Puget Sound
Puget Sound (pronounced PYEW-jit) is a
fjord connected to the
Pacific Ocean via the
Strait of Juan de Fuca in the
Pacific Northwest of the
United States. It extends from Admiralty Inlet in the north to
Olympia, Washington. The surrounding area, which includes six of the nine largest cities in
Washington State (
Seattle,
Tacoma,
Everett,
Kent,
Bellevue and
Federal Way), is home to about 4 million people.
The Native American name for Puget Sound in the
Lushootseed language, used by the regional Native American tribes, is "Whulge". Its current name was given by
George Vancouver for Lieutenant
Peter Puget, who explored its southern end in May
1792. Vancouver claimed it for
Great Britain on
June 4,
1792. It became part of the
Oregon Country, and became U.S. territory when the
1846 Oregon Treaty was signed.
Originally, the name Puget Sound only referred to the southern reaches beyond Poverty Bay explored by Peter Puget, and the central and northern reaches familiar to
Washington State Ferry riders was called Admiralty Inlet. Today Admiralty Inlet only refers to the strait between
Whidbey Island and Point No Point on the
Kitsap Peninsula. But on a modern
nautical chart Admiralty Inlet is a distinct body of water from the Puget Sound. The northern border of the Puget Sound on the East is formed by
Possession Sound which separates Whidbey Island from Everett.
Due to the migration along the
Oregon Trail, many settlers wandered north to what is now Washington State and settled the Puget Sound area. The first settlement was New Market (now known as
Tumwater) in
1846. In
1853 the
Northern Pacific railroad line reached Puget Sound, linking the region to the other states. During that same year
Washington Territory was formed from part of
Oregon Territory.
|
Evening on Puget Sound by Edward S. Curtis, 1913 |
For a long period Tacoma was noted for its large smelters where gold, silver, copper and lead ores were treated. Seattle was the primary port for trade with
Alaska and the rest of the country and for a time possessed a large ship-building industry. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including
World War I and
World War II, and the
Boeing Company became an established icon in the area.
During World War II the Puget Sound area became a focus for the war industry, with Boeing producing many of the nation's
heavy bombers and the ports of Seattle,
Bremerton and Tacoma available for shipbuilding.
Since
1995, Puget Sound is recognized as an
American Viticultural Area by the Tax and Trade Bureau.
The
United States Geological Survey defines Puget Sound as a
bay with numerous channels and branches, more specifically it is a
fjord system of flooded glacial valleys.
Puget Sound is a very large salt water
estuary fed by highly seasonal freshwater from the Olympic and Cascade Mountain watersheds
[ Fresh inflow ranges between a peak of about 367,000 cubic feet per second (10 400 m³/s) to a minimum of about 14,000 cfs (400 m³/s).] It extends from the southern end of
Whidbey Island to
Olympia, Washington.; the northern boundary is
Whidbey Island; at a second entrance between
Whidbey Island and
Mukilteo, Washington forming the southern boundary of
Possession Sound (
ref. USGS).
The Sound has been reshaped by the scouring action and till deposition of the
Wisconsin Glaciation, which extended in this region as far south as Olympia; the soils of the region, less than ten thousand years old, are still characterized as immature. During glacial maximum a large meltwater lake formed at the icewall's forefront, drained by the
Chehalis River; its sediments form the blue-gray clay identified as the Lawton Clay. As icebergs calved off the toe of the glacier, their embedded gravels and boulders were deposited in the chaotic mix of unsorted
till geologists call
glaciomarine drift. Many beaches about the Sound display
glacial erratics, rendered more prominent than those in coastal woodland solely by their exposed position; submerged glacial erratics sometiumes provide hazards to navigation. The sheer weight of glacial-age ice depressed the landforms, which experienced
isostatic rebound after the ice sheets had retreated; because the rate of rebound was not synchronous with the post-ice age rise in sea levels, the bed of what is Puget Sound, filled alternately with fresh and with sea water. The upper level of the lake-sediment Lawton Clay now lies about 120 feet (37 m) above sea level.
The Puget Sound system consists of four interconnected basins, some very deep, separated by shallow sills. The depth of the basins is a result of the Sound being part of a
subduction zone, where the terranes accreted at the edge of the
Juan de Fuca Plate are being subducted under the
North American Plate: there has not been a major subduction zone earthquake here since the magnitude nine
Cascadia Earthquake; according to Japanese records, it occurred 26 January 1700. Lesser Puget Sound quakes with shallow epicenters, caused by the fracturing of stressed oceanic rocks as they are subducted still cause great damage. The
Seattle Fault cuts across Puget Sound, crossing just north of
Vashon Island and dipping under the city of Seattle
["Ancient seismic stresses at work in Puget Sound region" Cyberwest Magazine 9 June 2004]. To the south, the existence of a second fault, the
Tacoma Fault has buckled the intervening strata in the Seattle Uplift..
Typical Puget Sound profiles of dense glacial till overlying permeable glacial outwash of gravels above an impermeable bed of silty clay may become unstable after periods of unusually wet weather and slump in landslides
[Washington State Department of Ecology:"Puget Sound landslides"]The urban region designated the Puget Sound Region is centered on Seattle, Washington and consists of nine
counties, two urban center
cities and four satellite cities. Both urban core cities have large industrial areas and
seaports plus a high-rise
central business district. The satellite cities are primarily
suburban, featuring a small downtown core and a small industrial area or
port. The suburbs consist mostly of residences,
strip malls, and shopping centers. The region is also home to numerous ports. The two largest and busiest are the
Port of Seattle and Tacoma, which, if combined, comprise the second largest container port in North America after Los Angeles/Long Beach. The Port of Vancouver, the largest Canadian port, sits on the northern end of the Greater Puget Sound Area.
A unique state-run ferry system, the Washington State Ferries, connects the larger islands to the Washington mainland, as well as both sides of the sound, allowing cars and people to move about the greater Puget Sound region.
Counties of the Greater Puget Sound Region
*
Island County*
Jefferson County*
King County*
Kitsap County*
Mason County*
Pierce County*
Skagit County*
Snohomish County*
Thurston CountyClallam, County
In addition, the
San Juan Islands (all of
San Juan County plus a few islands belonging to
Whatcom County) are often considered part of the greater Puget Sound area.
Prominent islands
*
Anderson Island*
Bainbridge Island*
Blake Island *
Camano Island*
Fidalgo Island*
Fox Island*
Hartstene Island*
Indian Island*
Marrowstone Island*
Maury Island*
McNeil Island *
Squaxin Island *
Whidbey Island *
Vashon IslandUrban centers
*
Seattle*
Tacoma*
OlympiaSatellite cities
*
Everett is in the greater Puget Sound Region but it is in truth on
Possession Sound.
*
Bellevue*
BremertonOther principal cities
*
Des Moines*
Federal Way*
Kent*
Redmond*
Renton*
KirklandBellingham, Washington
List of place names with unpredictable pronunciation
*
Pacific Science Center: Geology of Puget Sound*
USGS:Puget Sound earthquake origins*
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections â€" Oliver S. Van Olinda Photographs A collection of 420 photographs depicting life on Vashon Island, Whidbey Island, Seattle and other communities of Washington State's Puget Sound from the 1880s to the 1930s.
