Mount Mazama Research Paper

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Mount Mazama was a stratovolcano in Klamath County, Oregon, until it destroyed itself. A stratovolcano is a volcano that has many layers. These layers are made of things such as pumice and hardened lava. The volcano was also a part of the Cascade Mountain Range. It is said that Mount Mazama started forming 420,000 years ago. The volcano started erupting more frequently and more violently 400,000 years ago, and stayed active for 70,000 years. Then one day 7,700 years ago, Mount Mazama had a huge eruption that ended by the whole mountain collapsing into itself and forming the basin of Crater Lake, which is 6.02 miles wide.
Before Mount Mazama erupted, an American Indian tribe called the Klamaths thought the volcano belonged to their god …show more content…

The groups was called the Mazamas. In a Native American language Mazama means “mountain goat.”
Many people studied Mount Mazama, including Howel Williams and Charles R. Bacon. Howel Williams is from the University of California, Berkeley. Charles R. Bacon is a USGS geologist who expanded and improved Williams’ work.
Mount Mazama’s final eruption started as if it was just another normal one. The ash and lava started coming out of a single vent on the northeast side of the volcano. The lava went 30 miles into the air and was carried by winds covering a large area in ash and tephra. So much magma erupted causing the vent to widen and the eruption column collapsed. As the eruption continued, circular cracks opened around the peak.

Activity continued to fill eruption columns and through the disburse vents. Deposits from these flows partially filled the valleys around Mount Mazama with 300 feet of pumice and ash. Because the magma chamber was nearly empty, most of the base collapsed into the magma chamber. After the volcano collapse a caldera 5 to 6 miles in diameter and .7 miles deep. After many steam eruptions and rain falls, water gathered in the caldera, forming a lake. That lake is now called Crater Lake and is known as the deepest lake in North

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