Chuckanut Mountains

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Fossils of Sabalites, extinct Palmetto leaves, in the Chuckanut Formation.
Fossils of Sabalites, extinct Palmetto leaves, in the Chuckanut Formation.

The Chuckanut Mountains (from "Chuckanut", a native word for "Long beach far from a narrow entrance"[1]) are located on the northern Washington state coast of Puget Sound, just south of Bellingham, Washington. Being a part of the Cascade Mountain Range, they are the only place where the Cascades come west down to meet the sea. The Chuckanuts are considered to be a part of the Puget Lowland Forest Ecoregion.

The range contains Blanchard Mountain and Larrabee State Park, the first State Park to be designated in Washington (1923).

[edit] Geology

The Chuckanut Mountains were formed by the folding of the Chuckanut Formation (which is predominantly made up of layers of 55 million year old sandstone, conglomerate, shale, and bituminous and sub-bituminous coal) and the later Huntingdon Formation (predominantly shale and sandstone) on top, as well as an exposed section of pre-Jurassic-age phyllite[2] The Chuckanuts are well-known for their Tertiary Period leaf fossils.[3]

In 1988, an outcrop of metamorphic phyllite, green chert, and milk quartz on Blanchard Mountain was exposed by a construction crew. The outcrop is unique for its unusually large chunks of stilpnomelane.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Washington Place Names - Search
  2. ^ http://www.efsec.wa.gov/bpcogen/bpasc/asc/3.1Earth.pdf
  3. ^ Let mind and feet wander at lovely Squires Lake Park
  4. ^ George E. Mustoe (December 1998). "[http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/pdf/4news98.pdf Stilpnomelane at Blanchard mountain, western Skagit County, Washington.]" ([dead link] – Scholar search). Washington Geology 26 (4): 3–8. 
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