West Crater is a Quaternary volcanic field in the southern Cascades of Washington between Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood. West Crater itself, seen here from the NE, is an andesite lava dome with two small lava flows, one of which forms the bare area in the center. The 290-m-high dome formed about 8,000 years ago on the floor of a cirque carved into older Tertiary volcanic rocks. The West Crater volcanic field consists of a series of small shield volcanoes and scoria cones along a NW-SE zone.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 2002 (Smithsonian Institution).

This image is made available under the Public Domain Dedication CC0 license, but proper attribution is appreciated.

Keywords: lava flow | lava dome

West Crater