Inyo Craters Volcano
Updated: Apr 30, 2024 04:32 GMT -
lava domes 2629 m / 8,625 ft
California (Canada and USA (mainland)), 37.69°N / -119.02°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
California (Canada and USA (mainland)), 37.69°N / -119.02°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Inyo Craters are a 12-km long field of lava domes at the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada, California, near the town of Mammoth and south of the similar Mono Craters field. The field contains silicic 6 lava domes, lava flows, and 15 explosion craters (maars) that last erupted about 600 years ago.
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Inyo Craters volcano eruptions: 1380 ± 50 years
Latest nearby earthquakes
| Time | Mag. / Depth | Distance / Location | |||
| Apr 28, 12:40 am (Los Angeles) | 0.8 8.5 km |  10 km WSW of Toms Place, CA | Info | ||
| Saturday, April 27, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 27, 06:58 am (Los Angeles) | 0.7 4.1 km | 17 km SW of Toms Place, CA | Info | ||
| Wednesday, April 24, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 24, 01:03 am (Los Angeles) | 0.9 5.8 km | 11 km WSW of Toms Place, CA | Info | ||
| Monday, April 22, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 21, 09:40 pm (Los Angeles) | 1.4 5.4 km | 28 km (17 mi) to the SE | 11 km WSW of Toms Place, CA | Info | |
| Sunday, April 21, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 20, 10:59 pm (Los Angeles) | 0.6 2.3 km | 11 km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA | Info | ||
| Thursday, April 18, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 17, 06:59 pm (Los Angeles) | 1.1 1.7 km | 12 km (7.4 mi) to the S | 4 km S of Mammoth Lakes, CA | Info | |
Background
The Inyo Craters overly the NW rim and parts of the floor of the older Long Valley caldera, but belong to a different volcanic system - they were fed by a different magma chamber.Explosion craters of Mammoth Mountain volcano to the south are believed to belong to the Inyo Craters as well. Wilson Butte erupted about 1350-1200 years ago and produced pyroclastic flows which extended 9 km and covered 60 km2.
The latest eruptions at Inyo Craters about about 600 years ago were explosive eruptions that formed the prominent South Deadman, Obsidian Flow, and Glass Creek rhyolitic lava domes and lava flows. The Inyo Crater Lakes are small phreatic craters that formed during this eruption on the south flank of the older Deer Mountain rhyolite dome of the Long Valley caldera.
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Source: GVP, Inyo Craters information
Eruptions of Inyo Craters volcano
The Inyo Craters eruption about 600 years ago, Long Valley caldera, California
The last activity of the Inyo Crater occured at South Deadman, Obsidian Flow, and Glass Creek vents, producing spectacular explosion craters, deposits of pyroclastic flows and ashfall.
Ash fall from the initial phreatic and phzreatomagmatic phase at South Deadman vents is found more than 20 km NE and covered an area of 80 km2. The second phase from the Obsidian Flow vent saw the formation of a lava dome reaching a volume of 170,000 m3. A stong explosive eruption also ejected pumice and ash high into the air. The deposit is found more than 25 km to the NE and covers 140 km2.
The largest and final magmatic explosive activity of the Inyo eruptions occurred at the Glass Creek vent, located between Obsidian and South Deadman vents. Wind carried tephra from the eruption column toward the south-southwest. Near the vent, the resulting deposit is more than 8 m thick. At a distance of 12 km from the vent, the deposit is more than 50 cm thick. It covers ca. 9000 km2 and is found up to 190 km away.
Phreatic eruptions occurred again at the end of the eruption. 3 explosions south of Deadman flow formed Inyo Craters.
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Source: USGS ...more info
The last activity of the Inyo Crater occured at South Deadman, Obsidian Flow, and Glass Creek vents, producing spectacular explosion craters, deposits of pyroclastic flows and ashfall.
Ash fall from the initial phreatic and phzreatomagmatic phase at South Deadman vents is found more than 20 km NE and covered an area of 80 km2. The second phase from the Obsidian Flow vent saw the formation of a lava dome reaching a volume of 170,000 m3. A stong explosive eruption also ejected pumice and ash high into the air. The deposit is found more than 25 km to the NE and covers 140 km2.
The largest and final magmatic explosive activity of the Inyo eruptions occurred at the Glass Creek vent, located between Obsidian and South Deadman vents. Wind carried tephra from the eruption column toward the south-southwest. Near the vent, the resulting deposit is more than 8 m thick. At a distance of 12 km from the vent, the deposit is more than 50 cm thick. It covers ca. 9000 km2 and is found up to 190 km away.
Phreatic eruptions occurred again at the end of the eruption. 3 explosions south of Deadman flow formed Inyo Craters.
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Source: USGS ...more info
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