Geology topics

Research about Mount Shasta

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Mount Shasta.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2017

Geologic field-trip guide to Mount Shasta Volcano, northern California

The southern part of the Cascades Arc formed in two distinct, extended periods of activity: “High Cascades” volcanoes erupted during about the past 6 million years and were built on a wider platform of Tertiary volcanoes and shallow plutons as old as about 30 Ma, generally called the “Western Cascades.” For the most part, the Shasta segment (for example, Hildreth, 2007; segment 4 of Guffanti and Weaver, 1988) of the arc forms a distinct, fairly narrow axis of short-lived small- to moderate-sized High Cascades volcanoes that erupted lavas, mainly of basaltic-andesite or low-silica-andesite compositions. Western Cascades rocks crop out only sparsely in the Shasta segment; almost all of the following descriptions are of High Cascades features except for a few unusual localities where older, Western Cascades rocks are exposed to view along the route of the field trip. The High Cascades arc axis in this segment of the arc is mainly a relatively narrow band of either monogenetic or short-lived shield volcanoes. The belt generally averages about 15 km wide and traverses the length of the Shasta segment, roughly 100 km between about the Klamath River drainage on the north, near the Oregon-California border, and the McCloud River drainage on the south (fig. 1). Superposed across this axis are two major long-lived stratovolcanoes and the large rear-arc Medicine Lake volcano. One of the stratovolcanoes, the Rainbow Mountain volcano of about 1.5–0.8 Ma, straddles the arc near the midpoint of the Shasta segment. The other, Mount Shasta itself, which ranges from about 700 ka to 0 ka, lies distinctly west of the High Cascades axis. It is notable that Mount Shasta and Medicine Lake volcanoes, although volcanologically and petrologically quite different, span about the same range of ages and bracket the High Cascades axis on the west and east, respectively. The field trip begins near the southern end of the Shasta segment, where the Lassen Volcanic Center field trip leaves off, in a field of high-alumina olivine tholeiite lavas (HAOTs, referred to elsewhere in this guide as low-potassium olivine tholeiites, LKOTs). It proceeds around the southern, western, and northern flanks of Mount Shasta and onto a part of the arc axis. The stops feature elements of the Mount Shasta area in an approximately chronological order, from oldest to youngest.

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USGS1996

Characteristics of debris flows of noneruptive origin on Mount Shasta, northern California

Studies of Mount Shasta indicate that eruptive activity has occurred, on the average, once every 800 years. Debris flows and deposits of non- eruptive origin, in addition to those associated with eruptive activity (lava flows, pyroclastic flows, and ash fall), inundate the fans and channels and can endanger people or property on the flanks of the mountain. This study evaluates the source and characteristics of historical noneruptive debris flows in the vicinity of Mount Shasta. At least 70 debris flows of noneruptive origin that occurred during the last 1,000 years have been identified in various stream channels on Mount Shasta. Of the four areas around the mountain, the most active are the McCloud River and The Whaleback-Ash Creek Butte depression; the Sacramento River area is the least active. Between 1900 and 1985, 37 debris flows occurred on different streams, with an average interval of 2.3 years between flows. Since 1900, Mud Creek (nine flows) and Whitney Creek (six flows) have been the most active channels. The path followed by a debris flow is not always at the lowest point in the channel, and the extent of downstream movement depends on the size of the flow. Former channels are inundated by the new flows and deposits, and new channels are eroded. In time, most of the entire channel between valley walls is subject to reworking. Most debris-flow deposits ranged in thickness from 0.4 to 2.5 meters. Thickness tends to decrease in a downstream direction. The deposits are generally of a convex shape, highest in the middle and lowest near the original valley wall. The ratio of water to solids in the slurry- sediment mixture of debris flows averages 68 percent by volume.

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USGS1978

Potential hazards from future eruptions in the vicinity of Mount Shasta Volcano, northern California

Mount Shasta has erupted, on the average, at least once per 800 years during the last 10,000 years, and about once per 600 years during the last 4,500 years. The last known eruption occurred about 200 radiocarbon years ago. Eruptions during the last 10,000 years produced lava flows and domes on and around the flanks of Mount Shasta, and pyroclastic flows from summit and flank vents extended as far as 20 km from the summit. Most of these eruptions also produced large mudflows, many of which reached more than several tens of kilometers from Mount Shasta. Future eruptions like those of the past may endanger the communities of Weed, Mount Shasta, McCloud, and Dunsmuir located on or near the flanks of Mount Shasta. This report describes the likely nature of future eruptions and the threat that they present to people and property situated around Mount Shasta; accompanying maps delineate areas likely to be affected during future eruptions in the vicinity of Mount Shasta. Future eruptions will most likely consist of lava flows, domes, and pyroclastic flows. Lava flows and pyroclastic flows may affect low and flat- lying ground almost anywhere within about 20 km of the summit of Mount Shasta, and mudflows may cover valley floors and other low areas as much as several tens of kilometers from the volcano. Mount Shasta is not likely to erupt large volumes of ash in the future; areas subject to the greatest risk from air-fall tephra are located mainly east and within about 50 km of the summit of the volcano.

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