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Know Fire: Newberry--Shaped by Fire

Event Type: Adult Program
Age Group(s): Adult
Date: 8/26/2015
Start Time: 6:00 PM
End Time: 7:00 PM
Description:
 Newberry is the largest volcano in the Cascades and it has erupted frequently in the recent geologic past. We know from years of study that Newberry has a complex history of many eruptive events ranging from small lava flows to massive explosive eruptions that led to caldera collapse which sent volcanic ash as far as the San Francisco Bay area. The last eruption, and Oregon's young lava flow, was 1,300 years ago and sent ash as far east as Idaho and created the Big Obsidian Flow. Other recent eruptions created cinder cones like Lava Butte and extensive lava flows that buried large parts of the central Oregon landscape in solid rock and dammed the Deschutes River. What might happen when Newberry erupts again?

Newberry National Volcanic National Monument includes more than 56,000 acres of lakes, lava flows, and spectacular geologic features.

Although commonly referred to as Newberry Crater, the "crater" is in fact a caldera formed when the overlying rocks collapse when a magma chamber is emptied. The caldera stretches across 17 square miles in the heart of the volcano. The 1,200 square mile volcano (about the size of Rhode Island) remains very active to this day, and Newberry is both seismically and geothermally active. Geologists believe the caldera sits over a shallow magma body only 2 to 5 kilometers deep. Come learn more about Newberry with U.S. Forest Service Geologist Bart Wills.



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Library: Downtown Bend Public Library
Location: Brooks Room
Contact: Tina Walker Davis
Contact Number: 541-312-1034
Presenter: Bart Wills, USFS Geologist
Link: Newberry National Volcanic Monument