The Corfu Slide is a geological

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 feature located on the north slope of the Saddle Mountains

Saddle Mountains

The Saddle Mountains consists of an upfolded anticline ridge of basalt in Grant County of central Washington state. The ridge, reaching to 2,700 feet, terminates in the east south of Othello, Washington near the foot of the Drumheller Channels...

 above Crab Creek

Crab Creek

Crab Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. Named for the presence of crayfish, it is one of the few perennial streams in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, flowing from the northeastern Columbia River Plateau, roughly east of Reardan, west-southwest to empty into the Columbia...

 near the Columbia river

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

 in eastern Washington. It consists of 24 separate slides that cover approximately 18-20 square kilometers (7 to 8 miles²) and contains a volume of material of about 1 cubic kilometer.

Geologic History

Geologic evidence supports the view that the slide occurred 13,000 to 15,000 years ago as the result of undercutting which occurred during the Missoula Floods

Missoula Floods

The Missoula Floods refer to the cataclysmic floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the last ice age. The glacial flood events have been researched since the 1920s...

 associated with the retreat of glaciers during the last ice age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

. Water flowing through the Channeled Scablands

Channeled scablands

The Channeled Scablands are a unique geological erosion feature in the U.S. state of Washington. They were created by the cataclysmic Missoula Floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Plateau during the Pleistocene epoch. Geologist J Harlen Bretz coined...

 split into two streams just upstream of the Corfu Slide, with part flowing to the east to pass over the low end of the Saddle Mountains and part flowing westward to pass through Sentinel Gap in the Saddle Mountains. The force of the water diverted to the west impinged on the base of the Corfu Slide area, causing erosion. At least some of the slide occurred before the final Missoula Floods as the older landslide debris has been eroded and smoothed by water flow.

Location

The best viewpoint for the landslide is from its top on the crest of the Saddle Mountains. However it is visible from a number of points, including a road which traverses the lower portions of the slide.

Location	Coordinates
Easterly portion of Saddle Mountains where Lower Crab Creek meets the mountains at the Corfu Slide. The slide runs toward the west from this point.	46°49′00"N 119°22′30"W
Western boundary of Corfu Slide.	46°48′00"N 119°26′40"W