View looking west across Lake Lenore toward the west wall of
Grand Coulee. Parts of the cliff consist of massive columns of basalt that
formed as the molten rock shrank as it crystallized and cooled. The pattern
in the cliff shows that the lava flows probably had channels and subsurface
passages that resulted in variable characteristics in each of the flows.
Also note the massive talus slopes along the upper cliff wall and the ring
of alkali salts deposited along the lakeshore. |