Volcano Information

    Mono Lake Volcanic Field
    Volcanic Alert Level: NORMAL Aviation Color Code: GREEN

    • Status: Mono Lake Volcanic Field is monitored by the Long Valley Observatory and is at a background level of activity.
    • Volcanic History Overview: The Mono Lake volcanic field east of Yosemite National Park and north of the Mono Craters consists of vents within Mono Lake and on its north shore. The most topographically prominent feature, Black Point, is an initially sublacustral basaltic cone that rises above the NW shore and was formed about 13,300 years ago when Mono Lake was higher. Holocene rhyodacitic lava domes and flows form Negit and parts of Paoha islands off the northern shore and center of the lake, respectively. The most recent eruptive activity in the Long Valley to Mono Lake region took place 100-230 years ago, when lake-bottom sediments forming much of Paoha Island were uplifted by intrusion of a rhyolitic cryptodome (Stine, in Bailey et al. 1989). Spectacular tufa towers line the shores of Mono Lake.
    • Location: Western US, CA

      Latitude: 38
      Longitude: -119.03
      Elevation: 2121 m

      Recent Eruption: 100-230 years ago
    • Hazard Assessments: Miller, C. Dan; Mullineaux, D. R.; Crandell, D. R.; Bailey, R. A., 1982, Potential hazards from future volcanic eruptions in the Long Valley-Mono Lake area, east-central California and southwest Nevada; a preliminary assessment, USGS Circular 877, 10 p. :ill., maps.
    • Link to monitoring data: LVO Web Site