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All the United States Oregon Silver Lake Crack in the Ground

Crack in the Ground

A volcanic fissure over two miles long and up to 70 feet deep.

Silver Lake, Oregon

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Crack in the Ground   Bureau of Land Management Oregon / CC BY-SA 2.0
Crack in the Ground   Bureau of Land Management Oregon / CC BY-SA 2.0
Crack in the Ground   DKRKaynor / CC BY-SA 4.0
Crack in the Ground   DKRKaynor / CC BY-SA 4.0
Crack in the ground #2   dwhitten9699 / Atlas Obscura User
Crack in the Ground   dwhitten9699 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The eruptions from the Four Craters Lava Field—four pyroclastic cone volcanoes formed during the Pleistocene or early Holocene—created a sinking of the older heavier rock, forming a shallow depression about 3 kilometers wide extending southward into an old lake basin.

"Crack-in-the-Ground" is a volcanic fissure over two miles long and up to 70 feet deep, that marks the western edge of this small, volcano-tectonic depression.

The crack is the result of a tension fracture—a rock fracture at right angles to the direction of the most tension—the result of lava flows coming over the edge of a concealed fault zone.

It is located in the southwest corner of Four Craters Lava Field in the Deschutes National Forest. Hikers can walk the length of the main crack and explore its tributaries.

Related Tags

Volcanoes Geology Geological Oddities Natural Wonders Nature

Community Contributors

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canuck

Edited By

vjm212, Michelle Cassidy, dwhitten9699, jamesluntzel74

  • vjm212
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • dwhitten9699
  • jamesluntzel74

Published

June 3, 2010

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Crack in the Ground
Silver Lake, Oregon, 97638
United States
43.32508, -120.6652
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