Ground Cracks and Faults

Eruptions of explosion craters and lava domes, like Mono-Inyo, can include several hazard types. Minor tephra will accompany explosions and early vent opening. Lava flows will cover everything in their path, including roadways and infrastructure. Volcanic gases will be present in varying concentrations throughout eruption. The most dangerous possible hazards are pyroclastic flows and surges.

A long, narrow tabular body of molten rock beneath the ground called a "dike" fed eruptions that formed the Inyo lava flows and several explosion craters around Deer Mountain.

Scientists designed a simple experiment to demonstrate how the cracks and faults along the Inyo chain might have formed above a shallow intrusion of magma.

Over the past 35,000 years, volcanic eruptions in the the Long Valley area has been confined to the Mono-Inyo Craters volcanic chain.