A number of have spent considerable time wondering what the Maupin earthquakes mean to central Oregon. I came across this description of Lava Butte and the NW Rift emanating from the Newberry Crater:
About 7,000 years ago activity along the rift zone began with fire fountaining along this segment and small flows from the fountains. As the eruption continued, the majority of the fissure sealed off and activity became concentrated at the site of Lava Butte. The lava was becoming less fluid, so the escaping gases carried larger quantities of foamy lava fragments (cinders) into the air, which fell back to the ground to build the cone. Due to the prevailing southwest winds, over two-thirds of the cone’s volume is north of the crater and the cone’s northeast rim was built higher. As the highly gas charged magma was depleted, magma began to rise up into the cone. The thin south side was not strong enough to contain the fluid magma which began to pour out the side of the cone to form lava flows. The early flows were still quite fluid and spread over five miles to the west and north. By the end of the eruption the lava flows covered more than 9 square miles. The cone reached a final height of 500 feet with a basal diameter of about 2400 feet. The crater is about 700 feet in diameter and is 50 to 150 deep depending on where you are on the crater rim.
A couple of points: This all happened just 7,000 years ago, a mere trifle of geologic time. It is just south of Maupin close to the 121 degrees longitude and looks to be still geolgical active.
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Lava Butte Central Oregon Maupin Mover Mike
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