Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon,
missions.

You don't need to leave the lower 48 States
to see huge areas of lava flow. Craters of
the Moon National Monument in south
central Idaho has over 600 square miles of
lava beds. These formed during at least 8
major eruptions over the last 15,000 years,
with the most recent activity about 2,000
years ago. In areas of the most recent
eruptions, there is very little vegetation, just
lava flows, cinder cones, splatter cones, lava
tubes, and lava rivers. In many areas you
can easily imagine that you are on the moon.

Everything in the foreground at left is lava, with a
few cinder cones in the distance.

“The COM lava field is the largest dominantly
Holocene basaltic lava field in the lower 48 states
(Kuntz. et 0 1. 1992); it covers 618 mi2 (1 .600
km2) . COM lava field is a composite field made
up of at least 60 lava flows and 25 tephra (cinder
and spatter) cones. It has 8 eruptive fissure
systems that are aligned along the northern part of
the Great Rift {Kuntz. et ol. 1992).”

The excerpt above is from the 24 page booklet,
Geology of the Craters of the Moon by Park
Geologist Douglass E. Owen and GSA GeoCorps
Sonja M. Melander.

Excellent reading for other hobby geologists like
me.

Click on any image to enlarge

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Craters of the Moon National Monument in south central Idaho has over
2,000 years ago. In areas of the most recent eruptions, there is very little
lava rivers. In many areas you can easily imagine that you are on the

Craters of the Moon National and
volcanic features - lava fields and
beds, cooled lava rivers, cinder and

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