J Harlen Bretz

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J Harlen Bretz in 1949
J Harlen Bretz in 1949

J Harlen Bretz[1] (September 2, 1882 – February 3, 1981) was an American geologist, best known for his research that led to the acceptance of the Missoula Floods. He was born to Oliver Joseph Bretz and Rhoda Maria Howlett, farmers 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 Eastern Washington State.

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[edit] Early career

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. He wrote a detailed study of Missouri caves published as The Caves of Missouri in 1956.

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.

[edit] Outrageous hypothesis

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 also vindicated.

Bretz encountered resistance to his theories from the geology establishment. It would be oversimplifying it to say that this was because the geology establishment held uniformitarian views. The geology establishment was resistant to a such a sweeping theory for the origin of a broad landscape for a variety of reasons, including lack of familiarity with the remote areas of the interior Pacific Northwest where the research was based, and the lack of status and reputation of Bretz in the eyes of the largely Ivy League-based geology establishment. The Geological Society of Washington, D.C invited the young Bretz to present his previously published research at a January 12, 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.


[edit] Awards and honours

Bretz received the Penrose Medal; the Geological Society of America'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."

Each year at Albion College, the J Harlen Bretz Award is given to the most outstanding senior in the geology department.

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ He did not use a period after his first initial, which was for Jerry (but seldom used)
    "Jerry H. Bretz, Specialist On Effects of Flood, Dies", NYT; Obituary, 1981-02-10. Retrieved on 2007-04-26. 
  • 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.
  • J Harlen Bretz, (1956), The Caves of Missouri, Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources, 490 pages.
  • J Harlen Bretz, (1947), An Incomplete Genealogy of the Family of John Bretz of Fairfield Co., Ohio, with a Partial History with One Line of Descent in this Family
  • Paul L. Weis and William L. Newman (1976). The Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington: The Geologic Story of the Spokane Flood. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved on 2007-04-26. 

[edit] External links