Burnt Lava Flow Virgin Area
Map SatelliteThis area consists of islands of mixed conifer forest and some open brushland amidst extensive volcanic flows. The conifers include sugar, ponderosa, white, and lodgepole pines, Pinus lambertiana, Pinus ponderosa, Pinus monticola and Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana; some white fir, Abies concolor, is also present.
Much of the area is covered by volcanics and it is among the most picturesque and youngest of the Modoc Plateau flours. The lava issued from the cinder cone of High Hole Crater and the fissure to the north. The field consists of at least two flows of different age. The older is highly oxidized aa, exposed near the southern end of the field. The younger consists of pahoehoe that has been partially overridden by aa, which has buried a large part of the older flow. The lava is a basaltic andesite. The most recent flow may have occurred within the past 1,200 years.
There is an ice cave in the area.
Integrity: A road passes through the area. The area is withdrawn from mining.
Use: Research, educational, observational.
Ref: Peacock, M. A., 1931. The Modoc Lava Field, Northern California. Geog. Rev. Vol. 21 (2), pp. 259 - 275.
March 1978
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman