The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-08-03

the falling back of waste material, OF
by the forcing up of fresh streams OF
lava. il will be impossible for the
gases and steam so to be confined that
another eruption will take place
though it is believed that the volcano
will continue smoking and occasion
ally throwing out fine ash and sand
Thus if Uncle Sam has to wait 200
years for another exhibition on the
part of his only volcano, meanwhile
expending more than $4,000 a year for
Lassen's upkeep Mount Lassen may
prove an expensive pet. one of the
unusual features of the recent erup-
ton OF this volcano has been that no
molten lava was seen by any observer
and that no unusual heat was noticed
except that of escaping steam. This
lack of heat was particularly noted in
the falling of the volcanic ash, and
even powders in the snow. Instead
of melting through this snow. the ash
lay thickly on top of it, while the
powders sank of their weight through
the snow and did not melt their way
through The source of the heat THAI
caused the outbursts of 1914 and 1915
and of the smaller outbreak of 1921.
is not definitely known by any of the
biologists or seismologists who have
studied Lassen, but the general be
lief among these men Of science is
that the forcing upward of a column
of lava, from the depths of the earth.
created sufficient heat in hssure or
seepage waters in the old crater to
cause the explosions which tore out a
new vent in one side of the old era
ter This however is admittedly only
theory. for man knows less about
volcanic activities than he does about
earthquakes.
Mount Lassen marks. at least ap-
proximately. the southern end of the
Cascade range Of mountains, and is. a
volcanic cone in many ways similar to
its kindred. but burned out peaks OF
Shasta, Adams. Hood, Mazama Rain
Ter, Pit and the Three Sisters. AS the
whole Cascade range is volcanic, so
all the area about Lassen is volcanic.
while just across the gap made by the
Feather river, lie the high peaks of
the Sierra Nevada. which, according
to biologists. owe their height to
"uplift" rather than to eruption.
There are a half dozen other volcanic
peaks within so miles of Lassen,
largely to the northward. which in
times past have spewed lava freely
over the landscape, but are now sill
ent beneath caps of snow which they
lift to heights of 1000 to 5000 feet
Geological Investigation.
Within the Iassen park and about
10 miles distant from the mountain
which gives this reservation it's name,
stands the largest of several cinder
cones, known as the Cinder cone,
some hundreds of feet in height, com
posed of a solid mound of volcanic
cinders. Some 2S years ago J. $. Dill
Ter, investigating this region for the
United States geological survey,
wrote of I.assen and of this great Gin
der cone. one of the largest if not the
largest in the world as follows
1.-THE volcanic action which has
built up Lassen peak with its many
associative cones is comparatively re-
recent. 1t began at the close of the
Ioene epoch and occurred most vio-
lently at the time the Sierra Navada
was upheaved, but it has continued
spasmodically to the present time.
The latest volcanic eruption
in the Iassen peak district and pos
sibly the latest in the United States
south of Alaska. occurred at the Gin
der cone about 200 years ago. Some
of the trees killed at the time are still
standing. The lava though very Wis
cuous, spread more than mile from
the vent and formed a huge tabular
pile which extends across "a little val
ley The lava dam thus formed de-
veloped Snag lake, which contains
stumps of some of the trees drowned
at the time the lake originated.
THAT volcanic activity is not yet
extinct in the Lassen peak district is
shown by the presence of numerous
solfataras and hot springs. At Bum
pass He'll. near the southern base Of
the peak, there are boiling mud pools
and vigorous solfataric action. Near
by, at the head Of Mill creek, the sui
phur deposited by such action is so
abundant that attempts have been
made to mine it. Similar phenomena
occur in Hot Springs valley and at
Lake Tartarus and the geyser. near
Willow lake. The geyser is much
less vigorous than formerly and now
the column of water rises scarcely
foot above its pool"
Lassen's Internal Attractions.
Since the eruption Of 1914-15 how
ever. the geyser has increased in
height and volume and is understood
to be still gaining. probably because
it is one Of the outlets for heat, which
otherwise would produce eruptions in
the ancient crater of Lassen. Lake
Tartarus, an interesting feature Of the
newest national park, is a pool Of hot
water boiling over the vents from
which it arises and uncomfortably