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Black Rock Volcano and Lava Tubes

Andrea Stringham
Geology 1010-004-F15
Professor Johnson
November 23, 2015

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Black Rock Desert is a volcanic field that has many geologic landforms including Black
Rock volcano, basalt flows and lava tubes. Black Rock volcano is a cinder and spatter cone
volcano. The basalt flows from the volcanos and include many different minerals. The lava
tubes are formed from the lava flows and leave many different formations. The article on USGS
about the black rock desert field states that the area is a young field of volcanos with the first
eruption being about 6.1 ma and the most recent one being only 720 years ago. (2014) The
geologic features like the volcanoes, vents and hot springs are on the fault line. (Davis 2014)
Black rock volcano is located in central Utah just south of the town of Fillmore. The
basic formation of a volcano is that the magma gets heated under the earths inner layers. The
plates from a fault line move over the heated magma. The magma gets pushed out through
openings in the outer crust. (Auerbach 2015). I observed an arch shaped ridge running from
north to south. The bowl of the volcano opened towards the west with the appearance of the
eruption out the side of the volcano. The accumulation of volcanic rock on the back side of the
volcano shows that the eruption was a more volatile one. The volcanic rock shows the spatter
aspect of the cone. Some of the boulders were observed in further distance that a flowing lava
would have produced. The black rock volcano is a horseshoe shaped cinder cone ejecting
material out of the vent and builds up on the ground forming the steep conic hill. (Davis 2014).
Along the southeast side of the hill, I observed horizontal layers of sediment exposed from
weathering of the area. The loose sediment has been washed away exposing the layer
underneath. With this observation, I concluded that these layers were disposed more recently
than other layers because they were still horizontal.
The basic eruptions are monolithic meaning that they only erupt once. These eruption
product mostly basalt and andesite but can also include dacite and rhyolite. (Black Rock..2014).

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Lava flows were observed north of the lava tubes coming from the ice springs area. These
formations appear to be more of a slow moving flow rather than an volatile eruption. The
formations expanded for many miles from the original point. The distance a lava flow depends
on what type of eruption there is, what type of material is involved, the type of flow there is and
how steep the terrain is. (Lava flows 2010). The formations observed and from further research,
the flow involved is an aa flow. An aa flow is slow moving, making it easier to observe it moving
and can move to a safer area. The land around the eruption was not very steep so the lava must
have flowed for a while with the distance of the flow being so far from the original point of
eruption.
Lava tubes are formed from the lava spreading along the ground from the volcano vents.
The top and side layers harden forming a thick layer of insulation. The lava underneath stays
heated from the insulation and continues to flow and push the tube down the slope. The heat
from the lava produces steam and pressure inside the hardened shell. The pressure can buildup
and push the ground up and breaks holes to the surface releasing the pressure. (Lava tubes 1996).
Inside the lava tubes, the rock formations showed the different flow of the lava. There were
different widths in the caves showing were the flows would slow down and speed up. There were
layers of rocks in the walls showing different levels of erosion. There were also rounded divots
in the ceiling showing lava pushing into the rock. The ceiling had holes in it where the pressure
of the steam and pressure likely broke through. There were a few areas in the roof that looked
like something was dripping from it. The drip like formations were likely the result of the lava
hardening before it dropped to the ground. The tubes that were observed traveled from the
eruption called Tabernacle Hill just south of the tubes. The eruptions are mostly based on the
fault line and many of the flows move into some of fault cracks.

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Over time the tubes have eroded from weathering and erosion. There were piles of rocks
that have weathered down and fallen from the ceiling and the walls. There is evidence of frost
wedging in between the layers of sediments. The edges on the rocks were still rigid so they have
not moved very far from their origin and they were not well sorted. There are larger gaps in the
open areas where it is exposed to the elements. There is evidence that water has been in the caves
with the reddish coloring on the rocks. The coloring on the rocks is caused by oxidation of the
minerals in the water reacting to the minerals of the rocks.
There are a couple of different industries currently around Black Rock volcano. One
observation was a gravel pit on the south side of the volcano. There are many companies in the
towns that sell gravel. There were also fields of crops scattered around the area. Another
observation was that there were cattle roaming and grazing on and around the volcano. My
conclusion is that the fields were there to provide food for the animals. The evidence of digging
in the area and further research has shown that there is gold mining near the town of Kanosh. The
area around and leading up to the lava tubes is full of camping opportunities. Other activities
around the area included hiking, biking and four wheeling.
The geologic features observed were Black Rock volcano, basalt flows and lava tubes.
The formations are young and were formed hundreds of years ago and are still ever changing
through weathering, water movement and tectonic movement. The weathering erodes the
sediment; the water moves the sediments and the tectonic plates move the ground up and down
creating the valleys, hills and volcanoes.

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Works Cited
Auerbach, M. P. (2015). Volcanism. Salem Press Encyclopedia Of Science, Retrieved 22 Nov.
2015 from Research starters.
Black Rock Desert Volcanic Field. (2014, October 1). USGS. Retrieved 15 Oct. 2015 from
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/black_rock_desert/
Davis, Jim. (2014, May). GeoSights: Volcanic Features in the Black Rock Desert, Millard
County. Utah Geological Survey. Retrieved 15 Oct. 2015 from
http://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/geosights-volcanic-features-inthe-black-rock-desert-millard-county/
Lava Flows and their Effects. (2010, May 14). USGS. retrieved 22 Nov. 2015 from
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/lava/index.php
Lava Tubes. (1996, Aug. 30). USGS. retrieved 22 Nov. 2015 from hvo.wr.usgs.gov.

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1. This is from the west side looking up to the crest of Black Rock Volcano from inside the bowl.

2. This is a piece of lava rock with fungi growth lying on the east side of Black Rock Volcano.

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3. A layer of rock has been exposed from weathering on the south side of the volcano.

4. Southern view of the lava tubes where it opens up to a larger area.

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5. Northern view of lava tubes, the ceiling has broken away in several spots.

6. This rock formation appears to be a lava dome just north of the lava tubes.

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