erosion that dissected the surface into smaller areas. This pattern of erosion is similar to what we would expect during the Recessive Stage of the Genesis Flood.

The Lake Missoula flood also provides insights into other features comparable to those resulting from the Genesis Flood runoff. For example, tall erosional remnants, such as Steamboat Rock, were formed during this flood. These remnants consist of basalt bedrock and stand as towering monuments. If erosion had been occurring for millions of years, these tall features would have been destroyed. However, the Lake Missoula flood demonstrates how such erosional remnants can form quickly during the runoff of a massive flood.

Water gaps, narrow gorges containing rivers that cut through mountains and ridges, are another feature comparable to those resulting from the Genesis Flood. The Palouse Canyon in southeast Washington is a spectacular water gap formed by the Lake Missoula flood. As the floodwaters poured southward, they spilled over a ridge and carved a narrow canyon through it. This gives us insight into how thousands of water gaps seen worldwide could have been formed during the Genesis Flood runoff.

The Lake Missoula flood serves as a scale model for understanding the erosion and deposition that likely took place during the Inundatory Stage and Recessive Stage of the Genesis Flood. The wide currents during the Inundatory Stage would have rapidly eroded large sheets of sedimentary rock, forming flat plateaus and tall erosional remnants. Later, narrower currents during the Recessive Stage would have dissected the land surface, creating water gaps.

Why This Matters

Understanding the Lake Missoula flood and its similarities to the Genesis Flood allows us to see that catastrophic events on a massive scale can shape the Earth's features rapidly. This challenges the idea that slow and gradual processes over millions of years are solely responsible for shaping our planet. The evidence from the Lake Missoula flood supports a young-earth creationist perspective and highlights the power of catastrophic events in shaping Earth's geology.

Think About It

• How does the rapid erosion observed during the Lake Missoula flood challenge the idea of slow and gradual processes shaping our planet?
• In what ways does the Lake Missoula flood provide insights into how erosional remnants and water gaps could have formed during the Genesis Flood?
• Consider the implications of a global-scale flood like the Genesis Flood. How might such a cataclysmic event impact the Earth's geology and shape the features we see today?