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Santa Clara

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 37.257°N
  • 113.625°W

  • 1465 m
    4806 ft

  • 327010
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Santa Clara.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Santa Clara.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Santa Clara.

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

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Santa Clara. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 10,000 years ago, information might be found on the Santa Clara page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Santa Clara.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Santa Clara.

Photo Gallery

Reddish scoria caps the circular rim of the southernmost of two cinder cones in the lower Diamond Valley of SW Utah. The northern cone in the middle distance is surrounded by a basaltic lava field. Light-colored rocks of the Navajo Sandstone at the left lie across a narrow gap from the southern cone; lava flows from the two cones spilled through this gap into Snow Canyon. The Pine Mountains rising in the distance are in part covered by older lava flows in the St. George basin.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (Smithsonian Institution).
Two cinder cones in the Diamond Valley of SW Utah were the sources of the voluminous Santa Clara lava flow, one of the youngest in Utah. The symmetrical southern cone, capped by a pristine crater, is seen here from the flanks of the northern cone. Lava flows from the two cones filled the lower Diamond Valley in the foreground and then spilled through a narrow gap to the right of the southern cone into Snow Canyon.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (Smithsonian Institution).
The Santa Clara lava flow fills the valley of Snow Canyon, cut in colorful rocks of the Navajo Sandstone. The young flow, covered only by scrubby vegetation, split into several lobes and flowed around several peninsulas and islands of the reddish Navajo Sandstone that protrude through the black basalt. The flow traveled through the narrow gap at the upper left and reached nearly to the Santa Clara River, 16 km from the source of the flow.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (Smithsonian Institution).
The dark-colored Santa Clara lava flow cutting diagonally across the photo to the left poured over cliffs of the Navajo Sandstone in lava cascades up to 120 m high. Several lava cascades occurred around sandstone islands in Snow Canyon State Park. The colorful Navajo cliffs display a transition between underlying reddish oxidized and overlying whitish unoxidized rocks.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (Smithsonian Institution).
The sparsely vegetated Santa Clara lava flow traveled 16 km to the south down Snow Canyon, cut through the colorful red and white rocks of the Navajo Sandstone formation. The flow, originating from two youthful cinder cones in Diamond Valley above Snow Canyon, was produced during one of the youngest eruptions in the Colorado Plateau/Basin and Range region. This Pliocene-to-Quaternary volcanic field north of St. George in SW Utah contains numerous basaltic cinder cones and lava flows.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (Smithsonian Institution).
The Santa Clara lava flow in SW Utah split into several lobes and diverted around two islands (kipukas) of colorful cross-bedded Navajo Sandstone. Note the person standing on the left kipuka for scale. The largest kipuka of the Santa Clara flow is about 1 km in length.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (Smithsonian Institution).
The Santa Clara lava flow exited the narrow Snow Canyon cut in cliff-forming rocks of the Navajo Sandstone in the background. When the basaltic lava flow reached the flat-lying valley of the Santa Clara River cut in less resistant shales of the Chinle formation, it spread out laterally, reaching a width of more than 1.5 km. The flow, one of the youngest in Utah, traveled a distance of 16 km from its source in the Diamond Valley. Housing developments near St. George, Utah now encroach on its distal margins.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1996 (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 1 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 117123 Basalt -- 1 Oct 1996
External Sites