J. Harlan Bretz (1882 - 1981) was an American geologist, best known for his research that led to the acceptance of the Missoula Floods. He was born to a farmer in Saranac, Michigan, as the oldest of five children. He earned a degree in biology from Albion College, in 1906, where he also met his wife Fanny Chalis. Thereafter he became interested in the geology of western Washington state.

He made important discoveries regarding the origin of the Channeled Scablands and wrote an extremely influential paper on the morphology and origin of limestone caves together with a guide to the caves of Illinois.

Bretz started his career as a high school biology teacher in Seattle. During this time he began studying the glacial geology of the Puget Sound area, and eventually went to the University of Chicago where he earned his Ph.D. in geology in 1913. He became an assistant professor of geology, first at the University of Washington and then the University of Chicago.

In the summer of 1922, and for the next seven years, Bretz conducted field research of the Columbia River Plateau. He had been interested in unusual erosion features in the area since 1910 after seeing a newly published topographic map of the Potholes Cataract . Bretz coined the term Channeled Scablands, in 1923 to describe the area near the Grand Coulee, where massive erosion had cut through basalt deposits. The area was a desert, but Bretz's theories required cataclysmic water flows to form the landscape, for which Bretz coined the term Spokane Floods in a 1925 publication.

Bretz published a paper in 1923, arguing that the channeled scablands in Eastern Washington were caused by massive flooding in the distant past. This view, which was seen as arguing for a Catastrophic explanation of the geology, was against the prevailing view of Uniformitarianism, and Bretz's views were initially discredited. However, as the nature of the Ice Age was better understood, Bretz's original research was vindicated, and by the 1950s his insights were vindicated.

Bretz encountered resistance to his theories from the geology establishment who held uniformitarianism views. The Geological Society of Washington, D.C invited the young Bretz to present his previously published research at a 1927 meeting where several other geologists presented competing theories. Bretz saw this as an ambush, and referred to the group as six challenging elders. Their intention was to defeat him in a public debate, and thus end the challenge his theories posed to the long standing uniformitarianism dogma.

Another geologist at the meeting, J.T. Pardee , had worked with Bretz and had evidence of an ancient glacial lake that lent credence to Bretz's theories. Pardee, however lacked the academic freedom of Bretz (he worked for the US Geological Survey) and did not enter the fray.

Bretz defended his theories and this kicked off an acrimonious forty year debate over the origin of the Scablands. Both Pardee and Bretz continued their research over the next 30 years, collecting and analyzing evidence that eventually identified Lake Missoula as the source of the Spokane Floods and creator of the Channeled Scablands. Research on open channel hydraulics in the 1970's further vindicated Bretz's and Pardee's theories.

J. Harlen Bretz received the Penrose Medal ; the American Geological Society 's highest award, in 1979, at the age of 96. After this award, he told his son: "All my enemies are dead so I have no one to gloat over."

References

• J. Harlen Bretz, (1923), The Channeled Scabland of the Columbia Plateau. Journal of Geology, v.31, p.617-649.
• J. Harlen Bretz, (1925) The Spokane flood beyond the Channeled Scablands. Journal of Geology, v.33, p.97-115, 236-259.
• J. Harlen Bretz (1942), Vadose and phreatic features of limestone caverns: Journal of Geology, v. 50, no. 6, Part II, p. 675-811.

External links

• Oregon Public Broadcasting synopses
• Ice Age Floods, National Park Service