| Lava Beds National Monument lies on the north slope of the huge Medicine Lake shield volcano, a complex volcanic edifice of greater volume than the steep-sided Mount Shasta volcanic cone, which towers as a snowclad landmark 40 miles southwest of the monument. Much of the north and south flanks of the Medicine Lake shield were built from molten lava transmitted through lava tubes. These tubes formed beneath the congealing surface of basalt flows in somewhat the same way that a brook may continue to flow beneath a cover of its own winter ice. -- Waters, et.al., 1990 |
