2021-04-13 A Remarkable Ice Age Mega-flood in Southwestern BC (Prof. John Clague)

SFU professor emeritus and Order of Canada recipient John Clague will describe his new research on a prehistoric mega-flood that helped form the Fraser River delta.

As the Cordilleran ice sheet melted, huge glacial lakes were formed that were dammed, but not well-dammed. John and other geologists on the research team published a paper this year that presents evidence for a sudden and catastrophic mega-flood when one of these dams gave way, sending a massive volume of water down the Fraser valley from around present-day Prince George out into the Salish Sea.

John’s presentation takes the form of a detective story, as he outlines the evidence for this event in present-day landforms.