Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Ubehebe Craters

Find U.S. Volcano

Ubehebe (pronounced you-bee-HEE-bee) Craters, located about 225 km (140 mi) northwest of Las Vegas, NV, and 88 km (55 mi) southeast of Bishop, CA, in Death Valley National Park, consists of thirteen overlapping volcanic craters. The largest crater is about 800 m (0.5 mi) wide and 250 m (800 ft) deep.

Quick Facts

Location: California, Inyo County

Latitude: 37.02° N

Longitude: 117.45° W

Elevation: 752 (m) 2,467 (f)

Volcano type: maar and tuff ring

Composition: basalt

Most recent eruption: 2100 years ago

Threat Potential: Moderate*

*based on the National Volcano Early Warning System

Summary

Ubehebe Craters formed during a series of explosions set off as molten rock (basaltic magma) rising toward the Earth's surface flashed groundwater to steam (phreatic eruption). The explosive magma-water interaction blasted pulverized rock high into the air so that the ejected deposits are comprised of both basaltic lava (about a third) and fragments of sandstone and gravel from the preexisting landscape (about two thirds). Debris from the explosions blankets an area of about 40 km2 (15 mi2). Research by CalVO scientists suggests the set of crater-forming blasts may have taken place in response to a single batch of rising magma. The eruptive episode probably lasted a few days or weeks and took place about 2100 years ago.

The California Volcano Observatory has only one seismometer in the vicinity of Ubehebe Craters, which, along with the region-wide network of USGS seismometers, will alert us to any future volcanic unrest. Presently, Ubehebe Craters is ranked as a Moderate Threat volcano in the USGS volcanic threat assessment (USGS Open-File Report 2005-1164, 2005). Threat rankings of all US volcanoes are periodically reviewed and may be revised as new research is published.

The word Ubehebe is Native American in origin and means "big basket in the rock."

Publications

Lateral extent of pyroclastic surge deposits at Ubehebe Crater (Death Valley, CA) and implications for hazards in monogenetic volcanic fields

Hazard assessments in monogenetic volcanic fields require estimates of the runout of pyroclastic surges that result from phreatomagmatic explosive activity. Previous assessments used runout distances of 1-4 km, with large cases up to 6 km. Surge deposits at Ubehebe Crater (~2100 y.b.p., Death Valley, California) have been traced ~9 km from the crater center, and likely originally extended 1-3 km f
Authors
Gregory Valentine, Judith E. Fierstein, James D.L. White

California’s exposure to volcanic hazards

The potential for damaging earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, and wildfires is widely recognized in California. The same cannot be said for volcanic eruptions, despite the fact that they occur in the state about as frequently as the largest earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault. At least ten eruptions have taken place in the past 1,000 years, and future volcanic eruptions are inevitable.The

Authors
Margaret Mangan, Jessica Ball, Nathan Wood, Jamie L. Jones, Jeff Peters, Nina Abdollahian, Laura Dinitz, Sharon Blankenheim, Johanna Fenton, Cynthia Pridmore

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. This update

Authors
John W. Ewert, Angela K. Diefenbach, David W. Ramsey

Science

Deformation Monitoring at Ubehebe Craters

There is currently one GPS receiver near Ubehebe Craters.
link

Deformation Monitoring at Ubehebe Craters

There is currently one GPS receiver near Ubehebe Craters.
Learn More

Seismic Monitoring at Ubehebe Craters

There is currently one USGS operated seismometer near Ubehebe Craters, which was installed in 2001.
link

Seismic Monitoring at Ubehebe Craters

There is currently one USGS operated seismometer near Ubehebe Craters, which was installed in 2001.
Learn More