I’ve been thinking about volcanos lately due to Kilauea Volcano eruptions lately on Hawaii's Big Island. This activity isn’t limited to Hawaii however. The Ring of Fire might be affected as well. There was an earthquake in Oakland three days ago. It wasn’t too big registering 3.8 on the Richter Scale.
In our neck of the woods, we have a volcano nearby. It’s called Mt. Lassen and it last blew in 1915. It is one of only two volcanos that erupted in the 20th century on the mainland. The other one is Mt. St. Helens which erupted in 1980. Interestingly, I climbed Mt. St. Helens just two years before it went kablooey. It was about 1300 feet shorter after that compared to when I climbed it. Here is what it looked like in May 1980:
Mt. Lassen is about 70ish miles as the bird flies (88 miles to drive) from where we live. It’s responsible for creating the lava cap we have under our property. We have a year-round creek due to that as it flows on pure lava cap (no dirt) and thus can’t percolate into the ground. Our home is actually built directly on the lava cap itself.
“Lassen's summit complex is a lava dome that rises 2,000 feet (610 m) above the surrounding terrain and has a volume of half a cubic mile, making it one of the largest lava domes on Earth.” (www.volcanodiscovery.com/...)
Here is what it looked like in May 1915. To put the scale in perspective, see those snowcapped mountains under that huge volcanic cloud? They are about 10,500 feet in elevation:
What’s up with the month of May and volcanos exploding on the mainland? The two that have blown their tops during the 20th century are both parts of the Cascade Mountain Range. Actually Mt. Lassen has a unique situation in that it’s the southernmost part of the Cascade Mountain Range. The Sierra Mountain Range takes over from that point south. This region has plants and animals of both mountain ranges making it more biologically diverse than either range as it’s a melding of the two. There are bubbling boiling mud pits at Mt. Lassen called Bumpass Hell. Stay on the path.
Closer to the Bay Area is Clear Lake Volcano. You can easily see steam from the Geysers for miles around. Volcanic activity has been largely non-explosive, with the exception of four explosive eruptions. These happen between 150,000 to 200,000 years apart with the last one happening about 10,000 years ago.
4 eruptive episodes separated by time gaps of ca. 150-200,000 years have been recognized: 2.1-1.3 million years ago (m.y.), 1.1-0.8 m.y., 0.65-0.30 m.y., and 100,000-10,000 years ago.
The area has intense geothermal activity, caused by a large, still hot silicic magma chamber about 14 km wide and 7 km beneath the surface. It provides the heat source for the Geysers, the world's largest producing geothermal field on the SW side of the volcanic field. Its geothermal power plants can generate approximately 2000 megawatts, enough to power two cities the size of San Francisco.
The latest volcanic activity happened about 10,000 years ago and formed maars and cinder cones along the shores of Clear Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in California. Volcanism around Clear Lake is related to the complex San Andreas transform fault system. (www.volcanodiscovery.com/...)
We’ll have to wait and see it any activity gets triggered in our local region of The Ring of Fire after what’s happening in Hawaii. Mt. Lassen and Clear Lake Volcano are active.
What do you want to talk about today?
What: A Daily Kos meet up for DK members and interested parties
When: Saturday, May 19th, 2018 — Time: 12:00-? PM
Where: Highland Brewing, Asheville, NC
www.highlandbrewing.com
12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200
Asheville, North Carolina 28803
828-299-3370
Directions via Google Maps
Why: Friends, tools and networking to win in November
Food: Food Trucks plus
Fun: Brewery Tour
RSVPS
1. randallt, organizer (kosmail him to connect)
2. Lamont Cranston
3. Joieau
4. Gordon20024
MAYBEES :
1. Otteray Scribe
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RSVPS
1. bleeding blue, organizer (kosmail him to connect)
2. rb137
3. Tbone Apollo
4. ptressel
5. SninkyPoo
6. FlamingoGrrl
7. Gemina13
8.
MAYBEES :
Kitsap River and Charles
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Netroots Nation 2018