Earthwords

Researching and reporting Earth, and the rest of the universe, from the Pacific Northwest to all points of interest.

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Ralph Dawes: Wenatchee, Washington, United States; A geologist by training, with a previous degree in literature, my primary job is Professor of Earth Sciences at Wenatchee Valley College, a community college in central Washington state. Wenatchee, where I live, is 150 km east of Seattle, in the rain shadow of the Cascades, on the dry side of the state. The city of Wenatchee is built on land that slopes down from the east side of the Cascade Mountains to the shoreline of the Columbia River. The Cascade Mountains are an active volcanic arc and a zone of ongoing orogeny (mountain-building) with a long and complicated plate tectonic history. The Columbia River is the mainstay of this region's agriculture and electrical power supply. The western periphery of the Columbia Plateau is just across the river from here and is famous (among geologists) for its Columbia River flood basalt, Yakima fold belt, and Channeled Scablands. I teach classes on geology, meteorology, climate change, and astronomy.