Basalt Cliff | Electric City, WA | 2013
Around 5 million years ago, heated basalt oozed repeatedly through cracks in the Columbia Basin’s surface. The flows spread and cooled, forming a vast, rolling volcanic plain. The basalt hardened into six-sided columns that continue even now to tumble, crumble and shed pieces. Highway 155 between Coulee City and Grand Coulee displays stunning basalt cuts and cliffs — vivid reminders of our state’s fiery past.
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