The Long Valley Caldera, a volcano in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California, has been showing signs of unrest since the 1980s.  The volcano has been seismically active for decades, with scientists recording small earthquakes and ground deformation.  In the last few years, scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) identified more than 2,000 earthquakes rumbling across the Long Valley Caldera.  However, scientists have been less concerned about a major eruption in the foreseeable future. 

A supervolcano is a volcano that has had an eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8, the largest recorded value on the index. This means the volume of deposits for such an eruption is greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers. Large-volume supervolcanic eruptions can cover huge areas with lava and volcanic ash, causing long-lasting climate change and threatening species with extinction.

Since the 1980s, the Long Valley Caldera, situated in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California, has been displaying signs of unrest.

The Long Valley Caldera is a felsic caldera in eastern California.  It’s one of the Earth’s largest calderas, measuring about 20 miles long, 11 miles wide, and up to 3,000 feet deep. The caldera was formed about 760,000 years ago by the Bishop Tuff eruption, which released hot ash, lava, and toxic gas. The ash later cooled to form the Bishop tuff that is common to the area. 

The Long Valley Caldera and the Mono-Inyo Craters chain form a large volcanic complex in eastern California. The area has had persistent earthquake activity and ground uplift in recent decades. Volcanoes have been active in the area for millions of years, and future eruptions are certain to occur. 

The Long Valley Caldera is known as a supervolcano. The term “supervolcano” is used to describe a volcano that at one time has erupted

The Long Valley Caldera erupted 760,000 years ago. The eruption was violent and spewed 650 cubic kilometers of ash into the air, enough to cover Los Angeles in a kilometer-thick layer of sediment. The eruption also ejected 140 cubic miles of material from the supervolcano. 

The eruption began in a vent just west of the Hilton Creek Fault. Silica-rich, highly gaseous, rhyolite magma began to rise through a series of fractures in the earth’s crust. 

The most recent eruptions from the Long Valley Caldera- Mono Domes volcanic field occurred 600 and 250 years before present. Massive eruptions of the size that accompanied formation of Long Valley Caldera 760,000 years ago are extremely rare and none have occurred during the period of written human history.

The Long Valley Caldera is still thermally active, with many hot springs and fumaroles. The magma still underlying the caldera heats underground water, which feeds local hot springs and natural steam vents. The heated water also drives three geothermal power plants, producing a combined 40 megawatts of electricity. 

Some scientists argue that the Long Valley Caldera is no longer active, while others contend that it still represents a significant threat and might experience clusters of intense earthquakes. Researchers found that a solid rock structure is covering the magma chamber at the Long Valley Caldera, which is likely preventing big eruptions from occurring.

According to the USGS, future eruptions from the Long Valley Caldera are likely to be small to moderate in size. The most likely eruption is a lava fountaining eruption that builds a scoria cone and feeds lava flows. 

If the Long Valley Caldera erupted today, the damage would depend on the size of the eruption. If it was similar to the last eruption, there would be localized damage, but the death toll would be low. 

An eruption during the winter months could melt heavy snow packs, generating mudflows and locally destructive flooding. 

The eruption that formed the caldera covered 2,200 square kilometers with hot volcanic material. The second phase of the eruption released pyroclastic flows that burned and buried thousands of square miles. Ash from this eruption blanketed much of the western part of what is now the United States.

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