The Volcano in Owens Valley California; The Big Pine Volcanic Field

Within Owens Valley in California there is a seemingly obvious volcano which is somewhat largely ignored. What I am referring to are a series of approximately 40 vents that are largely cinder cones which last produced a volcanic eruption a mere 17,000 years ago. As a result, it is quite likely that a portion of the Big Pine Volcanic Field will one day erupt again.

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Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers

Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) and/or in this video's thumbnail image:

Sources/Citations:
[1] U.S. Geological Survey
[3] Vazquez, J. A., and Woolford, J. M. (2015), Late Pleistocene ages for the most recent volcanism and glacial-pluvial deposits at Big Pine volcanic field, California, USA, from cosmogenic 36Cl dating, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 16, 2812– 2828, doi:10.1002/2015GC005889.
[4] Adamo, Nasrat & Al-Ansari, Nadhir & Sissakian, Varoujan. (2021). Review of Climate Change Impacts on Human Environment: Past, Present and Future Projections. Engineering. 13. 605-630. 10.4236/eng.2021.1311044., CC BY 4.0
[5] Varnell, Ashley. “Petrology and Geochemistry of the Big Pine Volcanic Field Inyo County, California.” (2006).

0:00 Volcanoes in California
0:44 Big Pine Volcanic Field
1:50 Geologic Setting
3:17 Rhyolite Dome
3:28 Crater Mountain
4:06 Conclusion

[downskated]

I just drove past this last month and was disappointed there wasn't more information on it but now there is so I'm going to be quite happy to watch this.

[edwinflores]

I actually camped by Lone Pine around 2015 during my geology class for Igneous/Metamorphic Rocks and their structures. The long drive down Owen's Valley was full of cinder cones and basalt flows~

[desertwanderer]

My favorite part of the drive along the 395. Driven it dozens of times. I frequent SD and Reno. Will be driving through again in 10 days. Love this video. Thank you Geohub

[ambersgrace]

I live in the Owens Valley. I never get bored of the scenery here.

[javige]

Had my geology intro field course here! Mapped around Crater Mountain and climbed around the fish springs cinder cone. Such a beautiful area

[cheezestradtmann-carvalho]

New Geology Hub video always means a great rest of the day

[MidnightMiik]

I've driven by that area dozens of times and always wondered about the nature of the volcanos.
Thank you for enlightening me! :)

[violetdreams]

this area along 395 has always fascinated me.. antiquity, totally looking back in time.. thanks for the information, appreciate you

[alexreifschneider]

The 395 is a great drive. Cinder cones, lava fields, and hot springs.

[floffycatto]

I've driven through this valley several times, and kinda miss it since I moved out of state. There's a lot of obsidian shards in various places from historic explosive eruptions. The whole thing is just gorgeous. There's a familiar formation that my dad always referred to as "frog rock", maybe a hummock? But it looks like a frog from far away.

[keegandutto]

Mapped parts of this for field camp, very interesting area

[TheSpaceEnthusiast-vlwx]

Thanks, as always. Crater Mountain reminds me of the Fagradasfjall volcano that erupted in 2021! I envision its eruption was similar to Crater Mountain's.

[robertrobb]

Thank you. I asked that you discuss this particular basin. I have seen soccer size obsidian blocks and huge pumice borders that I push without any problem. I went into lava flows that I wouldn't want to fall in because these stones were very sharp.

[bryonpike]

Can we get a few episodes on volcanoes in South America/the Andes? Say, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Guagua Pichincha, the Galapagos, Cordón Caulle, etc.?

Additionally, the boiling lake in Dominica would surely be worth a video.

[VTPSTTU]

Thanks for the video.

I used to do some work in Searles Valley. I think that was one valley over from Owens Valley.

[wingdingdmetrius]

Thank you for covering this. I had the most miserable night camping of my life at owens valley!

[SadGreenBish]

Have you done a video on the buttes of Southern California, specifically the long buttes in Los Angeles County?

[WildAlchemicalSpirit]

Where can I find a comprehensive map with extinct, dormant, and active volcanoes on it?

[gpmarine]

I often drive Hwy 40 back home to Kingman, AZ from CA. Somewhere just east of Newberry Springs CA, there's a very fresh looking lava flow and small cinder cone visible just south of the freeway. I've checked it out on satellite imagery and I can see evidence of other older flows and cones. This seems a distance away from 395, but it's within the zone affected by the Silver Creak caldera further east. (Very informative video on that, btw. It explains why the Cerbat mountains look so different at the southern end.) Is there still some life in the Silver Creek caldera or are these flows from a more recent isolated system?

[MatthewChenault]

I have a possible hypothesis to explain why it only erupts during glacial maximum.

The mass of the ice sheets towards the north likely caused the faults in that region to become more active due to the ground uplifting in the area.

It’s the same reason why the Chesapeake Bay region is currently subsiding as it had been raised by a considerable amount during the glaciation period and, with the end of the last ice age, is now subsiding back to normal levels.