Central Oregon’s Sleeping Giant - Deschutes County, Oregon
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 43° 54.737 W 121° 21.431
10T E 631906 N 4863442
This geology sign is located along The Trail of the Molten Lands at Lava Lands Visitor Center.
Waymark Code: WMEVDZ
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 07/09/2012
Views: 4
Geology sign discusses Newberry Volcano. Sign was installed in June 2012 as part of an ADA upgrade of the trail.
Marker Name: Central Oregon’s Sleeping Giant
Marker Text: Newberry Volcano
You are standing on the edge of one of the largest volcanoes in North America. Resting between the Cascades to the west and the High Lava Plains to the east, Newberry Volcano and its apron of lava flows cover nearly 1,200 square miles (the size of Rhode Island!). With scores of eruptions dating as far back as 400,000 years ago and as recently as 1,300 years ago, Newberry has had a measurable impact on Oregon and the surrounding lands with deposits from its most explosive eruptions reaching as far as Idaho to the northeast and San Francisco Bay to the southwest.
What look like rolling hills in the distance are actually more buttes like Lava Butte behind you. Like pimples dotting a face, Newberry Volcano has almost 400 cinder cones, more than any other volcano in the world.
The Fire Below
Miles beneath your feet, the real story is unfolding. The force of tectonic plate subduction and magma working its way to the surface through faults creates the unique landscape in front of you. Magma feeds from both the main chamber under Newberry Caldera and from along its flanks beneath the Northwest Rift Zone. Newberry Volcano poses potential hazards from isolated lava flows that cover roads and nearby towns to fiery eruptions and ash falls blanketing the area, igniting forest fires. Newberry is truly a “sleeping giant” that may someday re-awaken and unleash its power.
Newberry Caldera
Indenting the top of this broad shield-shaped volcano is a basin created by a major explosion and collapse that occurred 75,000 years ago. The size of the city of Bend, Newberry Caldera now holds two picturesque alpine lakes and the largest obsidian flow in Oregon. Before this great collapse, the original volcano would have been about 1,000 feet taller, rising prominently above the high desert.
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