Cinder Cone and the Fantastic Lava Beds
| Cinder Cone | |
|---|---|
Cinder Cone is a 748-foot (213 m) high cone of loose scoria
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 6,907 ft (2,105 m) NGVD 29 |
| Coordinates | 40°32′51″N 121°19′12″W / 40.5473847°N 121.3199729°WCoordinates: 40°32′51″N 121°19′12″W / 40.5473847°N 121.3199729°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Lassen and Shasta counties, California, U.S. |
| Parent range | Cascade Range |
| Topo map | USGS Prospect Peak |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Extinct Cinder cone |
| Volcanic arc | Cascade Volcanic Arc |
| Last eruption | 1680 (?) |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Trail hike |
Cinder Cone is a cinder cone volcano in Lassen Volcanic National Park (located in Northern California in the United States). It is located about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Lassen Peak and provides an excellent view of Brokeoff Mountain, Lassen Peak, and Chaos Crags.
The cone was built to a height of 750 feet (230 m) above the surrounding area and spread ash over 30 square miles (78 km2). Then, like many cinder cones, it was snuffed out when several basalt lava flows erupted from its base. These flows, called the Fantastic Lava Beds, spread northeast and southwest, and dammed creeks, first creating Snag Lake on the south and then Butte Lake to the north. Butte Lake is fed by water from Snag Lake seeping through the lava beds. Nobles Emigrant Trail goes around Snag Lake and follows the edge of the lava beds.
Its age has been controversial since the 1870s, when many people thought it was only a few decades old. Later, the cone and associated lava flows were thought to have formed about 1700 or during a 300-year- long series of eruptions ending in 1851. Recent studies by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists, working in cooperation with the National Park Service to better understand volcano hazards in the Lassen area, have firmly established that Cinder Cone was formed during two eruptions that occurred in the 1650s.
Cinder Cone is a 700 ft (213 m) high cone of loose scoria. Scoria forms when blobs of gas-charged lava are thrown into the air during an eruption and cool in flight, falling as dark volcanic rock containing cavities created by trapped gas bubbles. The summit of Cinder Cone has a crater with a double rim (photo), probably created by fluctuating eruptive activity late in its formation. The cone also has several associated blocky lava flows, and a related, widespread ash deposit identifiable for 8 to 10 miles (13 to 16 km) from the cone. There are actually two scoria cones at Cinder Cone—the remnants of a nearly completely buried earlier cone can be seen on the larger cone's south side. Much of the earlier cone was probably destroyed by lava flows erupting from its base. Blocks of red, cemented scoria within the Painted Dunes lava flows (photo) are pieces of this earlier cone, which were carried away by the flowing lava.
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Wikipedia