[Jack Aylmer]
A MAJOR DISCOVERY BENEATH THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS … AS RESEARCHERS UNCOVER A MASSIVE WATER RESERVOIR … ESTIMATED TO BE THREE TIMES THE VOLUME OF THE LARGEST RESERVOIR IN THE UNITED STATES.
SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON AND OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY … ALONG WITH THE U-S FOREST SERVICE … FOUND THE HIDDEN AQUIFIER WHILE LOOKING AT DRILL HOLES LEFT BEHIND BY PREVIOUS GEO-THERMAL EXPERIMENTS … AND REALIZED THE ROCK WAS STILL WET FURTHER DOWN THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.
RESEARCHERS SAY THE RESERVOIR WATER TOTALS ARE AT LEAST 81 CUBIC KILOMETERS – TRIPLING LAKE MEAD’S CAPACITY – WITH EARTH SCIENTIST AND THE STUDY’S CO-AUTHOR LEIF KARLSTROM CALLING IT
“A CONTINENTAL-SIZE LAKE STORED IN THE ROCKS AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS, LIKE A BIG WATER TOWER.”
THE CASCADE RANGE EXTENDS FOR ABOUT 700 MILES FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TO BRITISH COLUMBIA – BUILT UP BY VOLCANIC ACTIVITY OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS.
WITHIN OREGON, THE HIGH CASCADES, WHERE VOLCANIC ROCKS DATE BACK 8 MILLION YEARS THERE ARE SMOOTH SLOPES AND ONGOING VOLCANIC ACTIVITY.
WHILE THE OLDER WESTERN CASCADES THAT DATE TO 45 MILLION YEARS AGO ARE FILLED WITH CANYONS AND VALLEYS CARVED BY FLOWING STREAMS.
THE RESEARCHERS USED THE GRADUAL SHIFT BETWEEN THESE TWO ZONES TO STUDY HOW VOLCANIC PROCESSES HAVE AFFECTED THE REGION OVER TIME WITH THE RESERVOIR DISCOVERY COMING AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE.
WHILE RESEARCHERS SAY THE UNTAPPED SOURCE OF WATER IS A REASON TO CELEBRATE, THEY CAUTION ITS FED BY SNOW AND SNOWPACK IS EXPECTED TO DECLINE SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE CASCADES IN THE COMING DECADES.
FOR SAN – I’M JACK AYLMER. FOR ALL YOUR LATEST NEWS HEADLINES – DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP TODAY.
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