Editing Long Valley Caldera

{{Short description|Landform near Mammoth Mountain, California, USA}}
{{Infobox valley
| name = Long Valley Caldera
| photo = Long Valley caldera NE rim.jpg
| photo_caption = View from northeast rim of caldera
| location = [[Mono County, California]]<br />United States
| elevation = {{convert|6500|-|8500|ft|m|-2|abbr=on}}
|coordinates = {{coord|37|43|00|N|118|53|03|W|type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref = <ref>{{cite gnis|id=274650|name=Long Valley Caldera}}</ref>
| length = {{convert|20|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}
| direction = EW
| width = {{convert|11|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}
| depth = up to {{convert|3000|ft|m|-2|abbr=on}}
| type = [[Caldera]]
| age = 760,000 yrs
}}
[[File:CalderaRelief large.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Map of Long Valley Caldera]]
[[File:Long Valley early winter 2017.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Early winter in Long Valley, 2017]]
'''Long Valley Caldera''' is a [[Depression (geology)|depression]] in [[eastern California]] that is adjacent to [[Mammoth Mountain]]. The valley is one of the Earth's largest [[caldera]]s, measuring about {{convert|20|mi}} long (east-west), {{convert|11|mi}} wide (north-south), and up to {{convert|3000|ft}} deep.

Long Valley was formed 760,000 years ago when a [[Ultra-Plinian|very large]] eruption released hot ash that later cooled to form the [[Bishop tuff]] that is common to the area. The eruption emptied the [[magma chamber]] under the area to the point of collapse. The second phase of the eruption released [[pyroclastic flow]]s that burned and buried thousands of square miles. Ash from this eruption blanketed much of the [[Western United States|western part]] of what is now the [[United States]].

==Geography==
{{See also|Volcanic crater}}
The caldera is a giant bowl-shaped depression, approximately {{convert|20|mi}} long, surrounded by mountains except to the southeast. The elevation of the bottom of the bowl ranges from {{convert|6500|to|8500|ft}}, being higher in the west.<ref name=volcanoworld>{{cite web | title=Long Valley Caldera and Mono-Inyo Craters Volcanic Field, California | work=Volcano World | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080114043639/http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/california/long_valley.html | archive-date=14 January 2008 | url=http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/california/long_valley.html}}</ref>

Near the center of the bowl, [[magma]]tic uplift has formed a [[resurgent dome]]. The southeastern slope from the caldera down towards [[Bishop, California|Bishop]] is filled with the [[Bishop Tuff]], solidified ash that was ejected during the eruption that created the caldera. The Bishop tuff is {{convert|1500|m|ft|sp=us}} thick in the caldera floor,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=W|last1=Hildreth|author1-link=Wes Hildreth|first2=CJN|last2=Wilson|title=Compositional Zoning of the Bishop Tuff|journal= Journal of Petrology|volume=48|issue=5|date=May 2007|pages=951–999|doi=10.1093/petrology/egm007}}</ref> and is cut by the [[Owens River]] Gorge, formed during the Pleistocene when the caldera filled with water and overtopped its rim.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20165120|chapter=Long Valley Caldera Lake and Reincision of Owens River Gorge|id=Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5120|first1=W|last1=Hildreth|first2=J|last2=Fierstein|title=Scientific Investigations Report |author2-link=Judy Fierstein|doi=10.3133/sir20165120|year=2016}}</ref>

The rim of the caldera is formed from pre-existing rock, rising about {{convert|3000|ft}} above the caldera floor.<ref name=volcanoworld/> However, the eastern rim is lower, only about {{convert|500|ft}}.<ref name=volcanoworld/>

[[Mammoth Mountain]] is a [[lava dome]] complex west of the structural rim of the caldera,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mammoth_mountain/|title=Mammoth Mountain|work=California Volcano Observatory|publisher=USGS|access-date=2017-10-11}}</ref> consisting of about 12 [[rhyodacite]] and [[dacite]] overlapping domes.<ref name=volcanoworld/><ref name=Hill>{{cite book | last=Hill | first=Mary | year=2006 | title=Geology of the Sierra Nevada | edition=revised | location=Berkeley, California | publisher=University of California Press | isbn=978-0-520-23696-7 | page=277}}</ref> These domes formed in a long series of eruptions from 110,000 to 57,000 years ago, building a volcano that reaches {{convert|11059|ft}} in elevation.<ref>{{Cite web | first=Jennifer L. | last=Lewicki |author2=Jens Birkholzer |author3=Chin-Fu Tsang | title=Natural and Industrial Analogues for Release of CO<sub>2</sub> from Storage Reservoirs: Identification of Features, Events, and Processes and Lessons Learned | publisher=[[United States Department of Energy]]/[[Office of Scientific and Technical Information]] | date=February 2006 | doi=10.2172/891824 | url=http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/891824-4U1cp4/891824.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007002308/http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/891824-4U1cp4/891824.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-07 |url-status=live | access-date=18 August 2008}}</ref>

The [[Mono–Inyo Craters]] are a {{convert|25|mi|km|-long|sp=us|adj=mid}} volcanic chain situated along a narrow, north–south-trending fissure system extending along the western rim of the caldera from Mammoth Mountain to the north shore of [[Mono Lake]].<ref name="USGSGeoHis">{{cite web|title = Geologic History of Long Valley Caldera and the Mono–Inyo Craters volcanic chain, California|url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-81/Intro/GeologicMaps/GeologicHistory.html|year=1999|publisher=United States Geological Survey|location=Menlo Park, California}}</ref> The Mono-Inyo Craters erupted from 40,000 to 600 years ago, from a magma source separate from the Long Valley Caldera.<ref name="long_valley_overview">{{cite journal|last1=Hill|first1=D.P.|first2=R.A.|last2=Bailey|first3=A.S.|last3=Ryall|year=1985|title=Active Tectonic and Magmatic Processes Beneath Long Valley Caldera, Eastern California: An Overview|journal=J. Geophys. Res.|volume=90|issue=B13|pages=11,111–11,120|doi=10.1029/JB090iB13p11111|bibcode=1985JGR....9011111H}}</ref>

The caldera has an extensive [[Hydrothermal circulation|hydrothermal]] system. [[Casa Diablo Hot Springs]] at the base of the resurgent dome hosts a [[Mammoth Geothermal Complex|geothermal power plant]]. [[Hot Creek (Mono County)|Hot Creek]] cuts into part of the resurgent dome and passes through hot springs. The warm water of Hot Creek supports many trout, and is used at the Hot Creek Fish Hatchery.<ref name="hotcreek">{{cite web|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3045/fs2007-3045.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221172625/http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3045/fs2007-3045.pdf |archive-date=2008-02-21 |url-status=live|title=Boiling Water at Hot Creek|work=Our Volcanic Public Lands|publisher=USGS and USFS|access-date=2007-09-16}}</ref>  The creek was closed to swimming in 2006 after [[geothermal activity]] in the area increased.<ref name="hotcreek" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/news/2006/07/nr_hot_creek.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208121353/http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/news/2006/07/nr_hot_creek.shtml|archive-date=2008-12-08|title=New Activity at Hot Creek Geologic Site|access-date=2007-05-05|work=Inyo National Forest Press Release}}</ref> The area has a number of other hot springs, some of which are open to [[bathers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://calihotsprings.com/loc/region/long-valley/|title=Hot Springs in Long Valley, CA|work=Cali Hot Springs|access-date=2024-04-16}}</ref>

==Geology==

===Caldera===

The tectonic causes of the Long Valley volcanism are still largely unexplained and are therefore a matter of ongoing research. Long Valley is not above a [[hotspot (geology)|hotspot]], such as those which fuel [[Yellowstone Caldera]] or the volcanoes of [[Hawaii]], nor is it the result of [[subduction]] such as that which produces the volcanism of the [[Cascade Range|Cascades]].

[[File:Bishop tuff.jpg|thumb|left|Layers of the Bishop tuff, in a rock quarry in Chalfant Valley, about {{cvt|25|km|abbr=on}} southwest of the Long Valley Caldera, laid down in phases of a major eruption 760,000 years ago.]]

The known volcanic history of Long Valley Caldera area started a few million years ago when magma began to collect several miles below the surface. Volcanic activity became concentrated in the vicinity of the present site of Long Valley Caldera 3.1 to 2.5 million years ago with eruptions of [[rhyodacite]] followed by high-silica rhyolite from 2.1 to 0.8 million years ago. After some time, a cluster of mostly [[rhyolite|rhyolitic]] volcanoes formed in the area. All told, about {{convert|1500|sqmi}} were covered by lava.

All but one of these volcanoes, 1–2-million-year-old [[Glass Mountain (California)|Glass Mountain]] (made of [[obsidian]]),<ref>{{cite book | title=Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley | last=Sharp | first=Robert P. | author2=Allen F. Glazner | publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company | location=Missoula, Montana | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-87842-362-0}}</ref>{{rp|264}} were destroyed by the major ([[volcanic explosivity index|VEI-7]]) eruption of the area 760,000 years ago, which released {{convert|600.|km3|spell=us}} of material from vents just inside the margin of the caldera.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Holohan|first1=Eoghan P.|last2=Troll|first2=Valentin R.|last3=Vries|first3=Benjamin van Wyk de|last4=Walsh|first4=John J.|last5=Walter|first5=Thomas R.|date=2008-04-01|title=Unzipping Long Valley: An explanation for vent migration patterns during an elliptical ring fracture eruption|url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/36/4/323/103861/Unzipping-Long-Valley-An-explanation-for-vent|journal=Geology|language=en|volume=36|issue=4|pages=323–326|doi=10.1130/G24329A.1|bibcode=2008Geo....36..323H|issn=0091-7613|url-access=subscription}}</ref> (The [[1980 Mount St. Helens eruption]] was a VEI-5 eruption releasing {{convert|1.2|km3|abbr=on}}.) About half of this material was ejected in a series of [[pyroclastic flow]]s of a very hot ({{convert|1500|F|abbr=on|adj=on}}) mixture of gases, [[pumice]], and [[volcanic ash]] that covered the surrounding area hundreds of feet deep. One lobe of this material moved south into [[Owens Valley]], past present-day [[Big Pine, California|Big Pine]]. Another lobe moved west over the crest of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and into the drainage of the [[San Joaquin River]]. The rest of the pyroclastic material, along with {{convert|300|km3|abbr=on}} of other matter, was blown as far as {{convert|25|mi}} into the air where winds distributed it as far away as eastern [[Nebraska]] and [[Kansas]].

The eruption initially produced a caldera {{cvt|2|-|3|km|abbr=on}} deep. However, much of the ejecta went straight up, fell down, and filled the initial caldera about two-thirds full.

=== Eruptions ===
[[File:Long Valley Caldera cross section.gif|thumb|upright=1.15|Cross-section through Long Valley]]

Subsequent eruptions from the Long Valley magma chamber were confined within the caldera with extrusions of relatively hot (crystal-free) rhyolite 700,000 to 600,000 years ago as the caldera floor was uplifted to form the resurgent dome followed by extrusions of cooler, crystal-rich moat rhyolite at 200,000-year intervals (500,000, 300,000, and 100,000 years ago) in clockwise succession around the dome.<ref name=volcanoworld/> The declining volcanic activity and increasingly crystalline lava extruded over the last 650,000 years, as well as other trends, suggest that the magma reservoir under the caldera has now largely crystallized and is unlikely to produce large-scale eruptions in the future.<ref name="Hildreth">{{Cite journal | title=Volcanological perspectives on Long Valley, Mammoth Mountain, and Mono Craters: several contiguous but discrete systems|journal=[[Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research]] | last=Hildreth | first=Wes | date=25 September 2004 | volume=136 | issue=3–4 | doi=10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2004.05.019 | bibcode=2004JVGR..136..169H | pages=169–198 }}</ref>

The Long Valley volcano is unusual in that it has produced eruptions of both [[Lava#Mafic lava|basaltic]] and [[Lava#Felsic lava|silicic]] lava in the same geological place.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Johnson | first=B. F. | title=Supervolcano's different lavas hint at its decline | journal=Earth Magazine | date=June 2010 | pages=22–23}}</ref>

Water from the [[Owens River]] filled the caldera to a depth of {{convert|300|m|0|sp=us}} as of 600,000 years ago. At that time, the lake surface was at an elevation near {{convert|7500|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite book |title= Geologic guidebook to the Long Valley—Mono Craters region of eastern California |first=S. R. |last= Lipshie |year=1976 |publisher= University of California |page= 27}}</ref> The lake drained sometime in the last 100,000 years after it overtopped the southern rim of the caldera, eroded the sill, and created the [[Owens River Gorge]]. A human-made dam in the gorge has created [[Lake Crowley|Crowley Lake]], a partial restoration of the original lake. Since the great eruption, many [[hot spring]]s developed in the area, and the resurgent dome has uplifted.

During the last [[ice age]], glaciers filled the canyons leading to Long Valley, but the valley floor was clear of ice. Excellent examples of [[terminal moraine]]s can be seen at Long Valley. Laurel Creek, [[Convict Creek]], and [[McGee Creek, California|McGee Creek]] each have prominent moraines.

===Recent activity===
In May 1980, a strong earthquake swarm that included four [[Richter magnitude]] 6 earthquakes struck the southern margin of the Long Valley Caldera. It was associated with a {{convert|10|in|cm|adj=on}} dome-shaped uplift of the caldera floor.<ref name="usgs">{{USGS | url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-81/#Ataglance |title= Long Valley Caldera at a Glance}}</ref><ref>{{USGS |url= http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-81/Intro/Bibliography/of00-221.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715065934/http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-81/Intro/Bibliography/of00-221.pdf |archive-date=2007-07-15 |url-status=live |title= Bibliography of Literature Pertaining to Long Valley Caldera and Associated Volcanic Fields |first1= John W|last1=Ewert|first2=Christopher J|last2=Harpel|first3=Suzanna K|last3=Brooks}}</ref> These events marked the onset of the latest period of caldera unrest that is ongoing.<ref name="usgs"/> This ongoing unrest includes recurring earthquake swarms and continued dome-shaped uplift of the central section of the caldera accompanied by changes in thermal springs and gas emissions.<ref name="usgs"/> After the quake, a secondary access road was created as a potential escape route for the town of [[Mammoth Lakes, California|Mammoth Lakes]]. Its name at first was proposed as the "Mammoth Escape Route" but was changed to the Mammoth Scenic Loop after Mammoth-area businesses and landowners complained.

In 1982, the [[United States Geological Survey]] under the [[Volcano Hazards Program]] began an intensive effort to monitor and study geologic unrest in Long Valley Caldera.<ref name="usgs"/> The goal is to provide residents and civil authorities with reliable information on the nature of the potential hazards posed by this unrest and timely warning of an impending volcanic eruption, should it develop.<ref name="usgs"/> Most, perhaps all, volcanic eruptions are preceded and accompanied by geophysical and geochemical changes in the volcanic system.<ref name="usgs"/> Common precursory indicators of volcanic activity include increased seismicity, [[Deformation (volcanology)|ground deformation]], and variations in the nature and rate of gas emissions.<ref name="usgs"/>

===Hydrothermal system===
[[File:Hot Creek Fish Hatchery with Resurgent Dome in background-1200px.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|Hot Creek Fish Hatchery at base of Resurgent Dome]]

The Long Valley Caldera hosts an active hydrothermal system that includes hot springs, [[fumarole]]s (steam vents), and mineral deposits. Hot springs exist primarily in the eastern half of the [[caldera]] where land-surface elevations are relatively low; fumaroles exist primarily in the western half where elevations are higher. Mineral deposits from thermal activity are found on an uplifted area called the resurgent dome, at [[Little Hot Creek]] springs, [[Hot Creek Gorge]], and other locations in the south and east [[moat]]s of the caldera.<ref name="usgshydro">{{USGS |url= http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/lvo/activity/monitoring/hydrology/ |title= Hydrologic Studies in Long Valley Caldera}}</ref>

Hot springs discharge primarily in Hot Creek Gorge, along [[Little Hot Creek]], and in the [[Alkali Lakes]] area. The largest springs are in Hot Creek Gorge where about {{convert|250|L|gal}} per second of thermal water discharge and account for about 80% of the total thermal water discharge in the caldera. At the other extreme are springs at [[Hot Creek Fish Hatchery]] which contain a small component (2–5%) of thermal water that raises water temperatures about {{convert|5|C-change|F-change|abbr=on}} higher than background temperatures. Use of the warm spring water in the [[hatchery]] has increased fish production because [[trout]] growth rates are faster in the warm water than in ambient stream temperatures in Long Valley.<ref name="usgshydro"/>

[[File:Mammoth Hot Creek Panorama.jpg|left|thumb|Hot Creek in the summer]]

In hydrothermal systems, the circulation of [[groundwater]] is driven by a combination of [[topography]] and [[heat]] sources. In Long Valley Caldera, the system is recharged primarily from [[snowmelt]] in the highlands around the western and southern rims of the caldera. The water from snowmelt and rainfall infiltrates to depths of a few kilometers, where it is heated to at least {{cvt|220|C|F|abbr=on}} by hot rock near geologically young intrusions. Upflow occurs in the west moat where the heated water with lower density rises along steeply inclined fractures to depths of {{cvt|1|-|2|km|abbr=on}}. This hydrothermal fluid flows laterally, down the hydraulic gradient, from the west to the southeast around the resurgent dome and then eastward to discharge points along Hot Creek and around [[Crowley Lake]]. Reservoir temperatures in the volcanic fill decline from {{cvt|220|C|F|abbr=on}} near the Inyo Craters to {{cvt|50|C|F|abbr=on}} near Crowley Lake due to a combination of heat loss and mixing with cold water.<ref name="usgshydro"/>

Hot Creek has been a popular swimming hole for decades. Over a dozen people have died in Hot Creek since the late 1960s, but most of these deaths happened to people who ignored the numerous warning signs and attempted to use the hydrothermal pools as [[hot tub]]s (like the stream portion of the creek, these pools alternate in temperature, but the eruptions in the pools are of super-heated water in already very hot water).{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Recent geothermal instability has led to its temporary closure for swimming. Officials are unsure of when (if ever) Hot Creek will officially reopen for swimming.

Hydrothermal activity has altered many rocks in the caldera, transforming them into [[travertine]] and [[clay]]. At the [[Huntley clay mine]], white chalky clay called [[kaolinite]] is mined; the kaolinite is exposed on the resurgent dome and appears as a brilliant white band.

==Tourism and hiking==
{{For|the history and ecology of the caldera|Owens Valley}}

[[File:Hilltop-hot-spring-2015.jpg|thumb|Hilltop Hot Spring]]
The largest tourist attraction in the caldera is the [[Mammoth Mountain Ski Area]]: the area offers [[skiing]] and [[snowboarding]] in the winter, and [[mountain biking]] in the summer.  The [[Hot Creek (Mono County, California)|Hot Creek]] tourist attraction was closed to swimming in 2006 due to increased geothermal activity.

[[Hiking]] and [[off-road vehicle]] driving is available throughout the caldera, and in the glacial valleys of the [[Sherwin Range]], immediately to the south of the caldera. Hikers can hike to several lakes in these glacial valleys, including [[Valentine Lake]], [[Convict Lake]], [[Lake Dorothy (California)|Lake Dorothy]], and [[Laurel Lakes]].  [[Crowley Lake]], at the south end of the caldera, is noted for its fishing.

The nearest hotel accommodations to the caldera are in [[Mammoth Lakes, California|Mammoth Lakes]]. There are also campgrounds scattered throughout the caldera, and in the mountains near the edge of the caldera.

==Fatalities==

In April 2006, three members of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area ski patrol died while on duty. All three died from suffocation by [[carbon dioxide]] when they fell into a [[fumarole]] on the slopes of the mountain while attempting to fence it off.<ref>{{cite news |last= Covarrubias |first= Amanda |author2=Doug Smith |title= 3 Die in Mammoth Ski Patrol Accident |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2006-06-07 |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-apr-07-me-mammoth7-story.html |access-date= 2013-01-08}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of large volume volcanic eruptions in the Basin and Range Province]]
*[[Glass Mountain (California)|Glass Mountain]]
*[[:File:MonoCraters LongValley.gif|Map of Long Valley-Mono area]]
*[[Mono–Inyo Craters]]
*[[Mammoth Geothermal Complex]] - a geothermal power plant in the area
{{clear right}}

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title= Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California |last=Alt |first=David |author2= Donald Hyndman |publisher= Mountain Press Publishing Company |location= Missoula, Montana |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-87842-409-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Harris |first= Stephen L. |title= Fire Mountains of the West |year=2005 |edition= 3rd |publisher= Mountain Press Publishing Company |location= Missoula, Montana |isbn= 978-0-87842-511-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/long_valley/ USGS website for the Long Valley Caldera]
* {{cite gvp|name=Long Valley|vn=323822|access-date=2021-06-28}}
* [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi9878 2023 Caltech study]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Complex volcanoes]]
[[Category:Pleistocene calderas]]
[[Category:Valleys of California]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Mono County, California]]
[[Category:VEI-7 volcanoes]]
[[Category:Calderas of California]]
[[Category:Volcanic fields of the Great Basin section]]
[[Category:Volcanic fields of California]]
[[Category:Inyo National Forest]]
[[Category:Pleistocene California]]
[[Category:Pleistocene North America]]
[[Category:Hot springs of California]]