Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for West Crater.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for West Crater.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for West Crater.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Bare Mountain

Cone

1329 m

Hackamore Creek

Cone

Soda Peak

Pyroclastic cone

45° 55' 0" N

122° 5' 0" W

Timbered Peak

Cone

45° 59' 0" N

122° 8' 0" W

Trout Creek Hill

Shield volcano

893 m

45° 50' 0" N

122° 0' 0" W

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

321060

5750 BCE

1,329 m / 4,360 ft

45.88°N
122.08°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Cluster

Volcano Types
Volcanic field

Rock Types

Major
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

505
505
14,359
2,225,092

Geological Summary

West Crater, a small andesitic lava dome with associated lava flows, is part of a Quaternary volcanic field in southern Washington consisting primarily of small basaltic and basaltic andesite cinder cones and shield volcanoes, oriented along a NW-SE zone to the SE of St. Helens. This 20-km-wide zone extends from Marble Mountain, north of Swift Reservoir, to south of Trout Creek Hill. The Pleistocene basaltic Trout Creek Hill shield volcano produced a lava flow about 340,000 years ago that traveled 20 km SE, temporarily damming the Columbia River. At least three vents in this field are of Holocene age: West Crater, a small cone at Hackamore Creek, and a phreatic crater at the summit of Bare Mountain. The latest eruptions at these locations have been dated at about 8,000 years before present, and have included emplacement of an andesitic lava dome and associated lava flow at West Crater and formation of a phreatic explosion crater at Bare Mountain.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Barnett B, Korosec M A, 1986. Geothermal exploratory drilling by the State of Washington in 1985. Wash Geol Newsl, 14: 21-28.

Hammond P E, Pedersen S A, Hopkins K D, Aiken D, Harle D S, Danes Z F, Konicek D L, Stricklin C R, 1976. Geology and gravimetry of the Quaternary basaltic volcanic field, southern Cascade Range, Washington. In: Proc 2nd United Nations Symp Devel Use Geotherm Resour, San Francisco, Washington D C: U S Government Printing Office, 1: 397-405.

Wise W S, 1970. Cenozoic volcanism in the Cascade Mountains of southern Washington. Wash Dept Nat Resour Bull, 60: 1-45.

Wood C A, Kienle J (eds), 1990. Volcanoes of North America. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ Press, 354 p.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 2 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

5750 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2 (?)

Episode 1 | Eruption

Bare Mountain

5750 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at Bare Mountain

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity
- - - -	- - - -	Scoria
5750 BCE (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

6110 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2 (?)

Episode 1 | Eruption

West Crater, Hackamore Creek cone

6110 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 5 Events for Episode 1 at West Crater, Hackamore Creek cone

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Lava flow
- - - -	- - - -	Cinder Cone
- - - -	- - - -	Tephra
6110 BCE (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for West Crater.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for West Crater.

Photo Gallery

The valley floor in the foreground of this area of extensive logging SE of Mount St. Helens, in the distance, is covered by lava flows from West Crater and the Hackamore Creek scoria cone just NW of West Crater. Carbon fragments from a black tephra deposit produced by the Hackamore Creek scoria cone were dated to about 8,000 years.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1995 (Smithsonian Institution).

The forest-covered Bare Mountain crater in the foreground is 400 m wide and 275 m deep. It formed about 7,700 years ago during the youngest volcanic eruption in the West Crater volcanic field. West Crater itself is visible 4 km to the south to the extreme right side of the photo. The Bare Mountain phreatic crater formed in older Tertiary volcanic rocks, and unlike other Holocene eruptions in the West Crater area, was not accompanied by lava flows.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1995 (Smithsonian Institution).

Trout Creek Hill, a small Quaternary shield volcano in the West Crater volcanic field, is seen here from the NW with Mount Hood across the Columbia River in Oregon in the background. Lava flows from Trout Creek Hill traveled 13 km to the SE, reaching the Columbia River.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1995 (Smithsonian Institution).

The large partially forested lava flow in the foreground originated from West Crater, out of view to the right, about 8,000 years ago. The blocky andesite flow traveled about 4.5 km to the SE, seen here about 2 km from the vent. In addition to this eastern flow, another lava flow traveled to the NW down the Hackamore Creek drainage. West Crater is a lava dome with a 200-m-wide summit crater and is on a topographic divide in southern Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 2002 (Smithsonian Institution).

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).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

The following 2 samples associated with this volcano can be found in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences collections, and may be availble for research (contact the Rock and Ore Collections Manager). Catalog number links will open a window with more information.

Catalog Number	Sample Description	Lava Source	Collection Date
NMNH 117652-38	Basalt	Bare Mountain	--
NMNH 117652-39	Basalt	Bare Mountain	--

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of West Crater. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of West Crater. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of West Crater

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).