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Scientific Investigations Map 3329

Newberry Volcano’s Youngest Lava Flows

By Joel E. Robinson, Julie Donnelly-Nolan, and Robert A. Jensen

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (21.2 MB)Abstract

Most of Newberry Volcano's youngest lava flows are found within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in central Oregon. Established November 5, 1990, the monument is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Deschutes National Forest. Since 2011, a series of aerial surveys over the monument collected elevation data using lidar (light detection and ranging) technology, which uses lasers to directly measure the ground surface. These data record previously unseen detail in the volcano’s numerous lava flows and vents. On average, a laser return was collected from the ground’s surface every 2.17 feet (ft) with ±1.3 inches vertical precision.

The central caldera is visible in the lower right corner of the center map, outlined by the black dashed line. The caldera collapsed about 75,000 years ago when massive explosions sent volcanic ash as far as the San Francisco Bay area and created a 3,000-ft-deep hole in the center of the volcano. The caldera is now partly refilled by Paulina and East Lakes, and the byproducts from younger eruptions, including Newberry Volcano’s youngest rhyolitic lavas, shown in red and orange. The majority of Newberry Volcano’s many lava flows and cinder cones are blanketed by as much as 5 feet of volcanic ash from the catastrophic eruption of Mount Mazama that created Crater Lake caldera approximately 7,700 years ago. This ash supports abundant tree growth and obscures the youthful appearance of Newberry Volcano. Only the youngest volcanic vents and lava flows are well exposed and unmantled by volcanic ash. More than one hundred of these young volcanic vents and lava flows erupted 7,000 years ago during Newberry Volcano’s northwest rift zone eruption.

First posted May 30, 2015

For additional information, contact:
Volcano Science Center—Menlo Park
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road, MS 910
Menlo Park, CA 94025
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/

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Suggested citation:

Suggested Citation: Robinson, J.E., Donnelly-Nolan, J.M., and Jensen, R.A., 2015, Newberry Volcano’s Youngest Lava Flows: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3329, 1 sheet, https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sim3329.

ISSN 2329-132X (online)

ISSN 2329-1311 (print)


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