Boring Lava Field
Encyclopedia
The Boring Lava Field is an extinct Plio-Pleistocene
volcanic field
zone with at least 32 cinder cones and small shield volcanoes lying within a radius of 13 miles (21 km) of Kelly Butte, which is approximately 4 miles (6 km) east of downtown Portland, Oregon
, in the United States
. The name is derived from the town of Boring, Oregon
, which lies just to the southeast of the most dense cluster of lava vents. The zone became active at least 2.7 million years ago, and has been extinct for about 300,000 years.
The Portland metropolitan area
, including suburbs, is one of the few places in the continental United States to have extinct volcanoes within a city's limits; Bend, Oregon
is another.
Plio-Pleistocene
The term Plio-Pleistocene refers to the geological period more recent than circa 5 million years ago, incorporating both the formally defined epochs of the Pliocene and the Pleistocene...
volcanic field
Volcanic field
A volcanic field is an area of the Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. They usually contain 10 to 100 volcanoes, such as cinder cones and are usually in clusters. Lava flows may also occur...
zone with at least 32 cinder cones and small shield volcanoes lying within a radius of 13 miles (21 km) of Kelly Butte, which is approximately 4 miles (6 km) east of downtown Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The name is derived from the town of Boring, Oregon
Boring, Oregon
Boring is an unincorporated community located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, on Oregon Route 212. It is approximately eight miles south of Gresham and about the same distance from Clackamas, both suburbs of Portland. The town is roughly twenty-two miles southeast from downtown...
, which lies just to the southeast of the most dense cluster of lava vents. The zone became active at least 2.7 million years ago, and has been extinct for about 300,000 years.
The Portland metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...
, including suburbs, is one of the few places in the continental United States to have extinct volcanoes within a city's limits; Bend, Oregon
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
is another.
Oregon vents
The following vents are in Oregon:- Chamberlain Hill - Elevation 890 feet (271 m)
- Cook's Butte - Elevation 718 feet (219 m)
- Highland Butte - Elevation 1594 feet (486 m) (near Beavercreek, OregonBeavercreek, OregonBeavercreek is a hamlet in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located four miles southeast of Oregon City. The population was 4,485 at the 2010 census.-History:...
) - Kelly Butte - Elevation 400 feet (122 m) (near the interchange of SE Powell Boulevard and I-205Interstate 205 (Oregon-Washington)Interstate 205 is a loop route that serves the Portland—Vancouver metropolitan area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. I-205 is officially named the War Veterans Memorial Freeway, and is also known as the East Portland Freeway...
in Portland) - Larch Mountain - Elevation 4061 feet (1,238 m)
- Powell ButtePowell ButtePowell Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone butte in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is one of four such cones inside the city that are home to a city park and is part of the Boring Lava Field, an area of extinct volcanoes. Powell Butte hosts the Powell Butte Nature Park.- External links...
- Elevation 614 feet (187 m) - Rocky ButteRocky ButteRocky Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone butte in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is one of four, along with Kelly Butte, Powell Butte, and Mount Tabor, inside the city that are each home to a city park, Rocky Butte playing host to Joseph Wood Hill Park. It is also part of the Boring...
- Elevation 612 feet (187 m) (stone tower with outstanding view of Portland) - Ross Mountain - Elevation 1380 feet (421 m)
- Swede Hill - Elevation 995 feet (303 m)
- Mount ScottMount Scott (Clackamas County, Oregon)Mount Scott is an volcanic cinder cone with its summit in Clackamas County, Oregon. The summit rises to an elevation of . It is part of the Boring Lava Field, a zone of ancient volcanic activity in the area around Portland and was named for Harvey W...
- Elevation 1093 feet (333 m) (named for Harvey W. ScottHarvey W. ScottHarvey Whitefield Scott was an American pioneer, newspaper editor, and historian.Scott was born in on a farm in Illinois and migrated to Oregon with his family in 1852, settling in Yamhill County. He and his family moved near Olympia, Washington in 1853. At age 18, he fought in the American Indian...
) - Mount SylvaniaMount SylvaniaMount Sylvania is an extinct volcano, part of the Boring Lava Field, on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. The parts of the mountain are within the cities of Portland, Lake Oswego, and Tigard...
- Elevation 978 feet (298 m) - Mount TaborMount Tabor (Oregon)Mount Tabor is the name of a dormant volcanic cinder cone, the city park on the volcano, and the neighborhood of Southeast Portland that surrounds it, all in Oregon. The name refers to Mount Tabor, Israel...
- Elevation 630 feet (192 m) (center of a large multi-use Portland city park) - Mount Talbert - Elevation 715 feet (218 m)
- TV Hill - Elevation 1275 feet (389 m)
- Walker Peak - Elevation 2450 feet (747 m)
Washington vents
The following vents are in Washington:- Battle Ground LakeBattle Ground Lake State ParkBattle Ground Lake State Park is a 280 acre park northeast of Vancouver, Washington, USA, consisting of an ancient volcano in the Boring Lava Field where a magma-induced steam explosion made a large bean-shaped crater, a maar, which later filled with water, forming a crater lake.The lake was...
- Elevation 750 ft (229 m) (miniature crater lake) - Bob's Mountain - Elevation 2110 feet (643 m) (contains intact summit crater)
- Bob's Mountain (N) - Elevation 1775 feet (541 m)
- Bob's Mountain (S) - Elevation 1690 feet (515 m)
- Brunner Hill - Elevation 680 feet (207 m) (2 vents)
- Green Mountain - Elevation 804 feet (245 m) (logged off during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
) - Mount Norway - Elevation 1111 feet (339 m)
- Mount Pleasant - Elevation 1010 feet (308 m)
- Mount Zion - Elevation 1465 feet (447 m)
- Nichol's Hill - Elevation 1113 feet (339 m)
- Pohl's Hill - Elevation 1395 feet (425 m)
- Prune Hill (W) - Elevation 555 feet (169 m)
- Prune Hill (E) - Elevation 610 feet (186 m) (overlooks Camas, WashingtonCamas, WashingtonCamas is a city in Clark County, Washington, with a population of 19,355 at the 2010 census. Officially incorporated on June 18, 1906, the city is named after the camas lily, a plant with an onion-like bulb prized by Native Americans. At the west end of downtown Camas is a large Georgia-Pacific...
)