Roadside Geology of Idaho

Learn about the Geology of Idaho with maps, photos and expert descriptions! This 6"x9" paperback has 403 pages that are packed with detailed information about Idaho Geology. See table of contents below.

Roadside Geology of IdahoTable of Contents
The Big Picture	1
Continental Crust, Oceanic Crust	1
The Mantle	4
Plate Tectonics	4
Lithosphere and Asthenosphere	5
Oceanic Ridges - Separating Plates	6
Oceanic Trenches - Colliding Plates	7
Transform Faults - Sliding Plates	9
Ancient History of Idaho	10
Antique Sedimentary Formations	10
The Great Precambrian Continental Rift	13
Paleozoic Sedimentary Formations	15
The Phantom Antler Mountains	15
Mesozoic Sedimentary Formations	16
The Big Plate Collision	16
The Kootenay Arc	18
The Early Western Welt	18
The Overthrust Belt	19
The Western Mylonite	20
Islands that Came into Port	21
The Trench Jumps West - Twice	22
Is Something Important Missing?	23
Eocene Complications	24
Western Cascades, Columbia Plateau, High Cascades	25
Basin and Range	27
The Snake River Plain	28
A Conspiracy of Events	29
The Deccan Connection	29
The Terminal Cretaceous Calamity	31
Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, Basin and Range	33
What if It Hadn't Happened?	36
Questions Waiting For Answers	37
The Changing Climates of Tertiary Time	37
The Excessively Mild Weather of Early Tertiary Time	38
The First Long Dry Spell	38
Tropical Idaho	39
Pliocene Sediment	41
Ice Age Glaciation	42
The Modern Streams Begin to Flow	44
The Panhandle	48
The Belt Basin	48
Diabase Sills	50
The Vanished Precambrian World	52
The Kaniksu Batholith and the Purcell Trench	57
The Coeur d'Alene Ores	59
Glaciation	60
Glacial Lake Missoula	61
Interstate 90: Spokane - Missoula	65
US 2: Newport - Montana	73
US 95: Coeur d'Alene - British Columbia	83
Central Idaho	92
The Plate Tectonic Scene	93
The Early Mountain Welt	93
The Mountains Spread East	94
The Migratory Islands Come Home	97
The Old Continental Margin	98
The Bitterroot and Atlanta Batholiths	100
Granite, Gneiss, and Schist	102
The Eocene Scene	105
Dikes, Granite, and Rhyolite	108
Columbia Plateau and the Basin and Range	111
Flood Basalts and Tropical Lakes	111
Basin and Range	114
Frontier Mining	115
Placer Mining	116
Hardrock Mining	117
Scams	119
Cyanide	120
The Ice Ages	121
Cold Climate Erosion	122
US 12: Lewiston - Kooskia	123
Kooskia - Lolo Pass	130
US 93: Arco - Challis	140
Challis - Lost Trail Pass	148
Salmon River Canyon	158
US 95: Payette - New Meadows	166
New Meadows - Lewiston	173
Lewiston - Coeur d'Alene	185
Hells Canyon	192
Idaho 3 / 97: Lewiston - Interstate 90	199
Idaho 21: Boise - Stanley	205
Idaho 28: Salmon - Interstate 15	211
Idaho 55: Boise - New Meadows	216
Idaho 75: Shoshone - Challis	223
Snake River Plain	234
The Western Snake River Plain	236
The Main Snake River Plain	237
The Yellowstone Volcano	240
The Volcanic Lowland	242
Second Generation Volcanoes	242
Basalt Flows	245
That Nice Fresh Volcanic Surface	247
The Ice Ages	248
The Great Bonneville Flood	248
Patterned Ground	252
Interstate 15: Pocatello - Monida Pass	254
Interstate 84: Ontario - Mountain Home	259
Interstate 84: Mountain Home - Interstate 86	265
Interstate 86: Interstate 84 - Pocatello	272
US 20: Mountain Home - Arco	282
Craters of the Moon	287
US 20: Arco - Idaho Falls	294
Idaho Falls - Targhee Pass	298
US 93: Nevada Line - Carey	310
US 95: Weiser - Jordan Valley, Oregon	318
Idaho 51: Mountain Home - Nevada Line	324
The Southeastern Mountains	328
Sedimentary Rock Formations	329
The Rocky Mountains	332
Does Idaho Have Oil Wells in its Future?	334
Core Complexes	335
The Basin and Range	336
The Ice Ages and Lake Bonneville	338
Interstate 15: Pocatello - Utah	341
Interstate 84: Interstate 86 - Utah	348
US 26: Idaho Falls - Wyoming	357
US 30: Interstate 15 - Wyoming	361
US 89: Utah - Wyoming	372
If You Want to Read More	379
Glossary	381
Index	388