Geology of Seattle and the Puget Sound

The hills and lakes of Seattle, Washington are a direct result of multiple Puget Lobe advances during the Ice Age. Beneath the drumlins, outwash, glacial troughs, and scattered glacial erratics lies the Seattle Fault, an active fault which has produced numerous magnitude 6 or higher earthquakes since the Ice Age.

Interstate 90 exposes much of this geology in its first few miles heading east from downtown. The freeway begins on old tidelands that were filled by early residents of Seattle. Hills composed of soft glacial deposits were moved and dumped into Elliot Bay to make new land for a growing city. Today’s SODO district - including stadiums for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners - sits on filled tidelands that are especially prone to seismic shaking during the next big earthquake in the Puget Sound.

[andrewgarratt]

As someone born and raised in Seattle, I've never known any of this information. Thanks for this

[charlesbarefoot]

I just returned to NJ from an 8 day trip to Olympia and Seattle. All thanks to your videos- I hiked up (partially lol) Mt. Rainier, visited Puget Sound in various locations, went to Snoqualmie Falls, and drove out the Olympic Peninsula. Your videos have sparked a newly found love and respect for geology, particularly the Pacific North West and I have decided to move to the Seattle area to further my education.... Thank you for your videos, I really enjoy the information and you deliver the content in a fantastic way.

[scottweilert]

Nick is the coolest guy ever. I took a couple of his classes at CWU about 8 years ago. I still tell/show people what I have learned from him almost every single day. What he has taught me has stuck with me. His knowledge is amazing :)

[TheLpbrennan]

Because of its hills, Seattle also had cable cars like those still operating in San Francisco. (So did nearby Tacoma, and for the same reason: Hills too steep for trolley cars.) Electric trolleys were used in flatter areas, but the cable cars stayed in use until all streetcars were replaced by buses in 1940 and 41. The last cable line ran on Yesler Way until the summer of 1940. If they had survived past World War II, Seattle's cable cars might have become a tourist attraction like San Francisco's. It should be noted that the cable car on display in the Smithsonian is a grip car from Yesler Way.

[StereoSpace]

You know you've watched a good video when you want to know more...

[appleknockerradio]

Hey, I took a geology course with Zentner! Ha, very cool. Fun teacher with real passion for the subject matter. He's perfect for this kind of thing. So cool to see this.

[WildwoodClaire]

I visited Seattle a couple of times in the late 1980s and liked it very much. I had no idea that the ridges like First Hill were drumlins. Thanks! Great video. Glad to see the Farmers Market is still there.

[dreynolds]

There's no city like Seattle in the world! PERIOD

[KenyaG.]

Lived in South King County for 30 years, and never knew this. Passing this on to my daughter who is a geology major. She'll definitely enjoy this!

[earnieeveridge]

This dude is great. I love his videos.

[AronRa]

I'll bet you have fun making these.

[pencilmania]

Thank you, it is very helpful for non-native English speaker like me. I have zero knowledge in geology and quiz about Ice Age Floods in two days. Watching video is the best way to get basic understanding of what is this topic about. Especially when  I am not familiar with USA map at all.

[jpstenino]

Old Settler's Song (Acres of Clams)" is a Northwest United States folk song written by Francis D. Henry around 1874. The lyrics are sung to the tune "Old Rosin the Beau." The song also goes by the names "Acres of Clams", “Lay of the Old Settler, ” “Old Settler’s Song, ” while the melody is known as “Rosin the Beau, ” "Old Rosin the Beau, " "Rosin the Bow, " "Mrs. Kenny, " "A Hayseed Like Me, " "My Lodging's on the Cold, Cold Ground." The tune was also used for the song "Denver", which was recorded by The New Christy Minstrels in their 1963 album 'In Person'.
The first recorded reference to this song was in the Olympia, Washington newspaper the Washington Standard in April 1877. Although no official record exists, "The Old Settler's Song" was thought to be the state song of Washington according to The People's Song Bulletin until it was decided the lyrics were not dignified enough.[1]
The song achieved prominence decades later when radio-show singer Ivar Haglund used it as the theme song for his Seattle, Washington radio show. Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie said that they taught the song to Haglund. Haglund went on to name the Seattle restaurant "Ivar's Acres of Clams" after the last line from the ballad.[2]

[patrickmcglonejr]

Lived here My whole life and didn't know most of this stuff... Thank you for the education!

[gggreggg]

hello from the eastern end of I-90----Boston  Massachusetts.  also  a highly engineered city. we too have a drumlin field. and a beautiful harbor, the islands of which are the tops of drumlins.  most of our drumlins survive though often in altered form. We also have a Beacon Hill, a combined morain and drumlin combined. our state house sits atop the hill which was lowered about 30 feet back in the 1700s and 1800s....
enjoying this channel.  I also have long been interested Glacial Lake Missoula and have watched your video on that incredible series of events.
Now, back to your

[markrossow]

so for Early (White Folks) Seattle, try the book "Pig-Tail Days in Old Seattle" by Sophie Frye Bass, Grand-daughter of Arthur Denny

It was "Alki Point" pronounced "alkee" originally, that the Denny Party landed at from the Schooner Exact, but an overland relative had built a still-roofless cabin:
"The women wept."

Dutch farming Van Asselt and Mapel / Maple families were already around what is now Boeing Field,

where the 1860s oxen-wagon grade route of Military Road was later made, Oregon to BC...

In 1995 the wife and I were listening to the Mariners baseball game in the Kingdome, as announced by Dave Niehaus, when the earthquake hit
Dave ran, leaving an open mic; the crowd gave a deep roar believing they were doomed; Ken Griffey Jr was pointing at his family to run out, "knowing" he could not escape from Center Field~~~
So years later, I watched the Kingdome implosion, where the current Seahawks Stadium stands...

Since 2001 Ash Wednesday Earthquake, I was involved in several Seismic Retrofit projects on Seattle buildings, learning a lot about pre-WW2 + pre-Great War construction methods and materials.

[margaretmunro]

Glad I found your channel, new subscriber, proud Seattlelite.

[davidparnell]

These are great videos! I lived in the Seattle area for 10 years and I have always been fascinated about the geology of the region. You make learning very entertaining! Well done :)

[nongthip]

Reasons why, among other things, the Puget Sound area has such an abundance of gravel. Big/huge gravel quarries all over the place, which also spawned many many cement factories. So if you want to build a house there's a huge abundance of concrete... AND billions of trees alongside the Cascade range.

[jamesmurray]

Boy do I love this city.I stayed in Sedro Woolley. I love my Seahawks. I think about it all the time