The Pinnacles

The Pinnacles – Prominent Geological Features of Crater Lake National Park

pinnacles
Plate 16. The Pinnacles, Sand Creek canyon, showing pale pumice flow beneath smoke-gray scoria flow, above which lie 10 feet of fine ash. (Photograph by George Grant, National Park Service.) The Geology of Crater Lake National Park, Oregon (1942) by Howell Williams

These towering needle-like formations of rock, called fossil fumaroles, projecting from the Sand Creek Canyon floor, were formed under sheets of volcanic pumice that preceded Mazama’s collapse.As the surface of the hot pumice cooled over the years, steam and gases were released by the hot rocks underneath through vents and tubes that were welded into cement hardness by their passage. These ancient vents now stand alone due to the erosion of the surrounding softer materials.

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