Logging tasks
- Visit the location, and tell me everyone you are submitting answers for.
- Visit the two cones, tell me the differences and similarities of the two.
- Does there appear to be a different cinder size and shape at a lower point in these small cones compared to the higher?
- Is there anything different about the ciders on the inside of the cones.
- Add a photo of you from the location or of an identifiable item (paper with trackable name). Posting a photo pulled from the internet, or photoshopped will result in instant deletion.
Intro
The hike is not very difficult very short. Beware in the summer, higher temperatures can make the hike difficult without enough water. No bikes or pets on the trail.
Big Craters Cone
Just north of here you can see the Big Craters cinder cone. Many of the smaller cones here make up a small grouping a few hundred yards long, and were all made about the same time. These formed around the central vents of that cone.
Spatter Cones
Spatter cones are like small geysers. The laval that forms these is full of a large amount of gas. As it approaches the surface it expands rapidy. Eventrually these tend to explode at the surface tossing material into the air. Early in eruptions these can be very large throwing those materials high into the air. These make large piles of cinders
Spatter cones are one of the main types of volcanic type landforms. They are made from lava that was ejected from a vent. The spatter cones are easy to distinguish especially during eruption. Unlike some volcanoes that produce lava flow during eruption, the eruptions in spatter cones are similar to explosion.
As extremely hot gases liquefy the rocks, hot clots or blobs called spatters are formed and they are thrown up to 25 meters high. Each clot is small with diameters ranging from one to 50 centimeters. They will soon fall back and would form a mound around the vent. The process is abrupt that the melted rocks seem to splash. The spatters are normally in liquid form when they land but would cool down and weld with each other forming the mound or cone. Most of the time, the blobs of lava will instantly cool down and stick to one another just as they land. They rarely roll or flow down which is why most spatter cones are steep. It could be as high as 50 meters although they are vulnerable and easily break. This is why most spatter cones are off limits for hikers or tourists in many places.
However often these will toss smaller particles, that do not blow or roll away. They may not be tossed as high, but land on the sides of these smaller cones, like splatteruing mud, slowly building the sides little by little.
Leave no Trace
Remember as you visit these sites to practice Leave No Trace. Please stay on existing trails and roads, and do not gather or take anything. We want these locations to be as good as you are seeing them for future generations. Take pictures and enjoy the locations, but leave the rocks and plants behind.
Information for this cache comes from "Geology of craters of the Moon" by Douglass Owen, and Sonja Melander; worldlandforms.com; USGS geological map of the Inferno Con Quadrangle by Kuntz, Lefebvre, Champion and Skipp.