diff --git a/src/catalog/src/durable/metrics.rs b/src/catalog/src/durable/metrics.rs
index c69c4cc6a30bf..fc3eedaa400eb 100644
--- a/src/catalog/src/durable/metrics.rs
+++ b/src/catalog/src/durable/metrics.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 use mz_ore::metric;
 use mz_ore::metrics::{IntCounter, MetricsRegistry};
 use mz_ore::stats::histogram_seconds_buckets;
-use prometheus::{Counter, Histogram, IntGaugeVec};
+use prometheus::{Counter, Histogram, IntGauge, IntGaugeVec};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct Metrics {
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ pub struct Metrics {
     pub sync_latency_seconds: Counter,
     pub collection_entries: IntGaugeVec,
     pub allocate_id_seconds: Histogram,
+    pub snapshot_consolidations: IntCounter,
+    pub snapshot_max_entries: IntGauge,
 }
 
 impl Metrics {
@@ -69,6 +71,15 @@ impl Metrics {
                 help: "The time it takes to allocate IDs in the durable catalog.",
                 buckets: histogram_seconds_buckets(0.001, 32.0),
             )),
+            snapshot_consolidations: registry.register(metric!(
+                name: "mz_catalog_snapshot_consolidations",
+                help: "Count of snapshot consolidation passes.",
+            )),
+            snapshot_max_entries: registry.register(metric!(
+                name: "mz_catalog_snapshot_max_entries",
+                help: "High-water mark of entries in the unconsolidated in-memory \
+                       snapshot since process start.",
+            )),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/catalog/src/durable/persist.rs b/src/catalog/src/durable/persist.rs
index caceeaa3be47f..e4b674ccb46cb 100644
--- a/src/catalog/src/durable/persist.rs
+++ b/src/catalog/src/durable/persist.rs
@@ -560,6 +560,20 @@ impl<T: TryIntoStateUpdateKind, U: ApplyUpdate<T>> PersistHandle<T, U> {
 
         let mut updates: BTreeMap<_, Vec<_>> = BTreeMap::new();
 
+        // Track the snapshot size so we can consolidate when it doubles. This
+        // bounds memory usage during catch-up: without it, the snapshot grows
+        // with every retract+insert pair across timestamps. Ideally, we would
+        // consolidate once after all timestamps, not per-timestamp, but heuristically
+        // snapshot based on doubling behavior to bound memory
+        // This behavior is safe because nothing in the loop reads from self.snapshot:
+        // the update_applier maintains its own internal state (configs, settings,
+        // fence tokens) independently. Consolidating per-timestamp was O(K * N log N);
+        // consolidating once is O(N log N).
+
+        // Use a minimum threshold to avoid consolidating on every Progress
+        // event when the snapshot is small or empty (since 0 * 2 = 0).
+        let mut size_at_last_consolidation = max(self.snapshot.len(), 8);
+
         while self.upper < target_upper {
             let listen_events = self.listen.fetch_next().await;
             for listen_event in listen_events {
@@ -586,6 +600,12 @@ impl<T: TryIntoStateUpdateKind, U: ApplyUpdate<T>> PersistHandle<T, U> {
                             );
                             self.apply_updates(updates)?;
                         }
+                        // Consolidate when the snapshot has doubled in size to
+                        // bound memory.
+                        if self.snapshot.len() >= size_at_last_consolidation * 2 {
+                            self.consolidate();
+                            size_at_last_consolidation = self.snapshot.len();
+                        }
                     }
                     ListenEvent::Updates(batch_updates) => {
                         for update in batch_updates {
@@ -597,11 +617,35 @@ impl<T: TryIntoStateUpdateKind, U: ApplyUpdate<T>> PersistHandle<T, U> {
             }
         }
         assert_eq!(updates, BTreeMap::new(), "all updates should be applied");
+        // Always consolidate at the end to ensure the snapshot is clean.
+        self.consolidate();
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Apply a batch of updates and then consolidate the snapshot. This is the
+    /// typical entry point for callers that apply updates in a single batch.
+    ///
+    /// For hot loops that apply updates across many timestamps (e.g., `sync_inner`),
+    /// use `apply_updates` directly and call `consolidate()` periodically (e.g.,
+    /// on snapshot doubling) to bound memory while staying amortized O(N log N).
+    pub(crate) fn apply_updates_and_consolidate(
+        &mut self,
+        updates: impl IntoIterator<Item = StateUpdate<T>>,
+    ) -> Result<(), FenceError> {
+        self.apply_updates(updates)?;
+        self.consolidate();
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    /// Apply a batch of updates to the catalog state without consolidating.
+    ///
+    /// Does NOT consolidate the snapshot afterward. If you are calling this once,
+    /// prefer `apply_updates_and_consolidate`. This method exists for loops that
+    /// call it many times — consolidating per call would be O(K * N log N) instead
+    /// of O(N log N). Callers should consolidate periodically (e.g., on snapshot
+    /// doubling) to bound memory.
     #[mz_ore::instrument(level = "debug")]
-    pub(crate) fn apply_updates(
+    fn apply_updates(
         &mut self,
         updates: impl IntoIterator<Item = StateUpdate<T>>,
     ) -> Result<(), FenceError> {
@@ -639,18 +683,23 @@ impl<T: TryIntoStateUpdateKind, U: ApplyUpdate<T>> PersistHandle<T, U> {
             }
         }
 
+        // Track the high-water mark of the unconsolidated snapshot size.
+        let len = i64::try_from(self.snapshot.len()).unwrap_or(i64::MAX);
+        if len > self.metrics.snapshot_max_entries.get() {
+            self.metrics.snapshot_max_entries.set(len);
+        }
+
         errors.sort();
         if let Some(err) = errors.into_iter().next() {
             return Err(err);
         }
 
-        self.consolidate();
-
         Ok(())
     }
 
     #[mz_ore::instrument]
     pub(crate) fn consolidate(&mut self) {
+        self.metrics.snapshot_consolidations.inc();
         soft_assert_no_log!(
             self.snapshot
                 .windows(2)
@@ -1042,7 +1091,7 @@ impl UnopenedPersistCatalogState {
         let updates = snapshot
             .into_iter()
             .map(|(kind, ts, diff)| StateUpdate { kind, ts, diff });
-        handle.apply_updates(updates)?;
+        handle.apply_updates_and_consolidate(updates)?;
         info!(
             "startup: envd serve: catalog init: apply updates complete in {:?}",
             apply_start.elapsed()
@@ -1238,7 +1287,7 @@ impl UnopenedPersistCatalogState {
             let kind = TryIntoStateUpdateKind::try_into(kind).expect("kind decoding error");
             StateUpdate { kind, ts, diff }
         });
-        catalog.apply_updates(updates)?;
+        catalog.apply_updates_and_consolidate(updates)?;
 
         let catalog_content_version = catalog.catalog_content_version.to_string();
         let txn = if is_initialized {
@@ -1284,7 +1333,7 @@ impl UnopenedPersistCatalogState {
             let (txn_batch, _) = txn.into_parts();
             // The upper here doesn't matter because we are only applying the updates in memory.
             let updates = StateUpdate::from_txn_batch_ts(txn_batch, catalog.upper);
-            catalog.apply_updates(updates)?;
+            catalog.apply_updates_and_consolidate(updates)?;
         } else {
             txn.commit_internal(commit_ts).await?;
         }
@@ -1787,7 +1836,7 @@ impl DurableCatalogState for PersistCatalogState {
                         ts: commit_ts,
                         diff,
                     });
-                    catalog.apply_updates(updates)?;
+                    catalog.apply_updates_and_consolidate(updates)?;
                     catalog.upper = commit_ts.step_forward();
                     catalog.upper
                 }
diff --git a/src/catalog/src/durable/upgrade.rs b/src/catalog/src/durable/upgrade.rs
index 18471d0710338..bf86fd8bfdb23 100644
--- a/src/catalog/src/durable/upgrade.rs
+++ b/src/catalog/src/durable/upgrade.rs
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ async fn run_versioned_upgrade<V1: IntoStateUpdateKindJson, V2: IntoStateUpdateK
             .into_iter()
             .map(|(kind, diff)| StateUpdate { kind, ts, diff });
         commit_ts = commit_ts.step_forward();
-        unopened_catalog_state.apply_updates(updates)?;
+        unopened_catalog_state.apply_updates_and_consolidate(updates)?;
     }
 
     // 5. Consolidate snapshot to remove old versions.
diff --git a/src/catalog/tests/read-write.rs b/src/catalog/tests/read-write.rs
index 164ab393e56e9..72426d7a3e8cd 100644
--- a/src/catalog/tests/read-write.rs
+++ b/src/catalog/tests/read-write.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #![recursion_limit = "256"]
 
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use insta::assert_debug_snapshot;
 use itertools::Itertools;
@@ -17,11 +18,12 @@ use mz_audit_log::{EventDetails, EventType, EventV1, IdNameV1, VersionedEvent};
 use mz_catalog::durable::objects::serialization::proto;
 use mz_catalog::durable::objects::{DurableType, IdAlloc};
 use mz_catalog::durable::{
-    CatalogError, DurableCatalogError, FenceError, Item, TestCatalogStateBuilder,
-    USER_ITEM_ALLOC_KEY, test_bootstrap_args,
+    CatalogError, Database, DurableCatalogError, FenceError, Item, Metrics,
+    TestCatalogStateBuilder, USER_ITEM_ALLOC_KEY, test_bootstrap_args,
 };
 use mz_ore::assert_ok;
 use mz_ore::collections::HashSet;
+use mz_ore::metrics::MetricsRegistry;
 use mz_ore::now::SYSTEM_TIME;
 use mz_persist_client::PersistClient;
 use mz_proto::RustType;
@@ -553,3 +555,188 @@ async fn test_persist_ddl_detection_with_batch_allocated_ids() {
 
     Box::new(state).expire().await;
 }
+
+/// Regression test for incident-970: quadratic consolidation during catalog sync.
+///
+/// When a reader syncs through K timestamps, apply_updates() was calling
+/// consolidate() on the entire snapshot for each timestamp, resulting in
+/// O(K * N log N) work instead of O(N log N). This test verifies that syncing
+/// through many timestamps only consolidates the snapshot a constant number of
+/// times, not once per timestamp.
+#[mz_ore::test(tokio::test)]
+#[cfg_attr(miri, ignore)]
+async fn test_persist_sync_consolidation_not_quadratic() {
+    let persist_client = PersistClient::new_for_tests().await;
+    let metrics = Arc::new(Metrics::new(&MetricsRegistry::new()));
+    let state_builder =
+        TestCatalogStateBuilder::new(persist_client).with_default_deploy_generation();
+    // Share metrics between writer and reader so we can observe consolidation counts.
+    let state_builder = state_builder.with_metrics(Arc::clone(&metrics));
+
+    // Open a writer catalog.
+    let mut writer = state_builder
+        .clone()
+        .unwrap_build()
+        .await
+        .open(SYSTEM_TIME().into(), &test_bootstrap_args())
+        .await
+        .unwrap()
+        .0;
+    let _ = writer.sync_to_current_updates().await.unwrap();
+
+    // Open a read-only catalog, caught up to the current upper.
+    let mut reader = state_builder
+        .clone()
+        .unwrap_build()
+        .await
+        .open_read_only(&test_bootstrap_args())
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    let _ = reader.sync_to_current_updates().await.unwrap();
+
+    // Writer creates many databases, each in its own transaction at a distinct
+    // timestamp. This mirrors the incident scenario where DDL happened across
+    // many timestamps while a read-only envd was restarting.
+    let num_timestamps: u64 = 100;
+    for i in 0..num_timestamps {
+        let mut txn = writer.transaction().await.unwrap();
+        txn.insert_user_database(
+            &format!("db_{i}"),
+            RoleId::User(1),
+            Vec::new(),
+            &HashSet::new(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let _ = txn.get_and_commit_op_updates();
+        let commit_ts = txn.upper();
+        txn.commit(commit_ts).await.unwrap();
+    }
+
+    // Record the consolidation counter before the reader syncs.
+    let consolidations_before = metrics.snapshot_consolidations.get();
+
+    // Reader syncs through all timestamps. With the quadratic bug, this would
+    // call consolidate() once per timestamp (num_timestamps times). With the
+    // fix, it should consolidate only once after processing all timestamps.
+    let updates = reader.sync_to_current_updates().await.unwrap();
+    let consolidations_after = metrics.snapshot_consolidations.get();
+    let consolidations_during_sync = consolidations_after - consolidations_before;
+
+    // Verify correctness: reader received updates and can see all databases.
+    assert!(
+        !updates.is_empty(),
+        "reader should have received updates from writer"
+    );
+    let snapshot = reader.snapshot().await.unwrap();
+    for i in 0..num_timestamps {
+        let db_name = format!("db_{i}");
+        let found = snapshot.databases.values().any(|db| db.name == db_name);
+        assert!(found, "database {db_name} not found in reader snapshot");
+    }
+
+    // The key assertion: consolidation should happen O(log N) times during
+    // the sync (from the doubling strategy), NOT once per timestamp (which
+    // would be num_timestamps = 100). We allow a generous bound here.
+    assert!(
+        consolidations_during_sync < 10,
+        "sync through {num_timestamps} timestamps triggered {consolidations_during_sync} \
+         snapshot consolidations, suggesting quadratic behavior (expected < 10)"
+    );
+
+    Box::new(writer).expire().await;
+    Box::new(reader).expire().await;
+}
+
+/// Verify that the reader's snapshot stays bounded during sync catch-up, even
+/// when the writer churns the same object many times across timestamps. Without
+/// the doubling consolidation in `sync_inner`, the snapshot would grow with
+/// every retract+insert pair; with it, the snapshot stays within ~2x the live
+/// catalog size.
+#[mz_ore::test(tokio::test)]
+#[cfg_attr(miri, ignore)]
+async fn test_persist_sync_snapshot_stays_bounded_under_churn() {
+    let persist_client = PersistClient::new_for_tests().await;
+    let metrics = Arc::new(Metrics::new(&MetricsRegistry::new()));
+    let state_builder = TestCatalogStateBuilder::new(persist_client)
+        .with_default_deploy_generation()
+        .with_metrics(Arc::clone(&metrics));
+
+    // Open writer, create one database to churn.
+    let mut writer = state_builder
+        .clone()
+        .unwrap_build()
+        .await
+        .open(SYSTEM_TIME().into(), &test_bootstrap_args())
+        .await
+        .unwrap()
+        .0;
+    let _ = writer.sync_to_current_updates().await.unwrap();
+
+    let mut txn = writer.transaction().await.unwrap();
+    let (db_id, db_oid) = txn
+        .insert_user_database("churn_db", RoleId::User(1), Vec::new(), &HashSet::new())
+        .unwrap();
+    let _ = txn.get_and_commit_op_updates();
+    let commit_ts = txn.upper();
+    txn.commit(commit_ts).await.unwrap();
+
+    // Open reader, sync to current state.
+    let mut reader = state_builder
+        .unwrap_build()
+        .await
+        .open_read_only(&test_bootstrap_args())
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    let _ = reader.sync_to_current_updates().await.unwrap();
+    let peak_before = metrics.snapshot_max_entries.get();
+
+    // Rename the same database 200 times, each in its own transaction.
+    let num_renames: u64 = 200;
+    let mut db = Database {
+        id: db_id,
+        oid: db_oid,
+        name: "churn_db".to_string(),
+        owner_id: RoleId::User(1),
+        privileges: Vec::new(),
+    };
+    for i in 0..num_renames {
+        let mut txn = writer.transaction().await.unwrap();
+        db.name = format!("churn_db_{i}");
+        txn.update_database(db.id, db.clone()).unwrap();
+        let _ = txn.get_and_commit_op_updates();
+        let commit_ts = txn.upper();
+        txn.commit(commit_ts).await.unwrap();
+    }
+
+    // Reader syncs through all 200 renames.
+    let _ = reader.sync_to_current_updates().await.unwrap();
+
+    // Verify correctness: only one database, with the final name.
+    let snapshot = reader.snapshot().await.unwrap();
+    let churn_dbs: Vec<_> = snapshot
+        .databases
+        .values()
+        .filter(|d| d.name.starts_with("churn_db"))
+        .collect();
+    assert_eq!(churn_dbs.len(), 1, "{churn_dbs:#?}");
+    assert_eq!(churn_dbs[0].name, format!("churn_db_{}", num_renames - 1));
+
+    // The key assertion: the snapshot high-water mark should stay bounded,
+    // not grow proportionally to num_renames. The doubling consolidation
+    // keeps it within ~2x the live catalog size.
+    let peak_after = metrics.snapshot_max_entries.get();
+    let peak_delta = peak_after - peak_before;
+    // With doubling consolidation, the snapshot stays within ~2x the live
+    // catalog size. Without consolidation this would grow by ~387 for 200
+    // renames; with it, the delta should be much smaller.
+    let bounded = peak_before * 2;
+    assert!(
+        peak_delta < bounded,
+        "peak unconsolidated snapshot grew by {peak_delta} over {num_renames} \
+         renames (peak_before={peak_before}, peak_after={peak_after}); \
+         expected < {bounded}"
+    );
+
+    Box::new(writer).expire().await;
+    Box::new(reader).expire().await;
+}