GREAT SCOTT!! A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

View of Craters of the Moon

south of Fissure Butte (via nps.gov)

INTRO

The landscape of Craters of the Moon National Monument (CMNM) is covered with over 60 lava flows which make up an enormous 4,000 foot-thick flood basalt lava field of more than 715,000 acres in Southern Idaho. This flood basalt lava field was caused by numerous volcanic eruptions along the Great Rift which ended 2,000 years ago. The Great Rift spans 62 miles in length and is comprised of a series of fissures which are cracks in the Earth’s crust. These cracks allowed molten hot magma (said in Dr. Evil’s voice) to spill out onto Earth’s surface during a time when a hotspot (now located in Yellowstone) was located in CMNM. Of the features commonly associated with basalt lava flows, CMNM gets its name from the resemblance that the cinder cones and spatter cones littered throughout the area have with craters found on the Moon.
 

1,000 YEARS

1,000 years in the future the landscape will not look very different. Currently, the heaviest vegetation is located on the slope and at the base of the cinder and spatter cones found throughout CMNM. This is most likely do to different types of weathering which break down the cinder and spatter cones. The sediment left from weathering is then carried by wind and rain (erosion) down the slope of the cinder cone where it collects. Despite this collection of volcanic soil, a limited amount of vegetation can thrive in CMNM’s arid climate. This makes the development of vegetation slow going. So, in 1,000 years the cinder and spatter cones would look more degraded and plant life more plentiful, but no drastic changes in the landscape would be noticeable.    

 Vegetation on slope and base of cinder cone. (via osu.edu)

10,000 YEARS

In 10,000 years there would be a noticeable change in CMNM’s landscape. The cinder cones and spatter cones will be considerably eroded and replaced with plant life found in arid climates. The flat lava fields will have also begun to break down do to frost weathering from the collection of water in lava tubes during winter snow falls. However, the lava fields are said to be around 4,000 feet thick and so more time is needed for the hardened lava to be replaced with volcanic rich soils.

1,000,000 YEARS

In 1,000,000 years CMNM will look very different than it does today. Cinder cones and spatter cones will have been eroded down to the base and be covered in plant life found in arid climates. Lava fields will have been broken down (although maybe not completely) and replaced with volcanic soil and biological soil crusts such as mosses and lichens (found in almost all arid climates). In essence, it will probably look much like the desert regions of Southern Idaho we see today.

Photo of Southern Idaho's desert landscape (via lifeinthetetons.com)

FINAL THOUGHTS

CMNM has a wonderful landscape where people can go and find every feature a flood basalt lava field has to offer. In doing this project I have learned a lot about physical geography and enjoyed learning about one of North America’s most interesting landscapes. 

Sources:
geology.isu.edu
    http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/Cassia_mtns/srpovrvw.htm

lifeinthetetons.com
    http://www.lifeinthetetons.com/Teton-Valley-Magazine/Summer-2012/In-the-Tracks-of-Pioneers/

newark.osu.edu
    http://www.newark.osu.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/Documents/Rocks-and-Fossils-in-the-Field/Craters-of-the-Moon-Lava-Field.htm

nps.gov
    http://www.nps.gov/crmo/planyourvisit/wilderness.htm

pubs.usgs.gov
    http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/types.html

vulcan.wr.usgs.gov
    http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/VolcanicPast/Places/volcanic_past_craters_moon.html
 

CLIMATE IS AS CLIMATE DOES

Craters of the Moon National Monument has a latitude of 43.4167° N and a longitude of 113.5167° W. This means that it is a mid-latitude region that is affected by the Westerly wind belt in which air moves from West to East. These belts are kept in place by polar and subtropical jet streams. Although these jet streams help to keep the Westerlies in place, they also travel into the Westerlies which can influence weather conditions. Craters of the Moon, for example, has much more active weather during winter months because the polar front dips down over the United States during this time of year. As the polar front dips down the polar jet stream dips with it. At the same time, the subtropical jet stream attempts to move toward the poles. This interaction of colder and dryer air moving south and interacting with warmer more moist air creates the potential for snow storms. While summer experiences hot and dry (surface temperature of 170° F!) climate, winter experiences colder and wetter climate.

via http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/.JetStreams

 

Other factors, such as elevation, contribute to the type of climate experienced in Craters of the Moon. Known as a high desert, Craters of the Moon is located approximately 5,910 feet above sea level. At the northern end of the monument the temperatures are lower and the precipitation is higher because it rests at a higher elevation than the southern half. Another factor is that Craters of the Moon is land locked and does not boarder any major body of water. This is significant because land heats and cools faster than water which, in Craters of the Moon, means a higher temperature range than many coastal regions of the United States.

Information taken from nps.gov (National Parks Service)

SOIL? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN SOIL!

Dwarf Monkey Flower      

Ok so that’s not exactly true. Most plants do need some kind of soil in order to thrive in a given environment. At first glance Craters of the Moon appears to be a desolate wasteland made barren by the basalt lava fields that dominate the area. However, there are over 750 different forms of vegetation scattered though the wilderness! But how is this possible if the surface is covered by hardened lava? Well, there are a few different ways that Craters of the Moon gets soil that allows for plant life. One way is that as wind blows across the surface it carries with it fragments of soil (mostly silt) and nutrients that then fall into cracks and holes in the lava field. Now that the soil is stationary and no longer affected by blowing winds, it can produce plant life (from seeds also blown into the crack or hole) that don't require much soil to survive. Another way that soil systems develop in Craters of the Moon is from chemical weathering caused by biologic organic acids. Organisms such as mosses and lichens form on rocks and begin to break the rock structures down. During this process the mosses and lichens form a biological soil crust that works to bind loose soils, help water entrapment and dispersion, and fix atmospheric nitrogen in the developing soil. Biological soil crust is found in every arid ecosystem in the world and is able to survive with very little water. This is particularly useful at Craters of the Moon because of its hot and dry summers. If the movie Jurassic Park has taught us anything, it's that life will find a way.

                                                             Lichens forming on a rock

 

All pictures and information taken from nps.gov (National Parks Service)



One of most interesting features of the Craters of the Moon are cinder cones that can be found throughout the landscape. Cinder cones are created when tephra is blown out from volcanic eruptions. The larger pieces of tephra land closer to the vent of the eruption and (once cooled) form cinders. When the cinders form in a circle, they create a cinder cone.

via http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~maher/air/air06.htm

Craters of the Moon National Wilderness is best describe as a flood basalt lava field. As the North American Plate Past over a hot spot it created magma which came up through a series of fissure systems along what is known as the Great Rift. Repeated lava flows (which ended approximately 2,000 years ago) have shaped the way the landscape looks today. Although there is diversity in the type of lava found in Craters of the Moon, the dominant lava type is pahoehoe lava. Pahoehoe has a smooth ropy texture to it and is created from long lava tubes which allows for a slower cooling process. This cooling process, along with low viscosity, helps to produce the smooth ropy texture.

Aerial view of the Great Rift. via http://www.geocities.ws/ka7eii/desert.html

This map shows tectonic plate movement over a "hot spot" that created Craters of the Moon National Wilderness. Hot spots are stationary and as the North American Plate moved Southwest over the hot spot, a trail of volcanism was left in its wake. The hot spot is now located in Yellowstone National Park. So, understanding hot spots in relation to tectonic plate movement can help people understand volcanism as well as provide a technique for mapping the movement of Earth's tectonic plates.

via www.mnh.si.edu

INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is William Burke. I grew up in Colorado and when I was nineteen I joined the Marine Corps. I was stationed with 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines out of Hawaii (I know a pretty terrible place to get stationed). I completed two combat tours to Iraq and was honorably discharged in 2010. Since then, I have been attending UCD and majoring in political science. For my blog I have chosen to study the Craters of the Moon National Wilderness. I chose this location for a very simple reason. When I came home yesterday from class I asked one of my roommates if he had any ideas for a location that would be fun to study for my physical geography class. He told me about a region in the United States that he and his father used to go camping that is called Craters of the Moon. After hearing his description I was certain that I wanted to learn more. Craters of the Moon National Wilderness was created by lava flow that occurred thousands of years ago. As one might guess this region’s name came from the way it resembled craters found on Earth’s moon. Since I didn’t know this place existed until yesterday I don’t know much more about its specific features. Throughout the semester I plan on being able to describe what makes this location unique and how different factors have shaped the way it looks today.

 

                  
Photo taken from www.blm.gov 

Photo Taken from www.ents-bbs.org