Where is lassen peak volcano

New York: Springer-Verlag, p. Late Cenozoic volcanism, subduction, and extension in the Lassen region of California, southern Cascade Range. Heiken G, Plinian-type eruptions in the Medicine Lake Highland, California, and the nature of the underlying magma. Hildreth W E, Quaternary magmatism in the Cascades--geologic perpectives.

Time-variation of hydrothermal discharge at selected sites in the western United States: implications for monitoring. Age of Lassen Peak, California, and implications for the ages of late Pleistocene glaciations in the southern Cascade Range. Geol Soc Amer Bull , Williams H, Univ Calif Pub Geol Sci , Wood C A, Kienle J eds , Volcanoes of North America. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ Press, p. Poland, M. Bawden, M. Lisowski, and D. Dzurisin, Eos Trans. AGU, 85 47 , Fall Meet.

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Catalog number links will open a window with more information. Lassen Volcanic Center. Seismic events in the Lassen area that were apparently triggered by the M 7. Squares mark seismic stations. Courtesy of S. Information is preliminary and subject to change. References The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Co;2 Williams H, Eruptive History There is data available for 7 Holocene eruptive periods. Unknown Confirmed 3 Dendrochronology Cinder Cone [ ? Deformation History There is data available for 1 deformation periods. Expand each entry for additional details. Full References: Poland, M. Photo Gallery The blocky surface of Chaos Jumbles in the foreground was produced by collapse of a portion of the Chaos Crags lava dome complex in the background about CE. The cold rock avalanche traveled 5 km from its source, and may have occurred in the absence of any eruptive activity.

Three successive lobes of the avalanche cover an area of 8 sq km. Photo by Lee Siebert, Smithsonian Institution. The tree stump and strip of red bark fragments in the foreground are the remnants of one of the many trees blown down radially away from the volcano by a pyroclastic surge on May 22, , during the paroxysmal phase of the eruption of Lassen Peak. The Devastated Area in the background remained sparsely vegetated for many decades following the eruption.

The trunks of the large ponderosa pine tree at the left and the smaller birch to the right in the Lost Creek valley NE of Lassen Peak were bent over by a mudflow from an eruption in May After the eruption vertical growth of the trees resumed.

The mudflows traveled 50 km from the volcano, destroying bridges, farmlands, and farm buildings. Bumpass Hell, the largest hydrothermal area at Lassen volcano, located south of Lassen Peak, contains steaming fumaroles and mudpots. It was named after its discoverer, a noted hunter and mountain man who suffered severe burns when he broke through the thin crust of the thermal area. Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, Chaos Jumbles, a debris avalanche-deposit formed by collapse of Chaos Crags about CE, is seen from the top of the avalanche scarp.

The avalanche traveled up to 5 km in three lobes now covered with varying degrees of vegetation. The avalanche was emplaced as a cold rockfall avalanche; there is no direct evidence for an associated explosive eruption. The massive dacitic lava dome of Lassen Peak rises above Lake Helen on the south side of the volcano. Plugs of dark dacitic lava exposed near the summit are surrounded by vast aprons of lighter-colored talus associated with growth of the lava dome.

Hikers perch on a small pinnacle of dacitic lava that forms the high point of Lassen Peak, the southernmost major volcano in the Cascade Range that stretches from southern British Columbia to northern California.

Lassen Peak is a large dacitic lava dome that last erupted from to An aerial view of cloud-capped Lassen Peak from the NW shows the Chaos Crags lava dome complex on its left, the source of rockfall avalanche in CE, and the older Brokeoff stratovolcano and post-caldera lava domes on the right.

Lassen Peak was the source of California's latest eruption, that lasted from to Photo by Lyn Topinka, U. Geological Survey. The sparsely vegetated Devastated Zone on the NE flank of Lassen Peak was swept by a pyroclastic surge on May 22, , during the paroxysmal phase of the eruption.

The pyroclastic surge destroyed forests, and was accompanied by mudflows that traveled down Lost Creek and Hat Creek valleys. Chaos Crags lava dome rises in the background. The large scarp at the left was formed during collapse of part of Chaos Crags about CE. Lassen Peak, rising above Manzanita Lake on the NW, is the focal point of the Lassen volcanic center, a concentration of volcanic features covering much of Lassen National Park.

The massive lava dome forming Lassen Peak was constructed about 25, years ago and was the site of California's most recent eruption during Chaos Crags, a lava dome complex on the north flank, and the aptly named Cinder Cone to the NE, have also erupted within the past years. When Lassen Peak formed, it looked much like the nearby 1,year-old Chaos CragsDomes, with steep sides covered with angular rock talus. On May 30, , Lassen Peak awoke from a 27,year-long slumber when it was shaken by a steam explosion.

Such steam blasts occur when molten rock magma rises toward the surface of a volcano and heats shallow ground water. The hot water rises under pressure through cracks and, on nearing the surface, vaporizes and vents explosively. By mid-May , more than steam explosions had blasted out a 1,foot-wide crater near the summit of Lassen Peak.

Then the character of the eruption changed dramatically. On the evening of May 14, , incandescent blocks of lava could be seen bouncing down the flanks of Lassen from as far away as the town of Manton, 20 miles to the west. Late on the evening of May 19, a large steam explosion fragmented the dacite dome, creating a new crater at the summit of Lassen Peak. No new magma was ejected in this explosion, but glowing blocks of hot lava from the dome fell on the summit and snow-covered upper flanks of Lassen Peak.

As the hot lava blocks broke into smaller fragments, the snow melted, generating a mudflow of volcanic materials, called a lahar. The bulk of this lahar was deflected northwestward at Emigrant Pass and flowed 7 miles down Lost Creek. Even after coming to rest, both the avalanche and lahar released huge volumes of water, flooding the lower Hat Creek Valley during the early morning hours of May The lahar and flood destroyed six mostly not-yet-occupied summer ranch houses.

Fortunately, the few people in these houses escaped with only minor injuries. Late on the afternoon of May 22, after two quiet days, Lassen Peak exploded in a powerful eruption that blasted rock fragments and pumice high into the air, creating the larger and deeper of the two craters seen near the summit of the volcano today. A huge column of volcanic ash and gas rose more than 30, feet into the air and was visible from as far away as Eureka, miles to the west.

Pumice falling onto the northeastern slope of Lassen Peak generated a high-speed avalanche of hot ash, pumice, rock fragments, and gas, called a pyroclastic flow, that swept down the side of the volcano, devastating a 3-square-mile area. The pyroclastic flow rapidly incorporated and melted snow in its path.

The water from the melted snow transformed the flow into a highly fluid lahar that followed the path of the May lahar and rushed nearly 10 miles down Lost Creek to Old Station. This new lahar released a large volume of water that flooded lower Hat CreekValley a second time. What are the warning signs of an eruption? The most important sign of an impending volcanic eruption is seismic activity beneath the volcanic area. Seismologists can interpret subtle differences between earthquakes related to the rise of magma and the more familiar quakes caused by tectonic faulting.

Other warning signs of magma rising into the shallow subsurface might include increased release of volcanic gases from small openings called fumaroles, such as those found in the Bumpass Hell area of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and changes in the gas composition. Deformation of the ground surface in the vicinity of a volcano may also indicate that magma is approaching the surface. Typically, these warning signs appear a few weeks to months before an eruption, but can last for decades or even centuries without leading to an eruption.

What is being done to monitor the Lassen volcanic center? After the eruption of Mount St. Helens in , the U. Monitoring of the Lassen area includes periodic measurements of ground deformation and volcanic gas emissions and continuous transmission of data from a local network of nine seismometers to USGS offices in Menlo Park, California.