ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) — In California's Death Valley, death is looking just a bit closer. Geologists have determined that the half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater, formed by a prehistoric volcanic explosion, was created far more recently than previously thought -- and that conditions for a sequel may exist today. Up to now, geologists were vague on the age of the 600-foot deep crater, which formed when a rising plume of magma hit a pocket of underground water, creating an explosion. The most common estimate was about 6,000 years, based partly on Native American artifacts found under debris. Now, a team based at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has used isotopes in rocks blown out of the crater to show that it formed just 800 years ago, around the year 1200.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120123152516.htm
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Re: Waiting for Death Valley's Big Bang: Volcanic Explosion Crater May Have Future Potential
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January 23, 2012 06:39PM |
January 24, 2012 02:36PM |
For those who are not familiar with the Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley, here's a photo of it (with Little Hebe Crater in the foreground). The two crater are somewhat near Scotty's Castle in the northern portion of the park:
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