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Potato Butte

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Volcanic Region
  • Landform | Volc Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 40.63°N
  • 121.43°W

  • 1,532 m
    5,026 ft

  • 323811
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Potato Butte.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Potato Butte.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Potato Butte.

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 Potato Butte. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Potato Butte 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 Potato Butte.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Potato Butte.

Photo Gallery

Potato Butte, the forested cinder cone at the left-center, is seen here from the rim of the Hat Creek vent with snow-covered Lassen Peak in the background. The Potato Butte cinder cones and lava flows were erupted around 65,000-75,000 years ago. The prominent 30,000-year-old Hat Creek lava flow traveled nearly 30 km from a fissure vent near the town of Old Station. An undated, but younger-looking flow originated from a cinder cone near West Prospect Peak, west of Potato Butte.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1998 (Smithsonian Institution).
This steep-sided blocky lava flow originated from Potato Butte, twin cinder cones located immediately north of Lassen Volcanic National Park. The lava flows originated from vents that overlie the western side of the Hat Creek valley and traveled primarily to the north and west of the cones. The flows, once thought to be of possible Holocene age, have been dated at 65,000-75,000 years old.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1998 (Smithsonian Institution).
The green Manzanita-covered slope in the foreground is part of the circular rim of South Potato Butte, one of two cinder cones forming Potato Butte. The two cinder cones fed youthful-looking lava flows down the Hat Creek graben. Snow-covered Lassen Peak rises in the distance, with the Chaos Crags lava dome complex to its right.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1998 (Smithsonian Institution).
The two small Pleistocene cinder cones in the Hat Creek valley, just to the right of the two highest trees in the foreground, are viewed here from West Prospect Peak. The cones are among a series of young volcanic vents located north of Lassen Peak and fed lava flows that traveled to the north (right). Three forest-covered Pleistocene volcanoes can be seen in the background, Sugarloaf (above the green meadow in the center), Logan Mountain (left-center), and Burney Mountain (right-center). Snow-capped Mount Shasta is at the upper right.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1998 (Smithsonian Institution).
North Potato Butte, seen here from South Potato Butte, is a 65,000-75,000-year-old cinder cone located in the Hat Creek valley north of Lassen Peak. The Potato Butte cinder cones are among a series of small Quaternary basaltic volcanic vents located between Lassen and Medicine Lake volcanoes.

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

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Potato Butte in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites