Blue Lake Crater | U.S. Geological Survey Official websites use .gov .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS lock ( or means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Blue Lake Crater Find U.S. Volcano Filters The map displays volcanoes, earthquakes, monitoring instruments, and past lava flows. Get Help Earthquake Plots To view an earthquake cross-sectional plot, click "Draw Plot" to start drawing on the map. Once the plot area is selected, click on "View Plot" to view chart or "Clear Plot" to start over. Map Layers Earthquake Colors Earthquake Depth Units Earthquake Time Units Results Filters The map displays volcanoes, earthquakes, monitoring instruments, and past lava flows. Get Help Earthquake Plots To view an earthquake cross-sectional plot, click "Draw Plot" to start drawing on the map. Once the plot area is selected, click on "View Plot" to view chart or "Clear Plot" to start over. Settings Map Layers Earthquake Colors Earthquake Depth Units Earthquake Time Units Map Legend Map Legend Results Blue Lake Crater Publications Connect Blue Lake crater and a chain of spatter cones between Blue Lake and Mount Washington may be the youngest volcanic features in Central Oregon's Santiam and McKenzie Passes region. Quick Facts Location: Oregon, Jefferson County Latitude: 44.411° N Longitude: 121.774° W Elevation: 1,230 (m) 4,035 (f) Volcano type: Maar Composition: Basalt Most recent eruption: 1300 years ago Nearby towns: Sisters Threat Potential: Low/Very Low* *based on the National Volcano Early Warning System Summary Media Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Blue Lake Crater A chain of spatter cones trends north-northeast for 1.5 km in line with Blue Lake crater; none of the spatter vents fed lava flows. The crater, now occupied by Blue Lake, erupted a tephra plume that was deflected by gentle winds blowing to the east-northeast and produced a fall deposit that blanketed the Suttle Lake trough. The deposit is thicker than 2 m (7 ft) along the southwestern shore of Suttle Lake. Blue Lake itself is surrounded by a modest cone of cinder and welded spatter. Radiocarbon dating of forest litter from below products of the chain of spatter cones indicates eruption about 1,300 years ago. Tephra from Blue Lake crater is similar to that from the chain of spatter cones and, taken together with the alignment of the chain and crater, suggests that all the vents were active during a single eruptive episode. October 22, 2018 2018 update to the U.S. Geological Survey national volcanic threat assessment 2018 update to the U.S. Geological Survey national volcanic threat assessment When erupting, all volcanoes pose a degree of risk to people and infrastructure, however, the risks are not equivalent from one volcano to another because of differences in eruptive style and geographic location. Assessing the relative threats posed by U.S. volcanoes identifies which volcanoes warrant the greatest risk-mitigation efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners... Authors John W. Ewert, Angela K. Diefenbach, David W. 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