Jon Riedel

Park Geologist for North Cascades National Park, Marblemount, WA, USA

Current research interests: I am currently in the middle of a research program at SFU focused on four aspects of the late Pleistocene glacial geology and history of the Skagit Valley in Washington and British Columbia. The first area of focus is on reconstructing the paleoclimate and paleoecology of the early Fraser Glaciation on Ross Lake. Deposits exposed by reservoir erosion include 20m of lacustrine sediments and weathered diamicts that date to the period 30,000-15,000 ybp. A second focus is on alpine glacier activity of the later Fraser glaciation. Moraines within 15km of the heads in several valleys will be studied to improve our current understanding of climate change at the end of the last ice age. A third focus is the size and flow directions of the late Wisconsin Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Two recently published reconstructions of the ice sheet have surface elevations that differ by more than 250m. Evidence from several key mountain passes (photo) where ice flow was restricted and exposures of sediments in the Skagit Valley will be used to constrain the surface elevation of the CIS. The fourth focus is to assess the impacts of mixed (continental and alpine) styles of glaciation on landscape evolution. This research will expand upon previous work on glacial rearrangement of drainage in the upper Skagit valley.

Impact:
· Organized a Symposium on Glacier-Climate Relationships in the North Cascades.
· Led research to elucidate the impact of Cordilleran Ice Sheet on drainage of the northern North Cascades.
· Developed landform and mass movement mapping scheme, coordinated with several federal agencies, and applied to two large National Parks.
· Instituted and managed glacier mass balance monitoring program (photo) on four North Cascades glaciers since 1993.
· Identified relative risk from natural hazards at 23 development sites at Mount Rainier National Park for a long-range park management plan.
· Conducted research on erosion caused by the Skagit Hydroelectric Project that led to a $1.3 million Settlement Agreement between the utility and the NPS.
· Led North Cascades National Park away from use of rip-rap and other costly erosion control structures on rivers to new techniques that include bioengineering and rock barbs.
· Designed and supervised installation of erosion control structures at more than 30 reservoir shoreline and stream bank erosion sites throughout North Cascades National Park.
· Led research to identify the age and environmental impact of a large landslide that blocked the Skagit River for several centuries in the early Holocene.
· Co-authored a long-term ecological monitoring plan for North Cascades National Park that was one of 11 plans selected nationally for funding.
· Wrote successful grant proposals for inventory, monitoring and research projects that have contributed more than $200,000 to programs at North Cascades National Park.

Education

M.Sc., Geography 1987 University of Wisconsin-Madison

B.Sc.(Hons.), Geography and Biology 1982 University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse

For more information, please send e.mail to: Jon_Riedel@nps.gov
or To read 's thesis abstract, please click here