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Blue Lake Crater

Maar · United States · 1136m

Blue Lake Crater in the foreground is one of three overlapping craters located east of Santiam Pass. The craters formed about 1,300 years ago during explosions through older volcanic bedrock; a chain of spatter cones about 6 km SSW of Blue Lake may have been active during the same eruption. The snow-covered summit of Pleistocene Mount Washington is visible in the background.
Blue Lake Crater in the foreground is one of three overlapping craters located east of Santiam Pass. The craters formed about 1,300 years ago during explosions through older volcanic bedrock; a chain of spatter cones about 6 km SSW of Blue Lake may have been active during the same eruption. The snow-covered summit of Pleistocene Mount Washington is visible in the background. · Photo: Photo by Lee Siebert, 1999 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Maar
Country
United States
Region
North America Volcanic Regions / High Cascades Volcanic Arc
Elevation
1136m
Coordinates
44.413, -121.769
Last eruption
680
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Minor (Basaltic)
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

Blue Lake Crater is a series of at least three overlapping explosion craters along a NE trend slightly east of the crest of the Cascade Range in the state of Oregon. Explosions through pre-existing bedrock about 1,300 years ago deposited basaltic bombs and cinders, and spread tephra to the E and SE during perhaps the youngest eruption in the Santiam and McKenzie Passes region. The eruption created an elongated, steep-walled crater with a low rim that rises about 50 m above adjacent topography. The crater is now filled by the 300 x 800 m Blue Lake, immediately west of the glacial moraine dammed Suttle Lake. A chain of spatter cones, 6 km to the SSW and about 4 km NE of Mount Washington, is aligned with Blue Lake Crater and has ejecta that are petrographically similar and may have been erupted at the same time.

From Wikipedia

Blue Lake Crater is a maar, or a broad, low-relief volcanic crater, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Jefferson County, it consists of three overlapping craters, which hold Blue Lake. The drainage basin for Blue Lake has very steep, forested slopes and is mostly part of the explosion crater left by the volcano's eruption. The volcano lies within the Metolius River basin, which supports a wide array of plant life, large and small mammals, and more than 80 bird species. A 2009 Oregon law designated the Metolius River basin as an area of critical concern, preventing large-scale development and protecting wildlife.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
680~680 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?680680681681681

Detailed timeline

  1. 680 (±200 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    680 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.