These mudflows, from glaciers on Mount Shasta, are of particular importance for they constitute one of the few areas known in the world where young soils are stratified in such a manner as to provide definite proof of age. The most recent flow, from Konwakiton Glacier, high on the southeast slope of Mount Shasta, occurred in 1924; this, and a flow some 300 years earlier, overlay still earlier flows. There are areas with five mudflows clearly discernible, the oldest, tentatively dated at 1,200 years of age.

This series of mudflows, which follow the course of Mud Creek for a portion of the way, present an ideal setting for the study of time sequences of forest ecosystems. Each mudflow consisted of coarse sand, essentially pulverized andesitic rock, unmodified by previous soil-forming process. Datable strata, ranging from sterile, rock scrabble soil through fertile, forest-bearing soils, provide the opportunity to study the process of soil formation and nutrient development.

The area is characterized by erosive stream banks which continually slough during high water, thus keeping the banks raw. Lava ash and glacial silt and flour are carried to the McCloud River year round.

Several stages in the development of a ponderosa pine woodland are evident here.

Integrity: No development; logged in the 1920's, some sheep grazing in the past.

Use: Research, educational. In addition to soil studies, the population dynamics of the western pine beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis, are being conducted here.

Ref: Cheatham, N. H., 1971. Establishment Report, Shasta Mudflow Natural Area. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, United States Forest Service, 1960 Addison Street, Berkeley, California, 94704.

February 1975

Siskiyou
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2005 Steven Louis Hartman