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Mono-Inyo Craters

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 37.804°N
  • 119.029°W

  • 2796 m
    9173 ft

  • 323120
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Mono-Inyo Craters.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Mono-Inyo Craters.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Mono-Inyo Craters.

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.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 13 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1380 ± 50 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Inyo Craters (S Deadman, Obsidian, Glass Creek)
1380 ± 50 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

1350 ± 20 years Confirmed Eruption Max VEI: 4

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (Panum Crater, nearby vents)
1350 ± 20 years - Unknown Evidence from Sidereal: Dendrochronology

List of 9 Events for Episode 1 at Mono Craters (Panum Crater, nearby vents)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Obsidian.
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
   - - - -    - - - - Earthquakes (undefined)
1350 ± 20 years    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)

1000 ± 200 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (dome on NW edge of NW Coulee)
1000 ± 200 years - Unknown Evidence from Chem/Bio: Hydration Rind

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at Mono Craters (dome on NW edge of NW Coulee)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Obsidian.
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome
   - - - -    - - - - Tephra

0620 ± 27 years Confirmed Eruption Max VEI: 4

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Southern Mono Craters (South Coulee area)
0620 ± 27 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 10 Events for Episode 1 at Southern Mono Craters (South Coulee area)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Obsidian.
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome
   - - - -    - - - - Tephra
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
   - - - -    - - - - Lapilli
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
0620 ± 27 years    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index) VEI 4

0490 ± 100 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (NW Coulee and Pumice Pit dome)
0490 ± 100 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 6 Events for Episode 1 at Mono Craters (NW Coulee and Pumice Pit dome)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Obsidian.
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice

0440 ± 100 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Southern Mono Craters
0440 ± 100 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at Southern Mono Craters

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice

0320 ± 200 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (South Coulee?)
0320 ± 200 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at Mono Craters (South Coulee?)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice

0290 ± 50 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Inyo Craters (Wilson Butte)
0290 ± 50 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

0010 ± 200 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (South Coulee?)
0010 ± 200 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at Mono Craters (South Coulee?)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice

0700 BCE ± 800 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Central Mono Craters
0700 BCE ± 800 years - Unknown Evidence from Chem/Bio: Hydration Rind

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at Central Mono Craters

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome

3850 BCE ± 1160 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (crater N of Punchbowl)
3850 BCE ± 1160 years - Unknown Evidence from Chem/Bio: Hydration Rind

4050 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Inyo Craters (N of Deadman Creek)
4050 BCE (?) - Unknown Evidence from Chem/Bio: Hydration Rind

6750 BCE ± 1740 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mono Craters (Punchbowl)
6750 BCE ± 1740 years - Unknown Evidence from Chem/Bio: Hydration Rind

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at Mono Craters (Punchbowl)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome
Deformation History

There is data available for 1 deformation periods. Expand each entry for additional details.


Deformation during 1992 - 1999 [Uplift; Observed by InSAR]

Start Date: 1992 Stop Date: 1999 Direction: Uplift Method: InSAR
Magnitude: 20.000 cm Spatial Extent: 30.00 km Latitude: 38.000 Longitude: -119.000

Remarks: Broad uplift of Long Valley Caldera. Model presented from Tizzani et al. 2009

Figure (see Caption)

1992?1999 synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) data

From: Tizzani et al. 2009.


Reference List: Thatcher and Massonnet 1997; Fialko et al. 2001; Hooper et al. 2004; Tizzani et al. 2007; Tizzani et al. 2009;.

Full References:

Fialko, Y., M. Simons, and Y. Khazan, 2001. Finite source modelling of magmatic unrest in Socorro, New Mexico, and Long Valley, California. Geophysical Journal International, 146: 191-200. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-246X.2001.00453.x

Hooper, A., Zebker, H., Segall, P., & Kampes, B., 2004. A new method for measuring deformation on volcanoes and other natural terrains using InSAR persistent scatterers.. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L23611. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL021737

Thatcher, W., & Massonnet, D., 1997. Crustal deformation at Long Valley Caldera, eastern California, 1992-1996 inferred from satellite radar interferometry. Geophysical Research Letters, 24(20), 2519-2522.

Tizzani, P., Battaglia, M., Zeni, G., Atzori, S., Berardino, P., & Lanari, R., 2009. Uplift and magma intrusion at Long Valley caldera from InSAR and gravity measurements. Geology, 37(1), 63-66.

Tizzani, P., Berardino, P., Casu, F., Euillades, P., Manzo, M., Ricciardi, G.P., Zeni, G. and Lanari, R.,, 2007. Surface deformation of Long Valley caldera and Mono Basin, California, investigated with the SBAS-InSAR approach. Remote Sensing of Environment, 108(3), pp.277-289.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Mono-Inyo Craters.

Photo Gallery

The Mono Craters volcanic field, between Mono Lake in the foreground and Long Valley caldera at the upper left, is a 17-km-long chain of rhyolitic lava domes and thick, viscous lava flows. Mono Craters have been frequently active during the Holocene. Panum crater (the vent nearest to Mono Lake), is partially filled by a lava dome and was the site of the latest eruption from Mono Craters, about 600 years ago.

Photo by R. Von Huene, 1971 (U.S. Geological Survey).
The hackly surfaced Panum lava dome, filling a tephra ring at the northern end of the Mono Craters chain, was one of five rhyolitic lava domes and flows emplaced at the end of a major eruption about 600 years ago. The eruption, which began with powerful plinian explosive eruptions accompanied by pyroclastic flows and surges, occurred just a year or two prior to another major eruption at Inyo Craters to the south.

Photo by Dan Dzurisin, 1982 (U.S. Geological Survey).
Flow-banded rhyolitic obsidian of the Panum Crater lava dome was erupted about 600 years ago at the northern end of the Mono Craters. The greenish-yellow areas are lichens on the surface of the dome.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1973 (Smithsonian Institution).
The Mono Craters volcanic field south of Mono Lake at the upper left, is a 17-km-long arcuate chain of rhyolitic lava domes and thick, viscous lava flows. Mono Craters has been frequently active throughout the Holocene, along with the Inyo Craters chain to the south. The Inyo Craters chain, which includes the Wilson Butte, Obsidian and Glass Creek domes, which are oriented diagonally along a N-S line from the left center to lower right of the photo. The latest eruptions of Mono Craters and Inyo Craters occurred nearly simultaneously around 600 years ago.

Photo by Roy Bailey, 1980 (U.S. Geological Survey).
An aerial view from the south shows the North and South Inyo Craters phreatic explosion craters diagonally cutting forested Deer Mountain from the right center to lower right, and the unvegetated South Deadman lava dome and obsidian flow and the forested mound of North Deadman dome at the upper left. Eruption of magmatic tephra and the formation of the phreatic explosion craters preceded emplacement of the lava domes and flows about 600 years ago.

Photo by Larry Mastin, 1988 (U.S. Geological Survey).
The Obsidian Flow, a lava flow with a hackly surface showing prominent flow banding, was erupted at the northern end of a chain of lava domes and flows during a dike-fed eruption about 600 years ago at Inyo Craters. The Obsidian Flow was the largest of four flows and domes emplaced during this eruption.

Photo by Larry Mastin, 1992 (U.S. Geological Survey).
South Inyo Crater, one of a chain of small phreatic explosion craters at the southern end of the Inyo Craters chain of lava domes and flows, is partially filled by a shallow lake. The 200-m-wide South Inyo Crater was formed when groundwater interacted with magma from a shallow dike. That interaction fed a powerful explosive eruption that concluded with the emplacement of obsidian lava domes and flows to the north of this crater.

Photo by Larry Mastin, 1992 (U.S. Geological Survey).
The Mono-Inyo craters produced explosive eruptions and effusive lava flows. The pumice layers above the bottom of the pen originated from the South Deadman vent of Inyo Craters about 600 years ago. Interbedded finer layers record brief pauses during the course of the eruption.

Photo by Larry Mastin, 1986 (U.S. Geological Survey).
The unvegetated Glass Creek lava flow on the left and Obsidian Flow on the right are among a group of obsidian lava flows and domes that were emplaced during a major eruption from the Inyo Craters about 600 years ago. The eruption, originating from a shallow dike, began with powerful explosive activity, pyroclastic flows, and a series of phreatic explosions, and ended with effusion of the lava domes and flows.

Photo by Larry Mastin, 1991 (U.S. Geological Survey).
The Mono Craters volcanic field, seen here from the NW, is a 17-km-long arcuate chain of lava domes, lava flows, and tephra rings. The latest eruptions took place about 600 years ago from several vents at the northern end of the chain, producing rhyolitic lava domes and flows.

Photo by Victoria Avery, 1992 (Smithsonian Institution).
Wilson Butte, the northermost lava dome of the Inyo Craters, is seen from the Obsidian Flow lava dome to the south. The Inyo Craters are a 12-km-long chain of silicic lava domes, lava flows, and explosion craters along the eastern margin of Sierra Nevada south of Mono Craters near the town of Mammoth. Inyo Craters overtop the NW rim of the Pleistocene Long Valley caldera and extend onto the caldera floor, but are chemically and magmatically part of a different volcanic system. The latest eruptions at Inyo Craters took place about 600 years ago.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1998 (Smithsonian Institution).
GVP Map Holdings

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

The following 51 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 111123-59 Rhyolitic Pumice -- --
NMNH 111123-60 Rhyolitic Obsidian -- --
NMNH 115401-1 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-1 Obsidian South Mono Dome --
NMNH 117460-10 Obsidian Dome 8913 --
NMNH 117460-11 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-12 Obsidian Dome 8913 --
NMNH 117460-13 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-14 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-15 Pumice -- --
NMNH 117460-16 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-17 Pumice -- --
NMNH 117460-18 Pumice -- --
NMNH 117460-19 Pumice -- --
NMNH 117460-2 Pumice South Mono Dome --
NMNH 117460-20 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-21 Obsidian Panum Dome --
NMNH 117460-22 Perlite -- --
NMNH 117460-23 Obsidian Panum Dome --
NMNH 117460-24 Obsidian Panum Dome --
NMNH 117460-25 Glass Panum Dome --
NMNH 117460-26 Pumice Panum Dome --
NMNH 117460-27 Pumice Panum Dome --
NMNH 117460-28 Pumice Dome 8913 --
NMNH 117460-29 Obsidian Dome 8913 --
NMNH 117460-3 Glass Dome 8139 --
NMNH 117460-4 Obsidian Dome 8139 --
NMNH 117460-5 Obsidian Dome 8139 --
NMNH 117460-6 Pumice -- --
NMNH 117460-7 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 117460-8 Pumice -- --
NMNH 117460-9 Obsidian Dome 8913 --
NMNH 22898 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 29631-1 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 29631-2 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 29631-3 Liparite -- --
NMNH 29631-4 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 29631-5 Hyalo Liparite -- --
NMNH 29631-6 Hyalo Liparite -- --
NMNH 29633 Lapilli -- --
NMNH 35271 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 35272-1 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 35272-2 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 35273 Obsidian -- --
NMNH 37209 Pumice -- --
NMNH 37210 Pumice -- --
NMNH 37211 Pumice -- --
NMNH 37211-1 Pumice -- --
NMNH 37211-2 Pumice -- --
NMNH 37216 Hypersthene Andesite -- --
NMNH 76718 Tufa -- --
External Sites