Black Crater

Coordinates: 44°15′58″N 121°44′55″W / 44.265998142°N 121.748565361°W / 44.265998142; -121.748565361
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Black Crater
The mountain seen from the Dee Wright Observatory
Highest point
Elevation7,257 ft (2,212 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence1,411 ft (430 m) Edit this on Wikidata
Coordinates44°15′58″N 121°44′55″W / 44.265998142°N 121.748565361°W / 44.265998142; -121.748565361[1]
Geography
Black Crater is located in Oregon
Black Crater
Black Crater
Location of Black Crater in the state of Oregon
LocationDeschutes County, Oregon, U.S.
Parent rangeCascade Range
Topo mapUSGS Black Crater
Geology
Age of rockLate Pleistocene[2]
Mountain typeShield volcano
Volcanic arcCascade Volcanic Arc
Climbing
Easiest routeTrail hike

Black Crater is a

cirque
into the northeastern flank of the mountain, forming its current crater.

The area was settled c. 1862, when pioneers moved to the forested region south of Black Crater, near what is now the city of Sisters. The volcano is part of the Three Sisters Wilderness, which offers recreational activities. The Black Crater Trail runs one way for 3.8 miles (6.1 km) from a trailhead on Oregon Route 242, and the southeastern part of the trail can be skied. Some Arctic–alpine plants can be found on the volcano, including mountain hemlock, ponderosa pine, bitterbrush, and Pacific silver fir.

Geography

Black Crater lies in

streams fed by runoff. These streams supply the Willamette River basin, and during the winter season the flow is increased by rain and melting snow.[8]

The volcano has an elevation of 7,257 feet (2,212 m) according to the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, which has a station just below the volcano's summit.[1] The volcano has a broad conical shape with gentle slopes[6] and a diameter of about 1.9 miles (3 km).[9] Its relief is about 1,969 feet (600 m).[6]

cirque into the northeastern flank of the mountain, which forms its current crater.[2] Glacial erosion has exposed the interior of the volcanic cone, but because of the volcano's relatively lower elevation and longer-lasting eruptive activity, it is less eroded than most other nearby volcanoes.[10][11] Glaciers likely moved between cinder cones on Black Crater but did not erode them.[12]

Black Crater is part of the

wilderness area in Oregon. Designated by the United States Congress in 1964, the wilderness area borders the Mount Washington Wilderness to the north and shares its southern edge with the Waldo Lake Wilderness. The area includes 260 miles (420 km) of trails and many forests, lakes, waterfalls, and streams, including the source of Whychus Creek.[14] Black Crater sits at the northern edge of the wilderness,[15] forming part of the Alpine Crest region. This area incorporates the northeastern third of the Three Sisters Wilderness and includes most of its major mountains as well as its most popularly visited glaciers, lakes, and meadows.[16]

Ecology and environment

Annual precipitation in the Oregon Cascades ranges from 11.5 to 13 feet (3.5 to 4.0 m) each year, with persistent but low-intensity rainfall. The wet climate supports rapid regeneration of vegetation, but the soil infiltration capacity is not surpassed even after fires.[6] Black Crater lies at the border of this climate and the one found to the immediate east, where annual precipitation is less than 1.3 feet (0.40 m).[6] Its soil consists of andisols with fine-grained loam and tephra ejected from nearby volcanoes.[6]

Some Arctic–alpine plants can be found in the area around Black Crater above the timberline.[17] The north side of Black Crater has thick stands of mountain hemlock,[13] while the eastern side supports ponderosa pine and bitterbrush. On the western side, there is forest with mountain hemlock and Pacific silver fir.[6]

On June 20, 2018, a debris flow coursed down the volcano, spurred on by runoff from a storm and secondary to the Milli Fire, which burned 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) of forest land one year prior.[18] The flow started in an area with rilling and erosion near the upper volcano[6] and traveled down the volcano's northwestern slope,[18] crossing Oregon Route 242 at two points.[6] The fire had burned 63% of the debris flow area at moderate or high severity.[6] At its narrowest point, the flow was 16.5 feet (5.0 m), with depths exceeding 5 feet (1.5 m).[19]

Geology

Volcanism in the Cascade Range results from the subduction of the oceanic Juan de Fuca tectonic plate under the North American tectonic plate

The

High Cascades volcanic plateau.[6]

Black Crater is a shield volcano,[5][23][24][nb 1] composed of mafic[25][9] basaltic andesite[5][26][27] and olivine basalt.[11] It is part of a group of mafic shield volcanoes in central Oregon that also includes North Sister, Mount Washington, Broken Top,[10] and Black Butte.[28] Black Crater shows high amplitude positive polarity on magnetic anomaly maps, as do Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mount Jefferson, suggesting an age of less than 730,000 years.[29] The volcano was likely formed in the late Pleistocene[2] and has not erupted for about 50,000 years.[30] Near the end of its eruptive activity, the volcano formed cinder cones on its southwestern side and a parasitic lava cone near its western base. Scoria and agglomerate near the summit vent was likely erupted at the same time as these formations and have been intruded by dikes.[11] Later, additional cinder cones formed on the volcano, including one at the southern base known as Millican Crater,[11] which erupted basalt.[31] Millican Crater runs up against Black Crater, with a width of 3,900 feet (1,200 m). It erupted a lava flow with dimensions of 1.2 by 1.9 miles (2 by 3 km), which runs south and east and has been moderately eroded by glaciers. This lava flow is made of scoria and agglutinate.[32]

The summit of Black Crater, with the Three Sisters in the background

Cinder cones also occur at 250 feet (76 m) and 350 feet (110 m) above the northern and northeastern flanks, respectively; they are well-preserved without current glaciers but show some evidence of

clinopyroxene and contain 55 to 57 percent silica.[35][9] The volcano produced a lava flow that reaches north and northeast of the summit for about 2.5 to 3.1 miles (4 to 5 km). This lava extends from a central volcanic plug made of microdiorite. Due to the erosion, lava has irregular joints.[9]

A normal fault occurs on the western side of the volcano, trending north–south.[30] A fault scarp runs along the northern side of the volcano[36] to the south, corresponding to an eruption at the Matthieu Lake fissure that occurred about 15,000 years ago, independent of Black Crater. The eruption was fed by a dike that could have reached the surface by the fault.[30] The Matthieu Lake fissure runs for about 5.3 miles (8.5 km), trending north–east from north of North Sister until Black Crater. Made of basaltic andesite and andesite with silica content ranging from 53.5 to 60%,[37] the fissure sees increasing crystallization of its products moving south with decreasing amounts of crystals and phenocrysts.[36] The fissure consists of cinder cones and agglutinated volcanic vents that erupted cinders, volcanic bombs, and thick lava flows. The fissure has been covered by glaciers.[37]

Nearby features

The promontory Windy Point, which is made up of basaltic andesite lava and cinder, sits at the northwestern base of Black Crater. From there, Mount Washington can be seen, as well as basaltic andesite lava from the Yapoah cinder cone volcano and a lava field produced by Belknap Crater.[38] Belknap also erupted a heavy deposit of ash and scoria that covered the area between Black Crater and Dry Creek to the north.[39] The Sixmile Butte lava field, which formed during the Pleistocene, consists of ten cinder cones between Black Crater and Black Butte. These cones erupted basaltic andesite, which was deposited prior to the glacial advance at Suttle Lake.[35] The field encompasses about 25 square miles (65 km2).[38] Southwest of Black Crater in Lane County, there is a small crater called Harlow Crater, named after M.H. Harlow, former President of the McKenzie toll road.[40]

Human history

Following cattle

Deschutes River. A third construction company proposed the construction of a road north of the Three Sisters that would cross the Deschutes above the mouth of its tributary, Crooked River.[42]

Recreation

A hiker on the Black Crater trail

The Black Crater Trail runs one-way for 3.8 miles (6.1 km) from a trailhead on Oregon Route 242. It passes through the Three Sisters Wilderness and eventually reaches the summit of Black Crater, where the North Sister and Mount Washington volcanoes can be seen.[13] The trail can be hiked or attempted on horseback, but mountain bikes and motorized vehicles are not permitted.[13] Considered to be of intermediate difficulty for hiking, it takes on average about 4 hours to complete, ranging in elevation from 4,900 to 7,251 feet (1,494 to 2,210 m).[43] The southeastern portion of the trail can be skied.[43] Since 1905, All recreational activity at Black Crater has been overseen by the United States Forest Service. Forest rangers built a fire lookout tower in 1925, but it was out of service by the 1960s.[44]

Notes

  1. ^ The Global Volcanism Program,[5] Williams (1944),[23] and Fierstein (2011)[24] list the volcano as a shield volcano, while Hildreth (2007) lists it as a stratovolcano based on its composite materials, steepness, and high relief.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Black Crater". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Dee Wright Observatory". United States Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory. Archived from the original on January 9, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "Black Crater". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. December 31, 1981. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  4. ^ Birdseye 1923, p. 356.
  5. ^ a b c d "Black Crater". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wall, Roering & Rengers 2020, p. 1650.
  7. ^ Brogan 1969, p. 11.
  8. ^ Duncan 2002, p. 2.
  9. ^ a b c d Hildreth, Fierstein & Calvert 2012, p. 39.
  10. ^ a b Williams 1944, p. 41.
  11. ^ a b c d Williams 1944, p. 46.
  12. ^ a b Taylor 1965, p. 124.
  13. ^ a b c d "Deschutes National Forest: Black Crater Trail #4058". USDA Forest Service. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  14. ^ "Three Sisters Wilderness: General". Wilderness Connect. U.S. Forest Service and the University of Montana. Archived from the original on 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  15. ^ Joslin 2005, p. 38.
  16. ^ Joslin 2005, p. 34.
  17. ^ Brogan 1969, p. 151.
  18. ^ a b Wall, Roering & Rengers 2020, p. 1649.
  19. ^ Wall, Roering & Rengers 2020, p. 1653.
  20. ^ James, Manga & Rose 1999, p. 823.
  21. ^ a b c d Hildreth 2007, p. 22.
  22. ^ Hildreth, Fierstein & Calvert 2012, p. 11.
  23. ^ a b Williams 1944, p. 50.
  24. ^ a b Fierstein, Hildreth & Calvert 2011, p. 174.
  25. ^ Hildreth 2007, p. 7.
  26. ^ Hildreth 2007, p. 23.
  27. ^ Hildreth 2007, p. 44.
  28. ^ Conrey, Grunder & Schmidt 2004, p. 26.
  29. ^ Foote 1986, p. 17.
  30. ^ a b c Conrey, Grunder & Schmidt 2004, p. 24.
  31. ^ Williams 1944, p. 55.
  32. ^ Hildreth, Fierstein & Calvert 2012, p. 43.
  33. ^ McArthur & McArthur 1984, p. 431.
  34. ^ McArthur & McArthur 1984, p. 472.
  35. ^ a b Sherrod et al. 2004, p. 21.
  36. ^ a b Schmidt 2006, pp. 158−159.
  37. ^ a b Conrey, Grunder & Schmidt 2004, p. 25.
  38. ^ a b Taylor 1981, p. 64.
  39. ^ Taylor 1965, p. 131.
  40. ^ McArthur & McArthur 1984, p. 341.
  41. ^ Brogan 1969, p. 103.
  42. ^ Brogan 1969, p. 104.
  43. ^ a b Van Tilburg 2011, 41: Black Crater.
  44. ^ Joslin 2005, p. 76.

Sources

  • Van Tilburg, C. (2011). Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes Oregon.
    Mountaineers Books
    .
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