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144-481: Haida eddies can be more than 250 km in diameter, and transport a mass of coastal water approximately the volume of Lake Michigan over 1,000 km offshore into the lower nutrient waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean. These " warm-core rings " transport heat out to sea, supplying nutrients (particularly nitrate and iron) to nutrient depleted areas of lower productivity. Consequently, primary production in Haida eddies

288-576: A geoid ), was conducted by the US Navy using the Geodetic/Geophysical Satellite ( GEOSAT ). The primary focus was to study fronts, eddies, winds, waves, and tides; each of these processes produce a change in sea surface height of several meters. In 1986, researchers Gower and Tabata observed clockwise eddies in the Gulf of Alaska using GEOSAT - the first satellite observation of Haida eddies. In 1987,

432-623: A boundary along the Columbia River, the Oregon Treaty of 1846 set the boundary at the 49th parallel. As part of the treaty, the British retained all areas north of the line while the United States acquired the south. The Columbia River became much of the border between the U.S. territories of Oregon and Washington . Oregon became a U.S. state in 1859, while Washington later entered into

576-439: A cold core ring. Warm core rings are also detected by sea surface height anomalies. Since warm water takes up more space as it expands than cold water, the large amount of warm water causes an upwelling in sea height which can be detected by buoys. Warm core rings have been linked to the intensification of several hurricanes passing over their location. Because high sea surface temperature as well as warmer water at greater depth

720-564: A complex network of dry canyon-like channels, or coulees that are often braided and sharply gouged into the basalt rock underlying the region's deep topsoil. Numerous flat-topped buttes with rich soil stand high above the chaotic scablands. Constrictions at several places caused the floodwaters to pool into large temporary lakes, such as Lake Lewis , in which sediments were deposited. Water depths have been estimated at 1,000 feet (300 m) at Wallula Gap and 400 feet (120 m) over modern Portland, Oregon. Sediments were also deposited when

864-404: A low energy expense. Ichthyoplankton composition within eddies is significantly different than that of surrounding ocean water. The species composition is based on where an eddy forms, and thus what coastal species it acquired. Fish larval species richness correlates with distance from an eddy center, with higher richness closer to the core. The icthyoplankton communities also change depending on

1008-500: A persistent wind along the coast changes direction. For example: in the Gulf of Alaska average winds travel from the south, poleward (termed southerly winds), but during a wind reversal the winds will abruptly shift to a northwesterly wind (coming from the northwest), and the coastal current that was being pushed north will now be pushed south. This change in direction causes rotation in an originally northward flowing current, which results in tilting isopyncals. Kelvin waves that form along

1152-734: A physician who had been in the fur trade since 1804, was appointed superintendent of the Columbia District. The HBC reoriented its Columbia District operations toward the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia, which became the region's main trunk route. In the early 1840s Americans began to colonize the Oregon country in large numbers via the Oregon Trail , despite the HBC's efforts to discourage American settlement in

1296-520: A population as great as 10,000. The site drew traders from as far away as the Great Plains. The Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River Gorge, and Kettle Falls and Priest Rapids in eastern Washington, were also major fishing and trading sites. In prehistoric times the Columbia's salmon and steelhead runs numbered an estimated annual average of 10 to 16 million fish. In comparison,

1440-681: A private American ship, Columbia Rediviva, under Captain Robert Gray from Boston became the first non-indigenous vessel to enter the river. Later in 1792, William Robert Broughton of the British Royal Navy commanding HMS Chatham as part of the Vancouver Expedition , navigated past the Oregon Coast Range and 100 miles (160 km) upriver to what is now Vancouver, Washington. In the following decades, fur-trading companies used

1584-471: A shifting sandbar that makes the river's mouth one of the most hazardous stretches of water to navigate in the world. Because of the danger and the many shipwrecks near the mouth, it acquired a reputation as the "Graveyard of Ships". The Columbia drains an area of about 258,000 sq mi (670,000 km ). Its drainage basin covers nearly all of Idaho , large portions of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington, and ultimately all of Montana west of

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1728-400: A single year. These blooms are not only caused by increased nutrients, but also the eddy's ability to transport biota from the coast into the eddy. Spring blooms are caused by sufficient light reaching the warm, nutrient-rich water contained in the middle of the eddy, due to anticyclonic rotation. A second bloom can occur once the eddy has moved closer to the deep ocean, when the outer reaches of

1872-470: A summertime reduction in total alkalinity , which is a measure of the capacity of seawater to neutralize acids, and is largely determined by bicarbonate and carbonate ion concentrations. Surrounding surface waters show similar, or even slightly higher concentrations of DIC, total alkalinity, and nitrates, and may at times exchange surface waters with Haida eddies, as witnessed when Haida-2000 merged with Haida-2001. Although some nutrient exchange takes place at

2016-497: A typical eddy characterized by a dynamical height of approximately 0.179 m, propagation speed of 2 km per day, average core diameter of 97 km, total volume of approximately 3,000 to 6,000 km, and a duration of 30 weeks. Biogeochemical dynamics in Haida eddies are typically characterized by highly productive, yet relatively nutrient depleted surface waters, that may be replenished by diffusion and mixing from nutrient abundant sub-surface core waters. This nutrient exchange

2160-497: A year. The rings always rotate clockwise due to the direction of the Gulf Stream and can reach rotational velocities of up to 1 m/s. Usually warm core rings cannot move onto the continental shelf because they reach deeper than the seafloor on the shelf by over 1000 meters, though they can approach the shelf. Warm core rings are often reabsorbed by the Gulf Stream, but they can break apart on their own as well if they move onto

2304-533: Is Hanford Reach , the only U.S. stretch of the river that is completely free-flowing, unimpeded by dams, and not a tidal estuary . The Snake River and Yakima River join the Columbia in the Tri-Cities population center. The Columbia makes a sharp bend to the west at the Washington–Oregon border. The river defines that border for the final 309 mi (497 km) of its journey. The Deschutes River joins

2448-403: Is abundant to support growth), is associated with an increase in spring and summer primary production, and drawdown of macronutrients as they are consumed by phytoplankton. Increased iron concentrations have been observed to persist in the core of the eddy up to 16 months after eddy formation. Physical transport properties retain a supply of iron to the surface from the still iron-rich eddy core for

2592-540: Is also comparable to that deposited by atmospheric dust. This supply of trace metals impacts the rate of dissolved iron removal because the particles tend to aggregate together and sink to the seafloor, a process which may account for 50-60% of dissolved aluminum and manganese removal. Additionally, there is evidence for enhanced delivery of cadmium and copper to the Gulf of Alaska by Haida eddies. Haida eddies can produce low silicate and high nitrate, chlorophyll, and sedimentation events offshore. Eddies that form nearshore in

2736-509: Is also often facilitated by seasonal fluctuations in the surface mixed layer depth (~20 m in winter, up to 100 m in summer), bringing the low-nutrient surface waters in contact with the nutrient-rich core waters as the mixed layer deepens. Upon eddy formation in winter, surface water concentrations are high in nutrients including nitrate, carbon, iron, and others that are important for biological production. However, they are quickly consumed by phytoplankton through spring and summer, until fall when

2880-473: Is comparable to the total iron delivery from atmospheric dust or major volcanic eruptions. Thus, the arrival of Haida eddies may introduce anywhere from 5–50% of the annual dissolved iron supply in the upper 1,000 m of the Gulf of Alaska. In the summer of 2012, an iron fertilization experiment deposited 100 tons of finely-ground iron oxides into a Haida eddy in an effort to increase salmon returns through an attempt to increase primary production. This resulted in

3024-494: Is dependent on changes in the midlatitude (30-60° latitude) westerly atmospheric wind patterns, which is the primary forcing on the ocean's circulation in this region. These westerly winds oscillate around 45°N and can have variable wind speeds. Changes in these winds are based on the large-scale atmospheric circulation which has seasonal (summer/winter), interannual ( ENSO ), and decadal ( Pacific Decadal Oscillation , or PDO) variability. The northwestward Alaska Current then feeds into

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3168-491: Is incorporated into the silicate shells of diatoms and the transport of silver associated with Haida eddies promotes diatom growth. Silver is sequestered by this production and eventually transported to depth by sinking particles of organic matter, linking silver to the marine silicate cycle . Large quantities of dissolved aluminum and manganese ions are also supplied to the Gulf of Alaska via eddy transport of coastal waters enriched from riverine inputs. The quantity transported

3312-453: Is largely carried out by phytoplankton, leads to observable increases in chlorophyll-a (Chl- a ) concentrations. In summer, a large portion of the DIC pool is consumed due to increased production of coccolithophores , which are phytoplankton that use bicarbonate ion to build their calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) shells, releasing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the process. This process also leads to

3456-565: Is moved into the Alaskan subpolar gyre. In winter, when the splitting of the current is more south, fresh, warmer waters from river input from the Columbia (47°N) and Fraser (49°N) rivers are transported north. This shift in the North Pacific current location leads to winter currents transporting relatively warmer water poleward from a lower latitude than in the summer. Although the northern branch of

3600-661: Is not federally recognized , who live near the lower Columbia River, call it Wimahl or Wimal in the Upper Chinook (Kiksht) language , and it is Nch’i-Wàna or Nchi wana to the Sahaptin (Ichishkíin Sɨ́nwit) -speaking peoples of its middle course in present-day Washington. The river is known as swah'netk'qhu by the Sinixt people , who live in the area of the Arrow Lakes in

3744-518: Is the Snake River . Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven states of the United States and one Canadian province. The fourth-largest river in the United States by flow , the Columbia has the greatest flow of any river into the eastern Pacific. The Columbia and its tributaries have been central to the region's culture and economy for thousands of years. They have been used for transportation since ancient times, linking

3888-599: Is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America . The river forms in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia , Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington , then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean . The river is 1,243 mi (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary

4032-658: Is the primary intensifier of a hurricane , warm core rings account for tremendous strengthening of these storms. Notably, Hurricane Opal passed over a ring and had sudden increases of wind speed from 110 miles per hour to 135 miles per hour shortly before landfall, a trend also seen in Hurricane Allen and Hurricane Camille . There is evidence that Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita , both notable storms which reached Category 5 intensity, as well as Hurricane Ivan , were also strengthened by warm core rings. Warm core rings typically include far less biological specimens than

4176-561: Is up to three times higher than in ambient waters, supporting vast phytoplankton -based communities, as well as influencing zooplankton and icthyoplankton community compositions. The Haida name is derived from the Haida people native to the region, centered on the islands of Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands ). Due to their large size, it was not until the satellite era that scientists were able to observe

4320-871: The Big Bend Country , passing through Revelstoke Lake and the Arrow Lakes . Revelstoke, the Big Bend, and the Columbia Valley combined are referred to in BC parlance as the Columbia Country . Below the Arrow Lakes, the Columbia passes the cities of Castlegar , located at the Columbia's confluence with the Kootenay River , and Trail , two major population centers of the West Kootenay region. The Pend Oreille River joins

4464-646: The Canadian Rockies and the Columbia Mountains in BC. For its first 200 mi (320 km), the Columbia flows northwest along the trench through Windermere Lake and the town of Invermere , a region known in BC as the Columbia Valley , then northwest to Golden and into Kinbasket Lake . Rounding the northern end of the Selkirk Mountains , the river turns sharply south through a region known as

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4608-547: The Columbia River Plateau and forced the lower Columbia into its present course. The modern Cascade Range began to uplift 5 to 4 million years ago. Cutting through the uplifting mountains, the Columbia River significantly deepened the Columbia River Gorge. The river and its drainage basin experienced some of the world's greatest known catastrophic floods toward the end of the last ice age . The periodic rupturing of ice dams at Glacial Lake Missoula resulted in

4752-576: The Continental Divide , and small portions of Wyoming , Utah , and Nevada ; the total area is similar to the size of France. Roughly 745 mi (1,199 km) of the river's length and 85 percent of its drainage basin are in the US. The Columbia is the twelfth-longest river and has the sixth-largest drainage basin in the United States. In Canada, where the Columbia flows for 498 mi (801 km) and drains 39,700 sq mi (103,000 km ),

4896-702: The Eocene through the Miocene eras, tremendous volcanic eruptions frequently modified much of the landscape traversed by the Columbia. The lower reaches of the ancestral river passed through a valley near where Mount Hood later arose. Carrying sediments from erosion and erupting volcanoes, it built a 2-mile (3.2 km) thick delta that underlies the foothills on the east side of the Coast Range near Vernonia in northwestern Oregon. Between 17 million and 6 million years ago, huge outpourings of flood basalt lava covered

5040-581: The Grand Coulee Dam in the mid-20th century impounded the river, forming Lake Roosevelt , from which water was pumped into the dry coulee , forming the reservoir of Banks Lake . The river flows past The Gorge Amphitheatre , a prominent concert venue in the Northwest, then through Priest Rapids Dam , and then through the Hanford Nuclear Reservation . Entirely within the reservation

5184-607: The Marmes Rockshelter , near the confluence of the Palouse and Snake rivers in eastern Washington. In 1996 the skeletal remains of a 9,000-year-old prehistoric man (dubbed Kennewick Man ) were found near Kennewick, Washington . The discovery rekindled debate in the scientific community over the origins of human habitation in North America and sparked a protracted controversy over whether the scientific or Native American community

5328-600: The Missouri River . The first documented European discovery of the Columbia River was that of Bruno de Heceta , who in 1775 sighted the river's mouth. On the advice of his officers, he did not explore it, as he was short-staffed and the current was strong. He considered it a bay, and called it Ensenada de Asunción ( Assumption Cove ). Later Spanish maps, based on his sighting, showed a river, labeled Río de San Roque ( The Saint Roch River ), or an entrance, called Entrada de Hezeta , named for Bruno de Hezeta , who sailed

5472-548: The Molala , Klickitat , Wenatchi , Okanagan, and Sinkiuse-Columbia peoples, who owned small numbers of horses and adopted few plains culture features. Some groups remained essentially unaffected, such as the Sanpoil and Nespelem people, whose culture remained centered on fishing. Natives of the region encountered foreigners at several times and places during the 18th and 19th centuries. European and American vessels explored

5616-517: The Oregon Country along the Clearwater and Snake rivers, and encountered numerous small settlements of natives. Their records recount tales of hospitable traders who were not above stealing small items from the visitors. They also noted brass teakettles, a British musket, and other artifacts that had been obtained in trade with coastal tribes. From the earliest contact with westerners, the natives of

5760-763: The Shoshone Bannock tribes are present. The Sinixt or Lakes people lived on the lower stretch of the Canadian portion, while above that the Shuswap people (Secwepemc in their own language) reckon the whole of the upper Columbia east to the Rockies as part of their territory. The Canadian portion of the Columbia Basin outlines the traditional homelands of the Canadian Kootenay– Ktunaxa . The Chinook tribe, which

5904-473: The Yakima War , decimated the native population and removed much land from native control. As years progressed, the right of natives to fish along the Columbia became the central issue of contention with the states, commercial fishers, and private property owners. The US Supreme Court upheld fishing rights in landmark cases in 1905 and 1918, as well as the 1974 case United States v. Washington , commonly called

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6048-560: The continental shelf creates a weakening of the ring and enables the larvae to escape and continue their journey to nearby estuaries . The warm core rings formed along the northeastern states can last between 4 and 5 months. During this time the larvae grow so that by the time they reach the estuaries, they are able to swim away from the warm core ring into the estuaries. Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook : Wimahl or Wimal ; Sahaptin : Nch’i-Wàna or Nchi wana ; Sinixt dialect swah'netk'qhu )

6192-455: The eruption of Mount St. Helens deposited large amounts of sediment in the lower Columbia, temporarily reducing the depth of the shipping channel by 26 feet (7.9 m). Humans have inhabited the Columbia's watershed for more than 15,000 years, with a transition to a sedentary lifestyle based mainly on salmon starting about 3,500 years ago. In 1962, archaeologists found evidence of human activity dating back 11,230 years at

6336-534: The 1840s a mass migration of American settlers undermined British control. The Hudson's Bay Company tried to maintain dominance by shifting from the fur trade, which was in decline, to exporting other goods such as salmon and lumber. Colonization schemes were attempted, but failed to match the scale of American settlement. Americans generally settled south of the Columbia, mainly in the Willamette Valley. The Hudson's Bay Company tried to establish settlements north of

6480-452: The 1930s, there were natives who lived along the river and fished year round, moving along with the fish's migration patterns throughout the seasons. The Yakama were slower to do so, organizing a formal government in 1944. In the 21st century, the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Warm Springs tribes all have treaty fishing rights along the Columbia and its tributaries. In 1957 Celilo Falls

6624-742: The 1997/1998 El Niño winter. Haida eddy altimetry observations were further supplemented by European Remote Sensing satellites, ERS1 and ERS2. In 1995 Richard Thomson, together with James Gower at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in British Columbia, discovered the first clear evidence of eddies along the entire continental margin using temperature maps from infrared observations using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites. Satellite observations coupled with drifter observations have allowed scientists to resolve physical and biogeochemical structures of Haida eddies. Ocean circulation in

6768-473: The 20th century, each of these major fishing sites was flooded by a dam, beginning with Cascades Rapids in 1938. The development was accompanied by extensive negotiations between natives and US government agencies. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, a coalition of various tribes, adopted a constitution and incorporated after the 1938 completion of the Bonneville Dam flooded Cascades Rapids; Still, in

6912-569: The Alaska Current from the North Pacific Current and may be mixed via Haida eddies into the subpolar gyre. Fresh (low salinity) water from rivers are mixed into Haida eddies. They are also able to exchange potential energy and momentum from the coastal mean current, a process that takes energy away from the coastal current and advects it toward the middle of the gyre. On average, the Gulf of Alaska experiences 5.5 Haida eddies per year, with

7056-460: The Americas and is the fourth-largest by volume in the U.S. The average flow where the river crosses the international border between Canada and the United States is 2,790 m /s (99,000 cu ft/s) from a drainage basin of 102,800 km (39,700 sq mi). This amounts to about 15 percent of the entire Columbia watershed. The Columbia's highest recorded flow, measured at The Dalles,

7200-594: The Boldt Decision. Fish were central to the culture of the region's natives, both as sustenance and as part of their religious beliefs. Natives drew fish from the Columbia at several major sites, which also served as trading posts. Celilo Falls , located east of the modern city of The Dalles, was a vital hub for trade and the interaction of different cultural groups, being used for fishing and trading for 11,000 years. Prior to contact with westerners, villages along this 9-mile (14 km) stretch may have at times had

7344-489: The Columbia Bar, becoming the first known explorer of European descent to enter the river . Gray's fur trading mission had been financed by Boston merchants, who outfitted him with a private vessel named Columbia Rediviva ; he named the river after the ship on May 18. Gray spent nine days trading near the mouth of the Columbia, then left without having gone beyond 13 miles (21 km) upstream. The farthest point reached

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7488-486: The Columbia River Gorge, about 100 miles (160 km) upstream, sighting and naming Mount Hood. Broughton formally claimed the river, its drainage basin , and the nearby coast for Britain. In contrast, Gray had not made any formal claims on behalf of the United States. Because the Columbia was at the same latitude as the headwaters of the Missouri River, there was some speculation that Gray and Vancouver had discovered

7632-538: The Columbia River Gorge, sending massive amounts of debris south from Table Mountain and Greenleaf Peak into the gorge near the present site of Bonneville Dam. The most recent and significant is known as the Bonneville Slide , which formed a massive earthen dam, filling 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the river's length. Various studies have placed the date of the Bonneville Slide anywhere between 1060 and 1760 AD;

7776-417: The Columbia River Gorge. The Celilo Canal , bypassing Celilo Falls, opened to river traffic in 1915. In the mid-20th century, the construction of dams along the length of the river submerged the rapids beneath a series of reservoirs. An extensive system of locks allowed ships and barges to pass easily between reservoirs. A navigation channel reaching Lewiston, Idaho , along the Columbia and Snake rivers,

7920-478: The Columbia River. The mountainous terrain where the unit would be placed in is Juniper Point, referred to by the Yakama as Pushpum. Pushpum has rock formations, as well as food and medicine capabilities that are essential to the Yakama. Members of the Yakama tribe wish for consent on the Goldendale project, as opposed to consultation. Some historians believe that Japanese or Chinese vessels blown off course reached

8064-734: The Columbia about 2 miles (3 km) north of the United States–Canada border . The Columbia enters eastern Washington flowing south and turning to the west at the Spokane River confluence. It marks the southern and eastern borders of the Colville Indian Reservation and the western border of the Spokane Indian Reservation . The river turns south after the Okanogan River confluence, then southeasterly near

8208-466: The Columbia as a key transportation route. Overland explorers entered the Willamette Valley through the scenic, but treacherous Columbia River Gorge , and pioneers began to settle the valley in increasing numbers. Steamships along the river linked communities and facilitated trade; the arrival of railroads in the late 19th century, many running along the river, supplemented these links. Since

8352-518: The Columbia near The Dalles . Between The Dalles and Portland , the river cuts through the Cascade Range , forming the dramatic Columbia River Gorge . Via the gorge, the Columbia crosses the Cascades at a lower elevation than any other river. The gorge is known for its strong and steady winds, scenic beauty, and its role as an important transportation link. The river continues west, bending sharply to

8496-406: The Columbia to improve navigation. Changes to the river over the years have included the construction of jetties at the river's mouth, dredging , and the construction of canals and navigation locks . Today, ocean freighters can travel upriver as far as Portland and Vancouver, and barges can reach as far inland as Lewiston, Idaho . The shifting Columbia Bar makes passage between the river and

8640-481: The Columbia's main stem and many more on its tributaries produce more than 44 percent of total U.S. hydroelectric generation . Production of nuclear power has taken place at two sites along the river. Plutonium for nuclear weapons was produced for decades at the Hanford Site , which is now the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States. These developments have greatly altered river environments in

8784-457: The Columbia, they failed to send word home to Spain. In the 18th century, there was strong interest in discovering a Northwest Passage that would permit navigation between the Atlantic (or inland North America) and the Pacific Ocean. Many ships in the area, especially those under Spanish and British command, searched the northwest coast for a large river that might connect to Hudson Bay or

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8928-405: The Gulf Stream but stay near the western edge. This is beneficial for when warm core rings form. Warm core rings are formed when the crest of a meander breaks off from the Gulf Stream. Any larvae in the crest of the meanders are then entrapped in the warm core ring. Once the warm core ring breaks way, it takes a southwesterly path towards the coast. The interaction between warm core rings and

9072-511: The Gulf of Alaska because of reduced mixing with surrounding waters. As Haida eddies break away from the coast into the subpolar gyre, they transport water properties such as temperature, salinity and kinetic energy. A common water mass in the area is the Pacific Subarctic Upper Water (PSUW) mass with conservative (constant through time and space) properties of salinity (32.6-33.6 psu) and temperature (3-15 °C). PSUW moves into

9216-471: The Gulf of Alaska carry shelf nutrients west into the High-Nutrient, Low-Chlorophyll (HNLC) and oligotrophic (low-nutrient) waters of the northeast Pacific, or south into seasonally nitrate-depleted waters. If eddies head southward from the Gulf of Alaska toward British Columbia, waters in the eddy become enriched in nutrients at the expense of the seawater they are capturing nutrients from, leaving coastal waters relatively nutrient poor. If eddies head west into

9360-424: The HNLC waters of the central Gulf of Alaska basin, they transport particulate matter and supply the photic zone with nitrate that is up to three times greater than typical seasonal transport, increasing spring productivity. The timing of advection from the eddy has important seasonal implications on the delivery of nutrients. The high-nutrient and high-iron coastal water is carried into the Gulf of Alaska from either

9504-402: The Lower Umpqua Tribe, Siuslaw Tribe, and Coos Tribe in 1984, the Klamath Tribe in 1986, and the Coquille Tribe in 1989. While all the aforementioned tribes received federally recognized status, the Chinook Indian Nation had their federal recognition revoked in 2002 by the Bush Administration, and are fighting to have it restored. In 2023, members of the Yakama Nation expressed their dismay for

9648-411: The Missoula Floods, with discharges exceeding the combined flow of all the other rivers in the world, dozens of times over thousands of years. The exact number of floods is unknown, but geologists have documented at least 40; evidence suggests that they occurred between about 19,000 and 13,000 years ago. The floodwaters rushed across eastern Washington, creating the channeled scablands , which are

9792-418: The Northwest Coast long before Europeans—possibly as early as 219  BCE . Historian Derek Hayes claims that "It is a near certainty that Japanese or Chinese people arrived on the northwest coast long before any European." It is unknown whether they landed near the Columbia. Evidence exists that Spanish castaways reached the shore in 1679 and traded with the Clatsop ; if these were the first Europeans to see

9936-406: The Ocean Storms program deployed 50 drifters to examine intertidal oscillations and mixing during fall storms and observed eddies propagating westward. Also in 1987, researchers Richard Thomson, Paul LeBlond, and William Emery observed that ocean drifters deployed in the Gulf of Alaska at 100–120 meters below the surface had stopped their eastward motion and actually began to move westward counter to

10080-714: The PDO. If this system is relatively strong during winter, there will be an increase in northward transport of waters along the Alaskan current from southerly winds. Haida eddies have been documented to form predominantly in the winter when bifurcation is south, and favorable atmospheric conditions are met to intensify the subpolar gyre. With these conditions, Haida eddy formation has also been documented to occur from baroclinic instabilities from alongshore wind reversals, equatorial Kelvin waves , and bottom topography. Baroclinic instabilities form when tilting or sloping of isopycnals (horizontal lines of constant density) form. Baroclinic instabilities from alongshore wind reversals occur when

10224-421: The Pacific Ocean difficult and dangerous, and numerous rapids along the river hinder navigation. Pacific Graveyard, a 1964 book by James A. Gibbs , describes the many shipwrecks near the mouth of the Columbia. Jetties, first constructed in 1886, extend the river's channel into the ocean. Strong currents and the shifting sandbar remain a threat to ships entering the river and necessitate continuous maintenance of

10368-521: The Snake River, reaching the Columbia near the present-day Tri-Cities, Washington. They explored a few miles upriver, as far as Bateman Island , before heading down the Columbia, concluding their journey at the river's mouth and establishing Fort Clatsop , a short-lived establishment that was occupied for less than three months. Canadian explorer David Thompson , of the North West Company , spent

10512-653: The Union in 1889. By the turn of the 20th century, the difficulty of navigating the Columbia was seen as an impediment to the economic development of the Inland Empire region east of the Cascades. The dredging and dam building that followed would permanently alter the river, disrupting its natural flow but also providing electricity, irrigation , navigability and other benefits to the region. American captain Robert Gray and British captain George Vancouver, who explored

10656-504: The Yakama Tribe were arrested in a federal sting operation which claimed that fishermen were poaching up to 40,000 fish in the Columbia River. Fishermen placed on trial received sentences ranging from six months to five years. The federal government pinned Yakama Tribe member David Sohappy ringleader of the operation. After the trial ended, it was determined that the fish were not poached, but driven away because of harmful chemicals present in

10800-650: The affection of a goddess, represented by Mount St. Helens . Native American stories about the bridge differ in their details but agree in general that the bridge permitted increased interaction between tribes on the north and south sides of the river. Horses, originally acquired from Spanish New Mexico , spread widely via native trade networks, reaching the Shoshone of the Snake River Plain by 1700. The Nez Perce, Cayuse, and Flathead people acquired their first horses around 1730. Along with horses came aspects of

10944-582: The age of the eddy. Warm core ring A warm core ring is a type of mesoscale eddy which forms and breaks off from an ocean current , such as the Gulf Stream or the Kuroshio Current . The ring is an independent circulatory system of warm water that can persist for several months before losing its distinctive identity. Warm core rings can be detected using infrared satellites or sea height anomalies resulting from and are easily identifiable against

11088-406: The attributes of the water that is being transported, and how that influences the overall structure. Haida eddies are characterized as relatively long-lived, transient (departure from the average ocean current along the coast), medium-sized ( mesoscale ) ocean eddies that rotate clockwise (anti-cyclonic), and possess a warm, less-saline core, relative to the surrounding waters. These warm waters within

11232-645: The base of Bonneville Dam , its head of tide . When the rifting of Pangaea , due to the process of plate tectonics , pushed North America away from Europe and Africa and into the Panthalassic Ocean (ancestor to the modern Pacific Ocean), the Pacific Northwest was not part of the continent. As the North American continent moved westward, the Farallon Plate subducted under its western margin. As

11376-412: The capacity to bring wildlife from typically warm waters to areas typically dominated by cold waters. In general, warm core rings form as a meander of a strong oceanic current. They generally form when a strong meander on an oceanic current creates a "loop" by closing in on the meander, resulting in an independent system. Rings will drift to the west-southwest at 3–5 km/day for several months up to

11520-516: The center and the surrounding waters. The anomaly is calculated by taking the difference between the surface of interest, for example the middle of a Haida eddy, and a reference point (in oceanography it is in reference to the geopotential surface, or the geoid ). Haida eddies are capable of producing dynamic height anomalies between the center and the surrounding waters of 0.12-0.35 m. Ekman pumping of surface waters, coupled with northward transport of warm waters (from location of bifurcation), dampens

11664-518: The center of an extensive trading network across the Pacific Plateau. Celilo was the oldest continuously inhabited community on the North American continent. Salmon canneries established by white settlers beginning in 1866 had a strong negative impact on the salmon population, and in 1908 US president Theodore Roosevelt observed that the salmon runs were but a fraction of what they had been 25 years prior. As river development continued in

11808-466: The coastal area around the mouth of the river in the late 18th century, trading with local natives. The contact would prove devastating to the indigenous Chinookan speaking peoples; a large portion of their population was wiped out by a smallpox epidemic. Canadian explorer Alexander Mackenzie crossed what is now interior British Columbia in 1793. From 1805 to 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered

11952-633: The confluence with the Wenatchee River in central Washington. This C-shaped segment of the river is also known as the "Big Bend". During the Missoula Floods 10–15,000 years ago, much of the floodwater took a more direct route south, forming the ancient river bed known as the Grand Coulee . After the floods, the river found its present course, and the Grand Coulee was left dry. The construction of

12096-505: The construction of a Goldendale-based pumped hydroelectric energy storage project. Jeremy Takala of the Yakama Nation embodies Yakama belief on the importance of Columbia River crops to food and medicine, stating "the [Goldendale] project being proposed here, it will definitely impact our life".  The Goldendale-pumped hydro storage unit could allow for reused water use in reservoirs, which would be placed on mountainous terrain overlooking

12240-480: The continental shelf. The survivability of warm core rings can depend on the region of formation within the Gulf Stream, the season of formation in a year, the latitude of formation, and their proximity to the New England Sea Mount chain. Warm core rings are easily observed in the Gulf of Mexico or elsewhere through the use of infrared imagery by weather satellites . Since the ocean water temperature of

12384-440: The core of the eddy or the outer ring. The core of the eddy contains warm, fresh, nutrient-rich waters formed in winter, and with the addition of sunlight, produces strong spring blooms of primary productivity offshore. As the eddy drifts westward in late spring and summer, the outer ring mixes coastal and deep ocean waters in large arcs around the eddy edge. This process has an effect hundreds of kilometers offshore, and facilitates

12528-462: The deep ocean. During the first summer that an eddy moves offshore, nearshore species often dominate zooplankton communities, but decline after one or two years as the eddy dissipates. Species that perform diel vertical migration can remain in the eddy core for longer periods of time. The influence of Haida eddies on larger organisms remains poorly understood. They are thought to influence winter feeding habits of northern fur seals by providing food at

12672-417: The delivery of iron plays an important role in stimulating biological activity. While surface waters within the eddy are similar to that of ambient HNLC waters, waters in the eddy core are highly iron-enriched. Iron is delivered upward to the surface from the eddy core as a result of physical transport properties as the eddy decays or interacts with other eddies. This iron flux into the photic zone (where light

12816-467: The eddy are attributed to the baroclinic clockwise motion that results in a piling up of water near the center, and a downward displacement of surface water to depth ( downwelling ). This phenomenon is referred to as Ekman pumping , resulting from a conservation of mass, vertical velocity, and the Coriolis force . Downwelling of water from convergence produces what is called 'dynamic height anomalies' between

12960-431: The eddy can gather nutrient-rich water from either the coast or from an adjacent eddy. Coastal water transported by this outer ring advection can move from the coast into the eddy in six days which also allows for the rapid transport of coastal algae into the nutrient-rich eddy waters. A late summer bloom can occur if storms produce vertical convection of the mixed layer, causing it to deepen and trap nutrients from below into

13104-426: The eddy center, ƒCO 2 usually reaches near equilibrium with the atmosphere by fall (depending on timing of the mixed layer deepening), when vertical entrainment and mixing from below can replenish ƒCO 2 , as well as the now-depleted DIC and nitrate concentrations. Lower ƒCO 2 tends to persist through summer in edge waters however, most likely due to the presence of enhanced biological production, as suggested by

13248-468: The emerging plains culture , such as equestrian and horse training skills, greatly increased mobility, hunting efficiency, trade over long distances, intensified warfare, the linking of wealth and prestige to horses and war, and the rise of large and powerful tribal confederacies. The Nez Perce and Cayuse kept large herds and made annual long-distance trips to the Great Plains for bison hunting, adopted

13392-542: The equator are able to travel along the west coast of North America to the Gulf of Alaska, where their presence can cause disruptions in the poleward current and form baroclinic instabilities. Bottom topography, the third formation process of Haida eddies, can occur because the Alaska current will interact with hills or rock formations below the surface, and this can cause baroclinic instabilities. Haida eddies possess common physical characteristics that are dependent on

13536-422: The exchange of nutrients between shelf to deep ocean from late winter to the following autumn. Nutrients trapped and transported by Haida eddies support more biological growth compared to surrounding, low-nutrient ocean water. Elevated measurements of chlorophyll in eddy centers, as compared to surrounding water, indicate that eddies increase primary production, and can support multiple phytoplankton blooms within

13680-452: The floodwaters slowed in the broad flats of the Quincy, Othello, and Pasco Basins. The floods' periodic inundation of the lower Columbia River Plateau deposited rich sediments; 21st-century farmers in the Willamette Valley "plow fields of fertile Montana soil and clays from Washington's Palouse". Over the last several thousand years a series of large landslides have occurred on the north side of

13824-413: The full scale and life cycles of Haida eddies. Their extent is such that an ocean liner can move through the eddy without observing its borders, so accurate records did not exist until the late 1980s. Between 1985 and 1990, the first US research mission to study changes in sea surface height using radar altimetry (an instrument used to measure the ocean surface height using a radar pulse in reference to

13968-557: The highest chlorophyll concentrations measured within an eddy, and the most intense phytoplankton bloom in the last ten years in the northeast Pacific. However, the impact of this bloom on higher trophic organisms such as zooplankton and fish is not known. Concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nitrate (NO 3 ), which are important macronutrients for photosynthesis, are quickly depleted in Haida eddy surface waters through most of their first year due to uptake by biological primary production. This uptake of nutrients, which

14112-427: The idea that the landslide debris present today was formed by more than one slide is relatively recent and may explain the large range of estimates. It has been suggested that if the later dates are accurate there may be a link with the 1700 Cascadia earthquake . The pile of debris resulting from the Bonneville Slide blocked the river until rising water finally washed away the sediment. It is not known how long it took

14256-518: The jetties. In 1891, the Columbia was dredged to enhance shipping. The channel between the ocean and Portland and Vancouver was deepened from 17 feet (5.2 m) to 25 feet (7.6 m). The Columbian called for the channel to be deepened to 40 feet (12 m) as early as 1905, but that depth was not attained until 1976. Cascade Locks and Canal were first constructed in 1896 around the Cascades Rapids, enabling boats to travel safely through

14400-447: The largest run since 1938 was in 1986, with 3.2 million fish entering the Columbia. The annual catch by natives has been estimated at 42 million pounds (19,000 metric tons). The most important and productive native fishing site was located at Celilo Falls, which was perhaps the most productive inland fishing site in North America. The falls were located at the border between Chinookan- and Sahaptian-speaking peoples and served as

14544-442: The late 19th century, public and private sectors have extensively developed the river. To aid ship and barge navigation, locks have been built along the lower Columbia and its tributaries, and dredging has opened, maintained, and enlarged shipping channels . Since the early 20th century, dams have been built across the river for power generation , navigation , irrigation , and flood control . The 14 hydroelectric dams on

14688-439: The lifetime of the eddy. Because of the large vertical iron transport, Haida eddies contribute a significant portion of the total iron available for biological use. Total dissolved iron concentrations in Haida eddies are approximately 28 times higher than open ocean waters of the Alaska gyre. The daily average supply of iron upwelled from the eddy core is 39 times higher than the iron introduced by average daily dust deposition in

14832-577: The long-sought Northwest Passage. A 1798 British map showed a dotted line connecting the Columbia with the Missouri. When the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark charted the vast, unmapped lands of the American West in their overland expedition (1803–1805), they found no passage between the rivers. After crossing the Rocky Mountains , Lewis and Clark built dugout canoes and paddled down

14976-464: The mid- and lower Columbia were not tribal, but instead congregated in social units no larger than a village, and more often at a family level; these units would shift with the season as people moved about, following the salmon catch up and down the river's tributaries. Sparked by the 1847 Whitman Massacre , a number of violent battles were fought between American settlers and the region's natives. The subsequent wars over Northwest territory, especially

15120-580: The north-northwest near Portland and Vancouver, Washington , at the Willamette River confluence. Here the river slows considerably, dropping sediment that might otherwise form a river delta at the Columbia's mouth. Near Longview, Washington and the Cowlitz River confluence, the river turns west again. The Columbia empties into the Pacific Ocean just west of Astoria, Oregon , over the Columbia Bar ,

15264-403: The northeast Pacific. Despite the fact that seasonal shallowing and strengthening of the thermocline may inhibit mixing between the surface layer and enriched waters below (reducing iron exchange between the two by as much as 73%), concentrations are still an order of magnitude higher than ambient waters, delivering an estimated 4.6 x 10 moles of iron annually to the Gulf of Alaska. This loading

15408-623: The now reduced nutrient concentrations can be slowly replenished by mixing with the sub-surface core waters. The net effect of Haida eddies on macronutrients and trace metal micronutrients is that of offshore transport of materials from coastal waters to open ocean, increasing offshore primary productivity inside the eddy formation site. The southeast and central Gulf of Alaska tends to be iron-limited, and Haida eddies deliver large quantities of iron-rich coastal waters into these regions. In High-Nutrient, Low-Chlorophyll (HNLC) areas, iron tends to limit phytoplankton growth more than macronutrients, so

15552-467: The plains culture to a significant degree, and became the main conduit through which horses and the plains culture diffused into the Columbia River region. Other peoples acquired horses and aspects of the plains culture unevenly. The Yakama, Umatilla, Palus, Spokane, and Coeur d'Alene maintained sizable herds of horses and adopted some of the plains cultural characteristics, but fishing and fish-related economies remained important. Less affected groups included

15696-415: The plate subducted, it carried along island arcs which were accreted to the North American continent, resulting in the creation of the Pacific Northwest between 150 and 90 million years ago. The general outline of the Columbia Basin was not complete until between 60 and 40 million years ago, but it lay under a large inland sea later subject to uplift. Between 50 and 20 million years ago, from

15840-688: The power plant. These harmful chemicals mainly consisted of aluminum. This event is commonly known today as the Salmon Scam . Shortly after the Salmon Scam, many Columbia River-based indigenous tribes received federally recognized status. The Siletz Tribe was the first to restore its federal recognition in 1977, followed by the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe in 1982, the Grand Ronde Tribe in 1983,

15984-419: The predominant current. The researchers attributed the unexpected motion to eddies dragging the buoys westward from their path at approximately 1.5 cm/s. In 1992, Haida eddies were observed by researchers Meyers and Basu as positive sea surface height anomalies using TOPEX-POSEIDON , an altimetry-based satellite platform (like GEOSAT). They specifically noted an increase in the number of Haida eddies during

16128-980: The presence of higher Chl- a concentrations. Ambient waters typically reach parity with atmospheric CO 2 by spring, after a smaller initial decrease early in the year. Net atmospheric CO 2 removal by Haida eddies is estimated to be 0.8-1.2 x 10 tons per year, underscoring the important role they play in the Gulf of Alaska. Transport and delivery of other trace metals in the Gulf of Alaska are also enhanced by Haida eddies and may result in increased burial of trace metals in marine sediments where they can no longer be used to support biological growth. Evidence suggests Haida eddies may be an important source of dissolved silver ions, with eddy surface water concentrations three to four times higher compared to ambient waters. Silicate uptake rates by marine diatoms in Haida eddies are three times that observed in ambient waters, suggesting strong diatom population growth. Haida eddies are important sources of silver for diatom production, as silver

16272-735: The rapid settlement and economic development of the region. Steamboats operated in several distinct stretches of the river: on its lower reaches, from the Pacific Ocean to Cascades Rapids; from the Cascades to the Dalles-Celilo Falls; from Celilo to Priests Rapids; on the Wenatchee Reach of eastern Washington; on British Columbia's Arrow Lakes ; and on tributaries like the Willamette , the Snake and Kootenay Lake . The boats, initially powered by burning wood, carried passengers and freight throughout

16416-601: The region begins with the transport of waters eastward along the North Pacific Current , also known as the "West Wind Drift", which forms the northern branch of the anticyclonic (clockwise rotation of fluids in Northern Hemisphere) North Pacific subtropical gyre . The North Pacific current approaches the continental US and bifurcates into the southward flowing California Current and the northward flowing Alaska Current. The latitude of this bifurcation

16560-460: The region for many years. Early railroads served to connect steamboat lines interrupted by waterfalls on the river's lower reaches. In the 1880s, railroads maintained by companies such as the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company began to supplement steamboat operations as the major transportation links along the river. As early as 1881, industrialists proposed altering the natural channel of

16704-509: The region of primary production. High eddy kinetic energy (EKE) may also increase chlorophyll concentration in eddies. Northern Gulf of Alaska and Haida eddy regions have more chlorophyll when EKE was higher, which can be caused by storms, producing higher mixing of the mixed layer and introducing nutrients from below. Because of the correlation, research suggests that EKE could be used to predict chlorophyll blooms. Haida eddies affect zooplankton distribution by transporting nearshore species into

16848-428: The region's many cultural groups. The river system hosts many species of anadromous fish, which migrate between freshwater habitats and the saline waters of the Pacific Ocean. These fish—especially the salmon species—provided the core subsistence for native peoples . The first documented European discovery of the Columbia River occurred when Bruno de Heceta sighted the river's mouth in 1775. On May 11, 1792,

16992-498: The region. Following Hezeta's reports, British maritime fur trader Captain John Meares searched for the river in 1788 but concluded that it did not exist. He named Cape Disappointment for the non-existent river, not realizing the cape marks the northern edge of the river's mouth. What happened next would form the basis for decades of both cooperation and dispute between British and American exploration of, and ownership claim to,

17136-627: The region. Royal Navy commander George Vancouver sailed past the mouth in April 1792 and observed a change in the water's color, but he accepted Meares' report and continued on his journey northward. Later that month, Vancouver encountered the American captain Robert Gray at the Strait of Juan de Fuca . Gray reported that he had seen the entrance to the Columbia and had spent nine days trying but failing to enter. On May 12, 1792, Gray returned south and crossed

17280-717: The region. For many the final leg of the journey involved travel down the lower Columbia River to Fort Vancouver. This part of the Oregon Trail, the treacherous stretch from The Dalles to below the Cascades, could not be traversed by horses or wagons (only watercraft, at great risk). This prompted the 1846 construction of the Barlow Road . In the Treaty of 1818 the United States and Britain agreed that both nations were to enjoy equal rights in Oregon Country for 10 years. By 1828, when

17424-414: The ring is significantly higher than the surrounding waters, these rings show up easily in infrared images. This, coupled with models of ring movement, allow well-developed tracking of the rings. Because warm core rings include warm water to a significant depth, infrared satellites can differentiate the temperature, unlike cold core rings , which cannot be easily detected due to the rapid warming of waters in

17568-441: The risk of accidents. Many fish species’ life cycle involves two distinct habitats. The adults live in warmer temperate waters south of Cape Hatteras, NC while the juveniles are found in estuaries of cooler waters north of Cape Hatteras. Warm Core Rings play an important role in the transport of larvae between the two habitats. Species like the bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) and pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula) spawn near

17712-568: The river he had not yet seen, becoming the first Euro-descended person to travel the entire length of the river. In 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) established Fort Vancouver on the bank of the Columbia, in what is now Vancouver, Washington, as the headquarters of the company's Columbia District , which encompassed everything west of the Rocky Mountains, north of California, and south of Russian-claimed Alaska. Chief Factor John McLoughlin ,

17856-518: The river in 1792, proved that it was possible to cross the Columbia Bar. Many of the challenges associated with that feat remain today; even with modern engineering alterations to the mouth of the river, the strong currents and shifting sandbar make it dangerous to pass between the river and the Pacific Ocean. The use of steamboats along the river, beginning with the British Beaver in 1836 and followed by American vessels in 1850, contributed to

18000-451: The river ranks 23rd in length, and the Canadian part of its basin ranks 13th in size among Canadian basins. The Columbia shares its name with nearby places, such as British Columbia, as well as with landforms and bodies of water. With an average flow at the mouth of about 265,000 cu ft/s (7,500 m /s), the Columbia is the largest river by discharge flowing into the Pacific from

18144-479: The river to break through the barrier; estimates range from several months to several years. Much of the landslide's debris remained, forcing the river about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of its previous channel and forming the Cascade Rapids . In 1938, the construction of Bonneville Dam inundated the rapids as well as the remaining trees that could be used to refine the estimated date of the landslide. In 1980,

18288-635: The river's upper reaches in Canada. All three terms essentially mean "the big river". Oral histories describe the formation and destruction of the Bridge of the Gods , a land bridge that connected the Oregon and Washington sides of the river in the Columbia River Gorge. The bridge, which aligns with geological records of the Bonneville Slide, was described in some stories as the result of a battle between gods, represented by Mount Adams and Mount Hood , in their competition for

18432-454: The river, but nearly all the British colonists moved south to the Willamette Valley. The hope that the British colonists might dilute the American presence in the valley failed in the face of the overwhelming number of American settlers. These developments rekindled the issue of "joint occupation" and the boundary dispute . While some British interests, especially the Hudson's Bay Company, fought for

18576-430: The so-called "joint occupation" was renewed indefinitely, it seemed probable that the lower Columbia River would in time become the border between the two nations. For years the Hudson's Bay Company successfully maintained control of the Columbia River and American attempts to gain a foothold were fended off. In the 1830s, American religious missions were established at several locations in the lower Columbia River region. In

18720-488: The subtropical gyre shifts south in the winter, the subpolar gyre does not shift location, but intensifies in its circulation. This intensification brings a greater volume of water from the south into the subpolar gyre, which again is dependent on the magnitude of atmospheric circulation. For example: the Aleutian Low is a persistent low pressure system over the Gulf of Alaska that can fluctuate on decadal timescales, producing

18864-666: The surface, export of organic carbon out of the eddy is not enhanced, and there is little change in organic carbon concentrations at depth, suggesting that the organic carbon formed through primary production is largely being recycled within the eddies. In February, surface concentrations of CO 2 (as quantified by ƒCO 2 ), in the eddy center and edges start out relatively oversaturated relative to atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, but quickly drop, partially due to biological production. By June, ƒCO 2 becomes undersaturated relative to atmospheric concentrations, but increases slightly again through summer, aided by warming temperatures. In

19008-464: The surrounding colder waters. In addition, warm core rings are also distinguished by their low levels of biological activity. This type of system is thought to have helped develop several hurricanes, most notably Hurricane Katrina , into significantly stronger storms due to the abundance of warmer ocean water reaching down to a significant depth, which in turn fuels and intensifies the hurricane. Warm core rings are also known for affecting wildlife, having

19152-512: The surrounding ocean. When the rings approach continental shelves, coastal currents are affected, which can cause organisms to drift onto the shelf that ordinarily would not be there. In fact, there are human accounts of sea turtles and tropical fish which normally live in much warmer waters coming near the coastal shelf due to the deep, warm waters of a warm core ring. Due to currents around warm core rings of up to nearly 5 miles per hour, warm core rings can damage offshore oil platforms and increase

19296-454: The temperature gradient from the surface down to 300 m, so that water temperature within the eddy is warmer below the surface than typical conditions. Stratification increases between these warmer, less-saline vortices and the surrounding waters by effectively depressing background lines of constant temperature ( isotherms ) and salinity (isohalines ) (shown in figure). This makes them an ideal vehicle to transport coastal water properties into

19440-457: The total watershed. Flow rates on the Columbia are affected by many large upstream reservoirs, many diversions for irrigation, and, on the lower stretches, reverse flow from the tides of the Pacific Ocean. The National Ocean Service observes water levels at six tide gauges and issues tide forecasts for twenty-two additional locations along the river between the entrance at the North Jetty and

19584-492: The watershed, mainly through industrial pollution and barriers to fish migration. The Columbia begins its 1,243 mi (2,000 km) journey in the southern Rocky Mountain Trench in British Columbia (BC). Columbia Lake  –  2,690 ft (820 m) above sea level  –  and the adjoining Columbia Wetlands form the river's headwaters . The trench is a broad, deep, and long glacial valley between

19728-400: The western edge of the Gulf Stream just south of Cape Hatteras. Because of the convergence of the Gulf Stream from the south and cooler coastal water current from the north, most water around Cape Hatteras flows into the Gulf Stream. The larvae released near this convergence is swept into the Gulf Stream and flows north. Since the larvae are planktonic , they don't swim into the center of

19872-460: The westward Alaskan Coastal Current, and eventually into the Alaskan Stream; together these make up the cyclonic (counterclockwise rotating) subpolar Alaskan gyre, where Haida eddies are found. In winter, the location of the North Pacific Current bifurcation is approximately 45°N, which is 5° south of where it bifurcates in the summer at approximately 50°N. This has implications as to what water

20016-416: The winter of 1807–08 at Kootanae House near the source of the Columbia at present-day Invermere, BC. Over the next few years he explored much of the river and its northern tributaries. In 1811 he traveled down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, arriving at the mouth just after John Jacob Astor 's Pacific Fur Company had founded Astoria. On his return to the north, Thompson explored the one remaining part of

20160-559: Was 1,240,000 cu ft/s (35,000 m /s) in June 1894, before the river was dammed. The lowest flow recorded at The Dalles was 12,100 cu ft/s (340 m /s) on April 16, 1968, and was caused by the initial closure of the John Day Dam , 28 mi (45 km) upstream. The Dalles is about 190 mi (310 km) from the mouth; the river at this point drains about 237,000 sq mi (610,000 km ) or about 91 percent of

20304-470: Was Grays Bay at the mouth of Grays River . Gray's discovery of the Columbia River was later used by the United States to support its claim to the Oregon Country, which was also claimed by Russia , Great Britain , Spain and other nations. In October 1792, Vancouver sent Lieutenant William Robert Broughton , his second-in-command, up the river. Broughton got as far as the Sandy River at the western end of

20448-521: Was completed in 1975. Among the main commodities are wheat and other grains, mainly for export. As of 2016, the Columbia ranked third, behind the Mississippi and Paraná rivers, among the world's largest export corridors for grain. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens caused mudslides in the area, which reduced the Columbia's depth by 25 feet (7.6 m) for a 4-mile (6.4 km) stretch, disrupting Portland's economy. Efforts to maintain and improve

20592-605: Was entitled to possess and/or study the remains. Many different Native Americans and First Nations peoples have a historical and continuing presence on the Columbia. South of the Canada–US ;border, the Colville , Spokane , Coeur d'Alene , Yakama , Nez Perce , Cayuse , Palus , Umatilla , Cowlitz , and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs live along the US stretch. Along the upper Snake River and Salmon River ,

20736-472: Was submerged by the construction of The Dalles Dam, and the native fishing community was displaced. The affected tribes received a $ 26.8 million settlement for the loss of Celilo and other fishing sites submerged by The Dalles Dam. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs used part of its $ 4 million settlement to establish the Kah-Nee-Ta resort south of Mount Hood. In 1977, 75 indigenous fishermen of

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