Title
Texture and Sedimentary Structures of Pleistocene Lava Creek Ash, Shoshone, Southern California
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-17-2019
Abstract
The hotspot of Yellowstone in Wyoming has been the source of the largest three volcanic eruptions in recent Earth history. The latest eruption, occurring 0.63 million years ago, was the second largest and deposited a thin layer of ash, known as the Lava Creek Formation.The ash traveled up to two thousand kilometers in atmospheric winds across the western and central United States. In some depositional environments, like lakes and basins, the ash is from one to ten meters thick. A sample of the Lava Creek Formation was hand collected near Shoshone, California, from Pleistocene Lake Tecopa. The ash particles exhibit hyalotuff texture, which is concordant with the explosive, phreatomagmatic style eruption of Yellowstone volcanism. A lack of fossils indicate Lake Tecopa, was alkaline and had a high salinity, which made it lacking in life, but sedimentary structures observed suggest that wave action was similar to that of a present day lake.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Ess, Madeline, "Texture and Sedimentary Structures of Pleistocene Lava Creek Ash, Shoshone, Southern California" (2019). Papers, Posters, and Recordings. 15.
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/great-day-works/15