MAMMOTH VOLCANIC SURVEY
16 June 2020 XLIII
Khamsin Molossia News

On Sunday, 14 June 2020 XLIII the Molossian Institute of Volcanology set out on a survey of the volcanic region in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California. Located about 160 Imperial Nortons (160 km / 100 mi) southwest of Molossia, the area is home to two volcanic fields and several geological formations related to volcanology. Mammoth Lakes lies in an area known as the Long Valley Caldera, the ancient crater of a supervolcano that first erupted 760,000 years ago. Since that massive eruption, which covered much of what is now the western United States with as much as 840 Nortons (150 meters / 490 ft) of volcanic ash, subsequent eruptions and related activity have occurred, as recently as 300 years ago.

The Institute team set out early and arrived in the region around 11:00 AM MST, choosing to first explore the Inyo Craters, phreatic volcanoes that erupted about 600 years ago. After exploring the craters, the team moved to the nearby Earthquake Fault, a misnamed volcanic fissure that opened around the same time as the Inyo Craters erupted. Subsequent to that, the team then visited Hot Creek, an area of geothermal activity that includes fumaroles, boiling pools and springs. Within the creek itself superheated water wells up from multiple subsurface vents. The next stop for the team was Obsidian Dome, a mountain made from brittle, glass-like obsidian lava. Following the stop at Obsidian Dome, the group moved to nearby Devil's Punchbowl, another phreatic crater with a large resurgent dome in the middle. From there the team traveled to Panum Crater, yet another phreatic crater on the shore of Mono Lake. Nearby the group visited the shore of Mono Lake itself, a salt water lake with no outlet. Numerous limestone towers known as tufa are found there, formed when the calcium carbonate in the lake formed around underwater springs. This final exploration complete, the science team returned to Molossia, having gained new insight into the amazing, powerful and sometimes violent forces that mold and shape our world.


Visit the webpage of the Molossian Institute of Volcanology here.

Long Valley Caldera and Mono Lake.



Inyo Craters
from Above.



North Crater.


North Crater Panorama.




The President
and Chief
Constable at
the North Crater.

South Crater.

South Crater.

Earthquake
Fault, Volcanic Fissure.

Earthquake
Fault.

Earthquake
Fault.

Hot Creek
Geothermal Area.

Hot Creek.

Hot Creek.

Obsidian Dome.

Obsidian Dome.

Obsidian Dome.

Obsidian Dome.

Devil's Punchbowl Crater.

Panum Crater.

Panum Crater
Panorama.

Panum Crater
from Above.

Mono Lake Tufa.

Mono Lake Tufa.

Mono Lake Tufa.

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