The Dramatic Scablands Sculpted by Glacial Lake Missoula

Outbursts from Glacial Lake Missoula carved the Channeled Scablands in Washington state.

In southeastern Washington state, neat grids of farmland stretch for miles across gently rolling hills. Dozens of different crops are grown on the valuable agricultural land of the Columbia Plateau. In some places, however, undulating streaks of scoured earth interrupt the array of angular plots and center-pivot irrigated fields.

These rocky scars are known as the Channeled Scablands, and…