Puget Sound Then and Now

The Puget Sound is a complex fjord-estuary complex in Washington State and is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Juan de Fuca Strait. In terms of its natural history, it is part of a much greater area that includes parts of British Columbia, such as Vancouver Island, and several large bodies of water, such as the Salish Sea, the Strait of Georgia, and Haro Strait. The Puget Sound is about 160 km from north to south and stretches beyond the Canadian border in the north nearly to Oregon in the south. The natural history of the region involves tectonic forces, volcanism, glaciers, the rise and fall of sea levels, and the activities of humans over many millions of years. Plate tectonics are deeply involved in the past and future of the Puget Sound region. The chapter reviews the predictions about the future of the Bay region and how those forces will eventually change the region beyond recognition.