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The Forgotten Dormant Volcanoes in the United States
🕑 Added 2023-09-01 02:55:42 +0000 UTCWithin the lower 48 U.S. states, many of the 47 active volcanoes are well known. Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Lassen Peak.
Yet, due to incorrect perception by some members of the wider public, there is a forgotten volcanic hazard. The culprit? Supposedly dormant volcanoes. These are volcanoes which have not erupted in the last 11,650 years (the Holocene period) but are possible to one day erupt again.
Examples of dormant volcanoes include:
Santa Clara in Utah (last eruption: 27,000 years ago)
Cima Lava Field in California (last eruption was purportedly 11,500 years ago, but this had a wide margin of error and in my opinion was more realistically 12,500 years ago)
The Boring Lava Field in Oregon (last eruption was 57,000 years ago).
Potrillo volcanic field in New Mexico (last eruption was 16,000 years ago).
These dormant volcanoes span 7 states, including more than 30 different complexes.
In a video to be published on Saturday, I will discuss these as a whole, mention which ones are most likely statistically to erupt next, and how much this increases the odds of a volcanic eruption compared to simply looking at the lower 48’s active volcanoes.
Any questions? This is a video I have been planning for a long time, and hope to have fun making it :D.
Comments
Capitata Malleus
Looking forward! In particular, Cima Lava Field in California. Close by me and planning to 4-wheel out that way this fall. How about the cinder cones and lava fields/lakes EAST of Newberry Springs CA? Any noteworthy geological interests there?
Matthew Whitford
Can't wait
Harold Snyder
Sounds like a great topic!
