Editing Long Valley Caldera (section)

==Geography==
{{See also|Volcanic crater}}
The caldera is a giant bowl-shaped depression, approximately {{convert|20|mi}} long, surrounded by mountains except to the southeast. The elevation of the bottom of the bowl ranges from {{convert|6500|to|8500|ft}}, being higher in the west.<ref name=volcanoworld>{{cite web | title=Long Valley Caldera and Mono-Inyo Craters Volcanic Field, California | work=Volcano World | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080114043639/http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/california/long_valley.html | archive-date=14 January 2008 | url=http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/california/long_valley.html}}</ref>

Near the center of the bowl, [[magma]]tic uplift has formed a [[resurgent dome]]. The southeastern slope from the caldera down towards [[Bishop, California|Bishop]] is filled with the [[Bishop Tuff]], solidified ash that was ejected during the eruption that created the caldera. The Bishop tuff is {{convert|1500|m|ft|sp=us}} thick in the caldera floor,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=W|last1=Hildreth|author1-link=Wes Hildreth|first2=CJN|last2=Wilson|title=Compositional Zoning of the Bishop Tuff|journal= Journal of Petrology|volume=48|issue=5|date=May 2007|pages=951–999|doi=10.1093/petrology/egm007}}</ref> and is cut by the [[Owens River]] Gorge, formed during the Pleistocene when the caldera filled with water and overtopped its rim.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20165120|chapter=Long Valley Caldera Lake and Reincision of Owens River Gorge|id=Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5120|first1=W|last1=Hildreth|first2=J|last2=Fierstein|title=Scientific Investigations Report |author2-link=Judy Fierstein|doi=10.3133/sir20165120|year=2016}}</ref>

The rim of the caldera is formed from pre-existing rock, rising about {{convert|3000|ft}} above the caldera floor.<ref name=volcanoworld/> However, the eastern rim is lower, only about {{convert|500|ft}}.<ref name=volcanoworld/>

[[Mammoth Mountain]] is a [[lava dome]] complex west of the structural rim of the caldera,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mammoth_mountain/|title=Mammoth Mountain|work=California Volcano Observatory|publisher=USGS|access-date=2017-10-11}}</ref> consisting of about 12 [[rhyodacite]] and [[dacite]] overlapping domes.<ref name=volcanoworld/><ref name=Hill>{{cite book | last=Hill | first=Mary | year=2006 | title=Geology of the Sierra Nevada | edition=revised | location=Berkeley, California | publisher=University of California Press | isbn=978-0-520-23696-7 | page=277}}</ref> These domes formed in a long series of eruptions from 110,000 to 57,000 years ago, building a volcano that reaches {{convert|11059|ft}} in elevation.<ref>{{Cite web | first=Jennifer L. | last=Lewicki |author2=Jens Birkholzer |author3=Chin-Fu Tsang | title=Natural and Industrial Analogues for Release of CO<sub>2</sub> from Storage Reservoirs: Identification of Features, Events, and Processes and Lessons Learned | publisher=[[United States Department of Energy]]/[[Office of Scientific and Technical Information]] | date=February 2006 | doi=10.2172/891824 | url=http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/891824-4U1cp4/891824.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007002308/http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/891824-4U1cp4/891824.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-07 |url-status=live | access-date=18 August 2008}}</ref>

The [[Mono–Inyo Craters]] are a {{convert|25|mi|km|-long|sp=us|adj=mid}} volcanic chain situated along a narrow, north–south-trending fissure system extending along the western rim of the caldera from Mammoth Mountain to the north shore of [[Mono Lake]].<ref name="USGSGeoHis">{{cite web|title = Geologic History of Long Valley Caldera and the Mono–Inyo Craters volcanic chain, California|url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-81/Intro/GeologicMaps/GeologicHistory.html|year=1999|publisher=United States Geological Survey|location=Menlo Park, California}}</ref> The Mono-Inyo Craters erupted from 40,000 to 600 years ago, from a magma source separate from the Long Valley Caldera.<ref name="long_valley_overview">{{cite journal|last1=Hill|first1=D.P.|first2=R.A.|last2=Bailey|first3=A.S.|last3=Ryall|year=1985|title=Active Tectonic and Magmatic Processes Beneath Long Valley Caldera, Eastern California: An Overview|journal=J. Geophys. Res.|volume=90|issue=B13|pages=11,111–11,120|doi=10.1029/JB090iB13p11111|bibcode=1985JGR....9011111H}}</ref>

The caldera has an extensive [[Hydrothermal circulation|hydrothermal]] system. [[Casa Diablo Hot Springs]] at the base of the resurgent dome hosts a [[Mammoth Geothermal Complex|geothermal power plant]]. [[Hot Creek (Mono County)|Hot Creek]] cuts into part of the resurgent dome and passes through hot springs. The warm water of Hot Creek supports many trout, and is used at the Hot Creek Fish Hatchery.<ref name="hotcreek">{{cite web|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3045/fs2007-3045.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221172625/http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3045/fs2007-3045.pdf |archive-date=2008-02-21 |url-status=live|title=Boiling Water at Hot Creek|work=Our Volcanic Public Lands|publisher=USGS and USFS|access-date=2007-09-16}}</ref>  The creek was closed to swimming in 2006 after [[geothermal activity]] in the area increased.<ref name="hotcreek" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/news/2006/07/nr_hot_creek.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208121353/http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/news/2006/07/nr_hot_creek.shtml|archive-date=2008-12-08|title=New Activity at Hot Creek Geologic Site|access-date=2007-05-05|work=Inyo National Forest Press Release}}</ref> The area has a number of other hot springs, some of which are open to [[bathers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://calihotsprings.com/loc/region/long-valley/|title=Hot Springs in Long Valley, CA|work=Cali Hot Springs|access-date=2024-04-16}}</ref>