Spring 2011 ES407 Senior Seminar

New Approaches to Geomorphic Analysis of Cinder Cones at Newberry Volcano

Jody “Coyote” Becker, Kelsii “Crusher” Dana, Dan “Ger” Dziekan, Ricky “Flicky” Fletcher,

Bill “W.” Vreeland, Steve “Dr.” Taylor

• Introduction (Taylor)• Physiographic Setting (Fletcher)• Tectonic Setting (Vreeland & Dziekan)• Geologic History (Becker & Dana)• The “Cinder Cone Problem” / Previous Work (Taylor)• Cinder Cone Methodology

Cone Age-Morphology Concept (Fletcher & Dziekan)Structural Cone Emplacement (Becker)Cinder Cone Alignment (Vreeland)Lidar-Based Elevation Models (Dana)

• New Research / Pilot Testing with LIDAR DataCinder Cone Drainage Density vs. Age (Becker)Modified Two-Point Analysis (Vreeland)Newberry Glacial Hypothesis (Fletcher)Lava Flow Margin Mapping with Lidar (Dana)

• Summary and Future Research (Taylor)

INTRODUCTION

Steve Taylor

Newberry Volcano• 56 km east of Cascade Crest

• 40 km south of Bend, Oregon

Cascade Volcanic ArcLinear chain of volcanoes extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon into northern California

Bend

WOU

History of Newberry Work at Western Oregon University

2000-Present WOU Class Field Trips and Contextual Learning Modules

2000 Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip to Newberry Volcano

2002-2003 GIS Compilation and Digitization of Newberry Geologic Map (after MacLeod and others, 1995)

2003 Giles and others, Digital Geologic Map (GSA Fall Meeting)

2003 Taylor and others, Cinder Cone Volume and Morphometric Analysis I (GSA Fall Meeting)

2005 Taylor and others, Spatial Analysis of Cinder Cone Distribution II (GSA Fall Meeting)

2007 Taylor and others, Synthesis of Cinder Cone Morphometric and Spatial Analyses (GSA Cordilleran Section Meeting)

2001-Present Templeton, Petrology and Volcanology of Pleistocene Ash-flow Tuffs (GSA Cordilleran Section Meeting 2004; Oregon Academy of Science, 2007; Am. Geophys. Union, 2010)

2010-2011 Newberry LIDAR Elevation Data Available; ES407 Senior Seminar Pilot Tests Next Generation Research Strategies onCinder Cones; Updated Literature Review

PHYSIOGRAPHIC SETTING

Rick Fletcher

Co

ast

R

ang

e

Wes

tern

C

asca

des

K lam athMountains

Ca

scad

ia

S

ub

du

ctio

n

Zo

ne

Hig

h

Cas

cad

es

Basin and Range

1 0987

6

5

1

4 . 5 c m / y r

OwyheeUpland

Blue Mountains

Deschutes-UmatillaPlateau

Will

amet

te V

alle

y

High LavaPlainsWRFZ

BFZ

TFZ

Extent o f N ew berry Lava F low s N ew berry C aldera

R hyolite Isochrons (M a)9

Faults: TFZ = Tum alo Fault Zone W R FZ = W alker R im Fault Zone BFZ = B rother Fault Zone

M H

M J

T S

M W

C L

0 1 0 0 k m

4 2 N

4 4 N

4 6 N

1 2 4 W 1 2 2 W 1 2 0 W 1 1 8 W

Caldera Summit

Newberry Volcano, South View from Lava Butte Lookout

Basaltic Aa Lava Flow fromLava Butte; ~7000 yrs BP

Newberry Volcano, View to S-SE from Paulina Peak Lookout

Basin and RangeFort Rock(Tuff Ring)

Newberry Cinder Cones

High LavaPlains

Newberry Volcano, View to West towards High Cascadesfrom Paulina Peak Lookout

SouthSister

MiddleSister

BrokenTop

Newberry Volcano, View into Summit Caldera from Paulina Peak

Paulina LakeEast Lake

TECTONIC SETTING

Dan Dziekan and Bill Vreeland

Arc Volcanoes relatedto Cascadia Subduction Zone

Juan de Fuca plate thrustbeneath North American plate

Magma Source in Subduction Zone

Fore Arc Back Arc

NewberryPosition

Wes

tern

Cas

cade

sH

igh

Cas

cade

s35 – 7 Ma 7 – 0 Ma

Eastward ArcMigration

DecreasingSlab Dip

Meigs et al., 2009

Current Crustal Deformation Rates and Directions

Basin and Range

Stretching

Brothers Fault Zone

Newberry

GEOLOGIC HISTORY

Jody Becker and Kelsii Dana

Overview of Newberry Volcano

•Shield-shaped composite volcano•N-S orientation, 64 km x 40 km•Total Area > 1300 km2

•Summit Caldera Area = 44 km2

•Elevation: 1300 m – 2400 m; Relief ~1100 m

•Composition: Basalt to Rhyolite•Estimated Volume = 460 km3

•>400 cinder cones and fissure vents

•Quaternary in AgeLess than ~500,000 yrs oldHolocene activity: 10,000 – 1200 yrs BP

•One of largest U.S. Quaternary volcanoes

•Historic Annual Precipitation: 30 in/yrEast flank rain shadow of Cascades

Regional Geology• Oregon-Idaho:

Paleozoic-Mesozoic oceanic volcanic arcs

Accretionary complexesBasinal successions

• Cenozoic volcanism: Ignimbrite sweep Flood basalts Bimodal (modern) High Lava Plains Snake River Plain

Regional Volcanism

• Two migrating tracks:NE along Snake River

Plain toward YellowstoneWNW along High Lava

Plains (Newberry)

• Indicated link between High Lava Plains and Cascades volcanism: Increased output Isotopic similaritiesMerging structures

Geology after Walker and MacLeod (1991); Isochrons in 1 m.y. increments (after MacLeod and others, 1976)

km

0 100

44N

122W120W

BR

HLPCR

TFZ

BFZ

WRFZ

1

8

5

7

6

1

6

109

Extent of Newberry lava flowsRhyolite isochrons (Ma)

Newberry Caldera

Fault Zones: BFZ=Brothers TFZ = Tumalo WRFZ=Walker Rim

East LakeBig Obsidian Flow

1250 yrs BP

CentralPumiceCone

7200 yrs BP

GEOMORPHIC ANALYSIS OFCINDER CONES

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Steve Taylor

Cinder Cone Research Questions

Are there morphologic groupings of ~400 cinder cones at Newberry? Can they be quantitatively documented?

Are morphologic groupings associated with age and state of erosional degradation?

Are there spatial patterns associated with the frequency, occurrence, and volume of cinder cones?

Are there spatial alignment patterns? Can they be statistically documented?

Do regional stress fields and fault mechanics control the emplacement of cinder cones at Newberry volcano?

O regon

StudyArea

Basalt and basaltic andesite flow s:early P le istocene to H olocene

R hyolite to dacite dom es, flow s, pum ice rings,and vent com plexes: early P le istocene toH olocene

Pum ice fa lls, ash flow s, and a lluvia l deposits:P le istocene to H olocene

Andesite Tuff (w est flank): P le istocene

B lack Lapilli Tuff (w est flank): P le istocene

A lluvia l deposits w ith in terbedded lap illi tu ff, ashflow tuff, and pum ice fa ll deposits: P le istocene

Tepee D raw Tuff (east flank): P le istocene

Basalt and basaltic andesite of sm all sh ie lds:P le istocene

F luvia l and lacustrine sedim ents: P le istoceneand P liocene(?)

Basalt, basaltic andesite , and andesite flow s, ashflow tuffs, and pum ice deposits of the C ascadeR ange: P le istocene

Basalt flow s and interbedded cinders and scoriadeposits: la te M iocene

R hyolite and andesite flow s, dom es, andpyroclastic rocks of P ine M ounta in: earlyM iocene

N ew berry C aldera com plex

C inder cones and fissure vents

Faults

0 5 km

Lava Butte Cone and Aa Flow~7000 yrs BP (post-Mazama)

Ash &

Pumice

Southeast Cinder Cone Field

Existing Methodology Digital Geologic Map Compilation / GIS of

Newberry Volcano (after McLeod and others, 1995) GIS analysis of USGS 10-m DEMs

Phase 1 Single Cones/Vents (n = 182) Phase 2 Composite Cones/Vents (n = 165)

Morphometric analyses Cone Relief, Slope, Height/Width Ratio Morphometric Classification

Volumetric Analyses Cone Volume Modeling Volume Distribution Analysis

Cone Alignment Analysis Two-point Line Azimuth Distribution Comparative Monte Carlo Modeling (Random vs. Actual)