- Cambrian (Wikipedia)
The Cambrian Period ( /ˈkæmbri.ən, ˈkeɪm-/ KAM-bree-ən, KAYM-; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago (mya) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 485.4 mya. Its subdivisions, and its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established as “Cambrian series” by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for ‘Cymru’ (Wales), where Britain’s Cambrian rocks are best exposed. Sedgwick identified the layer as part of his task, along with Roderick Murchison, to subdivide the large “Transition Series”, although the two geologists disagreed for a while on the appropriate categorization. The Cambrian is unique in its unusually high proportion of lagerstätte sedimentary deposits, sites of exceptional preservation where “soft” parts of organisms are preserved as well as their more resistant shells. As a result, our understanding of the Cambrian biology surpasses that of some later periods.
- Douglas Creek (blm.gov)
In the dry sage-steppe uplands of Eastern Washington, Douglas Creek forms a unique riparian oasis. In the basalt canyon, songbirds and raptors perch in cottonwoods, and the road paralleling the creek passes beaver ponds and cascading pools.
- Douglas Creek (Washington) (Wikipedia)
Douglas Creek is a creek in Douglas County, Washington. It rises in Douglas County, flows through Moses Coulee then empties to Wanapum Lake on the Columbia River. The course of the creek through Moses Coulee displays an “outdoor geologic laboratory” exhibiting basalt formations and relics of the Missoula floods of the last ice age. The watershed of Douglas Creek proper covers 132,056 acres (53,441 ha), about 11% of the county, but including McCarteny Creek the entire Moses Coulee drainage is 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2) or a little more than half of the county. The creek’s flow reaches the Columbia River “during storm water runoff events”, otherwise being absorbed into the aquifer.
