Lassen Volcanic National Park: Home of the Largest Volcanic Dome in the World
Located in northern California, Lassen Volcanic National Park has many attractions: from
Lassen Peak, the largest volcanic dome in the world, to hot springs such as Devil’s Kitchen and
Bumpass Hell. Visitors can drive straight into the park, or the more adventurous may choose to
hike into the park on the Pacific Crest Trail. The park is home to black bears, mountain lions,
mule deer, and is one of two parks in the world where the elusive Sierra Nevada Red Fox resides.
Tourists may have to bundle up a little bit depending on the time of year, but it is safe to say that
most people will quickly find something enjoyable to them within the park (Muffler and Clynne
2015; National Park Service 2018).
Before it was named a national park, Lassen Peak and Cinder Cone were named national
monuments by President Theodore Roosevelt in May 1907. Eruptions in 1914 marked the
beginning of a long series of varying eruptions that would continue through 1921. The initial
eruptions proved remarkable enough to catch the attention of some folks in Washington, and
Lassen Volcanic National Park was established in 1916 (Harris 431).
Lassen Volcanic National Park is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a string of volcanoes
in Western North America that stretches from British Columbia to Northern California. The 1980
eruption of Mount St Helens is perhaps the most well-known example of volcanism in the
Cascade Range. Volcanism in the Cascades results from the subduction of the ancient Farallon
Plate under the North American Plate (Q. Zhou et al., 2018). The Farallon Plate began
subducting under the North American Plate over 150 mya, and today only fragments of this
enormous plate remain (Torsvik et al., 2010). The remaining fragments of the Farallon Plate
include the Juan de Fuca, Gorda1, Cocos, and Nazca Plates; all of these fragments lie between the
Pacific Plate and one or more of the American Plates (Liu and Stegman 2011). While not directly
related to Lassen, it is interesting to note that new computer imaging has revealed that volcanism
in Yellowstone is, like the Cascades, caused by the subduction of the Farallon Plate (Q. Zhou et
al., 2018; Y. Zhou 2018).
The regional volcanic rocks of Lassen Volcanic National Park primarily occupy two
distinct locations: the Lassen domefield and Brokeoff Volcano. Brokeoff Volcano, also known as
Mount Tehama, collapsed sometime during the Late Pleistocene (~126,000 to ~11,700 years
ago); Lassen Peak and the other domes in the Lassen domefield began pushing up through the
1
Note that the Gorda Plate is technically considered a platelet and is only referred to as a plate in
this text for the sake of simplicity (U.S. Geological Survey 2017).
collapsed northern flank of Tehama about 11,000 years ago (Harris 431). Both the appearance of
Brokeoff Mountain and previous volcanic activity seem to prove this theory, but it turns out that
the remnants of Mount Tehama visible today are not the result of a collapsed caldera. In reality,
“The hollowed-out core of Brokeoff Volcano is the product of enhanced glacial and fluvial
erosion of weak, hydrothermally altered rock … The largest remnants of the Brokeoff Volcano
… were protected from erosion by thick, unaltered lava flows on their outer flanks” (Clynne et
al., 2012). Glacial erosion explains both the current appearance of Brokeoff Mountain and the
initially confusing absence of caldera-bounding faults and pyroclastic deposits. On the original
topic of regional volcanic rocks, the Lassen domefield is characterized by dacite and rhyodacite
whereas Brokeoff Volcano is dominated by andesite (Muffler and Clynne 14). Andesite, dacite,
and rhyodacite only differ significantly in their quartz content; in this case, the rocks are listed
from lowest to highest relative quartz content (Streckeisen 1974). These volcanic rocks
originated from the magma mixing of a basaltic component and a rhyolitic component (Muffler
and Clynne 15). The higher the rhyolitic component is relative to the basaltic component, the
higher the quartz content. Over time, the relative rhyolitic component has increased hence the
presence of rhyodacite and dacite in the younger Lassen domefield.
Volcanism is not the only type of geothermal activity present in Lassen Volcanic National
Park, and most tourists visit the park more for the hot springs than the volcanoes. The two most
notable hot springs are Bumpass Hell and Devil’s Kitchen, both of which are ‘fueled’ by
rainwater deposited on Lassen Peak. As shown in the figure, meteoric water (rainwater) seeps
underground and is heated as it approaches the hot rock lying over magma. The water is heated
to extreme temperatures but is not able to boil due to the pressure inherent to an environment 3
miles underground. Instead, the heated water rises by convection, and the pressure of being at
depth decreases in the process. Eventually, the pressure is no longer great enough to prevent the
water from boiling, and steam is quickly produced by the now boiling water. The steam produced
results in a vapor-dominated zone where gases build up before being released above ground. This
release of vapors produces hot springs such as the aforementioned Bumpass Hell and Devil’s
Kitchen. Some of the heated water flows sideways, eventually emerging to create hot springs that
are far less violent than the hot springs directly above vapor-dominated zones (Muffler and
Clynne 19).
Being one of two volcanoes to erupt during the 20th century in the contiguous United
States, Lassen Peak is undoubtedly a unique destination for tourism. If that were not enough, hot
springs, wildlife, and over 150 miles of hiking trails mean about everyone can find something
interesting within the park. The park offers more than tourist attractions; the tectonic setting of
the park and variable lava composition make it an interesting point of study for geologists. From
all of this information, it is tempting to think Lassen has been figured out, but considering the
USGS National Volcanic Threat Assessment lists Lassen as “very high threat,” it seems that
Lassen Volcanic National Park may still have some surprises for us yet (National Park Service
2018).
Works Cited
Clynne, M.A., Robinson, J.E., Nathenson, M., and Muffler, L.J.P., 2012, Volcano hazards
assessment for the Lassen region, northern California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific
Investigations Report 2012–5176–A, 47 p., 1 plate, Scale 1:200,000. (Available at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5176/a/)
Harris, A., 1990, Geology of National Parks (Harris, A., Tuttle, E., and Tuttle, S., eds.),
Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa.
Liu, Lijun, and Dave R. Stegman. Segmentation of the Farallon Slab. vol. 311, , 2011,
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2011.09.027.
Muffler, L. J. P., and Michael A. Clynne. Geologic Field-Trip Guide to Lassen Volcanic National
Park and Vicinity, California. , Reston, VA, 2015,
doi:https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20155067
National Park Service. "Lassen Volcanic National Park California."National Park Service, 27 Oct
2018, 2018. (Available at https://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm)
Streckeisen, A. "Classification and Nomenclature of Plutonic Rocks Recommendations of the
IUGS Subcommission on the Systematics of Igneous Rocks." Geologische Rundschau,
vol. 63, no. 2, 1974, pp. 773-786, doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01820841
Torsvik, Trond H., et al. Plate Tectonics and Net Lithosphere Rotation Over the Past 150My. vol.
291, , 2010, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.12.055.
U.S. Geological Survey. "Geologic Provinces of the United States: Pacific .", 2017. (Available at
https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/cascade2.html)
Zhou, Quan, Lijun Liu, and Jiashun Hu. "Western US Volcanism due to Intruding Oceanic
Mantle Driven by Ancient Farallon Slabs." Nature Geoscience, vol. 11, no. 1, 2018, pp.
70-76, doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-017-0035-y
Zhou, Ying. "Anomalous Mantle Transition Zone Beneath the Yellowstone Hotspot Track."
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