SELKIRK ALLIANCE FOR SCIENCE "WIZ QUIZ"
2023 PEND OREILLE COUNTY FAIR
Posted on August 19, 2023
Glaciologists from the U.S. Geological Survey and Eastern Washington University reported the southern extent of Late Wisconsin glaciation in a 10-page research paper that can be read at this link Cordilleran ice sheet.
Question: What geographic vicinity was the southern-most terminus for the Pend Oreille River Valley lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet?
Answer: The area of terminal location for the Pend Oreille River lobe is near the town of Newport. The Cordilleran ice sheet was a major ice cover that periodically blanketed large parts of North America during glacial periods over the last 2.6 million years. The southern maximums extended to Washington state, north Idaho, and western Montana. It’s believed to have melted very quickly, probably in four thousand years or less, and caused floods such as the overflow of Lake Missoula.
Posted on August 18, 2023
A new online scientific tool named Birdcast Migration Dashboard uses nationwide weather surveillance radar to estimate the number of nighttime migrating birds during their spring and autumn over-flights. Use this tool to answer the following question.
Question: How many migrating birds flew southward over Pend Oreille County on Monday night August 14, 2023?
​
Answer: An estimated 202,800 birds flew south over Pend Oreille County on the night of August 14, 2023. This number is substantially higher than one year ago, possibly because of warm and dry breeding-season weather along with extensive wildfire smoke in Alaska and western Canada. In 2022 on August 14, an estimated 123,200 migrating birds flew over the County that night. The fall migration arrived in waves, with numbers greater than 100,000 on most days until about October 9 when the daily influx declined sharply on October 18. Stragglers of fewer than 10,000 birds per night continued through month end. Peak counts of more than 600,000 birds happened on August 25, September 8, and September 24.