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There are more than 550 active volcanoes in the world five of which are in California. It's to be expected from a state sitting on the eastern edge of the Rim of Fire.
Between Barstow and Needles, California just south of Americana icon Route 66 and east of the Mojave National Preserve lay the Pisgah and Amboy volcanic cones amidst almost thirty square miles of basalt lava flow, housing lava tubes and caves. One of two volcanic lava fields along the historic Mother Road, which is now part of the National Trails Highway System, most of the Lavic Lake Volcanic Field sits on private land. That doesn’t seem to deter people from exploring the tubes and caves, or hauling away collectable stones from the historic Lavic Siding, the largest jasper deposit on the planet.
The Amboy cone, however, is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is publicly accessible. The three mile round trip trail takes visitors into the heart of the cone, onto the ancient lava lake down in the center of it. Well, actually, given that the last eruption could have occurred as recently as 500 years ago, perhaps Amboy can’t technically be classified as ancient.
It has been, be assured, designated “dormant” by the U.S. Geological Survey's California Volcano Observatory (USGS-CalVO). Aside from the to-be-expected rattlesnake warnings, adventurers are also forewarned to be on the lookout for scorpions, flash floods and old military explosives. The Marine Corps Air Combat Training Center is just south of the lava flow and restricted access signs are clearly posted.
As I traversed the dormant lava lake, I considered that volcanic activity is stochastic, meaning that it is—in fact—UNdeterminable, intrinsically “non-deterministic”. Seismometer networks provide an interdisciplinary scientific methodology to guestimating the probable state of a volcanic system based solely on predictable actions recorded from previous random events. They form the baseline from which our natural catastrophic event forecasting operates.
Still, we are talking about Mother Earth here and patterns of seismicity are admittedly highly complex and, therefore, often difficult to interpret. We continue to study in hopes of being able to devise some assurance beyond logical deduction that will enable advance warning, but really, there isn’t much difference to how we do things now than how things have always been done. Increasing seismic activity remains the best indicator of increased probability of eruption. With all the money going into seismic science, mathematical probability (the analysis of random phenomena) and statistical mechanics all we really have are intensely honed conjectures based on the monitoring results of past seismic activity lending scientists the ability to make macroscopic predictions based on microscopic geological properties. If it’s any consolation, the International Monitoring System (IMS) Global Infrasound Network has 60 international monitoring stations working in unison to detect erupting volcanoes. The Amboy Volcano with its tumuli and pressure ridges isn't on their radar screen.
Nor are the 40 cones to be found in the Cinder Cones National Natural Landmark located south of Route 15 and the town of Baker within the Mojave National Preserve. There are plenty that are, however.
No doubt the best know geological feature of California is the gold found in the northern hill in the 1840's. However, many of the State's 11 geomorphic provinces include volcanic features. Those within the obsidian studded Coso Volcanic Field in Inyo County for instance are one of the most seismically active areas in the U.S. where earthquake “swarms” (technically, harmonic tremors – long lasting seismic releases with distinct spectral lines that precede or accompany volcanic eruptions) are a weekly occurrence. The enterprising Department of Defense situated the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake outside of Ridgecrest smack dab on top of a series of fumaroles, fissures in the earth’s crust emitting thermal steam. Terra-Gen Power, with a San Diego office on El Camino Real, operates a geothermal plant from within the federal boundaries. Yet, CalVO only ranks this site as a moderate threat.
Seismic and geothermal activity is rampant throughout the Sierra Nevada’s as indicative of the Mono–Inyo Craters, a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows that stretch 25 miles from the northwest shore of Mono Lake on the eastern side of Yosemite National Park to the south of Mammoth Mountain. The Mono Lake Volcanic Field within the Mono Lake Tufa State Nature Reserve consists of two phreatic (steam) volcanic islands in the lake and a cinder or ‘red’ cone on its shore.
The Long Valley Caldera (aptly translated, "cauldron"), east of Mammoth Mountain that encompasses these areas is one of the longest depression left behind by volcanic eruption in the world and has enough seismic activity to have justified the government installing a secret military research facility along the south shoreline of Mono Lake (still called Navy Beach). Decommissioned in 1962, numerous top secret exercises had been performed there, specifically an emerging technology referred to as "Seismic Testing." It is ranked a high to very high threat potential by CalVO and is considered a super volcano capable of an eruption 1,000 more powerful than that of Mount St. Helen. Ironically, it is one of the most serenely beautiful, awe inspiring areas of the State I've visited to date.
Although San Diego get’s its share of tremors, the volcanoes here are dormant aside from a few active mud volcanoes and gysers located near the Salton Sea. Most have been worn down by wind and water over the millennia but visually, Round Mountain in the Jacumba Valley along Interstate 8 in the eastern portion of the County presents probably the best, most obvious example of an intact volcanic cone. From the hills capping Camp Pendleton to the Volcanic Hills in the southeast corner of the County in the Colorado Desert, volcanic presence is indicative. Note, dormant does not mean extinct.
According to geologist Eugene Signer, geophysical studies of seismic and geothermal activity, as well as of magnetic anomalies in the San Diego and Imperial Counties--particularly around the south end of the Salton Sea with epicenter calculated to lie right beneath Niland (of Salvation Mountain and Slab City fame)-- all suggest that igneous and metamorphic processes are indeed active and that activity is occurring not in the bowels of the planet but rather just below the sedimentary cover. The Salton Buttes are ranked as a high to very high threat potential by CalVO. Yet, as we walk the beaches of SoCal past tsunami warning signs and as we earthquake-guard our homes, we give little consideration to the cones protruding from the sea at our back.
One way or another, the earth’s in motion. Parts of her heave and cave in on occasion. Time will do that to the best of gals, and Terra Madre’s no exception. Like most women, she simmers and steams and intrigues in the process, leaving us nervous and unsettled in anticipation. It’s the way of the world and no Geiger counter will ever change that. Despite the volatile nature of such landmarks, visitation continues to rise with some parks reporting increases as high as 10 percent. Good to know that I’m not alone in my fascination of the beauty of the powers that be.
There are more than 550 active volcanoes in the world five of which are in California. It's to be expected from a state sitting on the eastern edge of the Rim of Fire.
Between Barstow and Needles, California just south of Americana icon Route 66 and east of the Mojave National Preserve lay the Pisgah and Amboy volcanic cones amidst almost thirty square miles of basalt lava flow, housing lava tubes and caves. One of two volcanic lava fields along the historic Mother Road, which is now part of the National Trails Highway System, most of the Lavic Lake Volcanic Field sits on private land. That doesn’t seem to deter people from exploring the tubes and caves, or hauling away collectable stones from the historic Lavic Siding, the largest jasper deposit on the planet.
The Amboy cone, however, is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is publicly accessible. The three mile round trip trail takes visitors into the heart of the cone, onto the ancient lava lake down in the center of it. Well, actually, given that the last eruption could have occurred as recently as 500 years ago, perhaps Amboy can’t technically be classified as ancient.
It has been, be assured, designated “dormant” by the U.S. Geological Survey's California Volcano Observatory (USGS-CalVO). Aside from the to-be-expected rattlesnake warnings, adventurers are also forewarned to be on the lookout for scorpions, flash floods and old military explosives. The Marine Corps Air Combat Training Center is just south of the lava flow and restricted access signs are clearly posted.
As I traversed the dormant lava lake, I considered that volcanic activity is stochastic, meaning that it is—in fact—UNdeterminable, intrinsically “non-deterministic”. Seismometer networks provide an interdisciplinary scientific methodology to guestimating the probable state of a volcanic system based solely on predictable actions recorded from previous random events. They form the baseline from which our natural catastrophic event forecasting operates.
Still, we are talking about Mother Earth here and patterns of seismicity are admittedly highly complex and, therefore, often difficult to interpret. We continue to study in hopes of being able to devise some assurance beyond logical deduction that will enable advance warning, but really, there isn’t much difference to how we do things now than how things have always been done. Increasing seismic activity remains the best indicator of increased probability of eruption. With all the money going into seismic science, mathematical probability (the analysis of random phenomena) and statistical mechanics all we really have are intensely honed conjectures based on the monitoring results of past seismic activity lending scientists the ability to make macroscopic predictions based on microscopic geological properties. If it’s any consolation, the International Monitoring System (IMS) Global Infrasound Network has 60 international monitoring stations working in unison to detect erupting volcanoes. The Amboy Volcano with its tumuli and pressure ridges isn't on their radar screen.
Nor are the 40 cones to be found in the Cinder Cones National Natural Landmark located south of Route 15 and the town of Baker within the Mojave National Preserve. There are plenty that are, however.
No doubt the best know geological feature of California is the gold found in the northern hill in the 1840's. However, many of the State's 11 geomorphic provinces include volcanic features. Those within the obsidian studded Coso Volcanic Field in Inyo County for instance are one of the most seismically active areas in the U.S. where earthquake “swarms” (technically, harmonic tremors – long lasting seismic releases with distinct spectral lines that precede or accompany volcanic eruptions) are a weekly occurrence. The enterprising Department of Defense situated the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake outside of Ridgecrest smack dab on top of a series of fumaroles, fissures in the earth’s crust emitting thermal steam. Terra-Gen Power, with a San Diego office on El Camino Real, operates a geothermal plant from within the federal boundaries. Yet, CalVO only ranks this site as a moderate threat.
Seismic and geothermal activity is rampant throughout the Sierra Nevada’s as indicative of the Mono–Inyo Craters, a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows that stretch 25 miles from the northwest shore of Mono Lake on the eastern side of Yosemite National Park to the south of Mammoth Mountain. The Mono Lake Volcanic Field within the Mono Lake Tufa State Nature Reserve consists of two phreatic (steam) volcanic islands in the lake and a cinder or ‘red’ cone on its shore.
The Long Valley Caldera (aptly translated, "cauldron"), east of Mammoth Mountain that encompasses these areas is one of the longest depression left behind by volcanic eruption in the world and has enough seismic activity to have justified the government installing a secret military research facility along the south shoreline of Mono Lake (still called Navy Beach). Decommissioned in 1962, numerous top secret exercises had been performed there, specifically an emerging technology referred to as "Seismic Testing." It is ranked a high to very high threat potential by CalVO and is considered a super volcano capable of an eruption 1,000 more powerful than that of Mount St. Helen. Ironically, it is one of the most serenely beautiful, awe inspiring areas of the State I've visited to date.
Although San Diego get’s its share of tremors, the volcanoes here are dormant aside from a few active mud volcanoes and gysers located near the Salton Sea. Most have been worn down by wind and water over the millennia but visually, Round Mountain in the Jacumba Valley along Interstate 8 in the eastern portion of the County presents probably the best, most obvious example of an intact volcanic cone. From the hills capping Camp Pendleton to the Volcanic Hills in the southeast corner of the County in the Colorado Desert, volcanic presence is indicative. Note, dormant does not mean extinct.
According to geologist Eugene Signer, geophysical studies of seismic and geothermal activity, as well as of magnetic anomalies in the San Diego and Imperial Counties--particularly around the south end of the Salton Sea with epicenter calculated to lie right beneath Niland (of Salvation Mountain and Slab City fame)-- all suggest that igneous and metamorphic processes are indeed active and that activity is occurring not in the bowels of the planet but rather just below the sedimentary cover. The Salton Buttes are ranked as a high to very high threat potential by CalVO. Yet, as we walk the beaches of SoCal past tsunami warning signs and as we earthquake-guard our homes, we give little consideration to the cones protruding from the sea at our back.
One way or another, the earth’s in motion. Parts of her heave and cave in on occasion. Time will do that to the best of gals, and Terra Madre’s no exception. Like most women, she simmers and steams and intrigues in the process, leaving us nervous and unsettled in anticipation. It’s the way of the world and no Geiger counter will ever change that. Despite the volatile nature of such landmarks, visitation continues to rise with some parks reporting increases as high as 10 percent. Good to know that I’m not alone in my fascination of the beauty of the powers that be.