Volcanoes of Zion National Park

The ancient cinder cone volcano known as Crater Hill sits in the valley beyond Mount Kinesava (in the foreground) in this image I lensed while flying and exploring the wilderness areas around Zion National Park in southern Utah.  To gauge the scale of this image size, each of those dark dots on Mount Kinesava is a large tree. 

Zion's proximity to the geological formation known as the Basin and Range Province caused relatively recent volcanism which rings the plateau. This volcanism  takes the form of  cinder cone volcanoes and basalt flows found throughout the Zion region with the last activity estimated to have  occurred possibly only 1,000  years ago, a short time in geologic happenings! This is calculated by the various tribal artifacts found embedded in lava around the park.  

This is an image looking down on Firepit and Spendlove Knolls, located high on the Kolob  Terrace in Zion National Park.  

Firepit Knoll on the lower left and Spendlove Knoll, slightly above and to the right, are two nearly perfectly conical cinder cones located near the Kolob Road in the west- central part of the park.  These mark two of the volcanic vents associated with the Grapevine Wash basalt flows. 

Volcanic vents form with a weakening of the Earth’s  crust  during uplift events, allowing lava flows and cinder cones to  form. Cinder is usually piled several hundred feet high in classic cone  shapes  and lava flowed outward and down into the valleys.    

I find it interesting to realize that humans lived in the area when these volcanoes last erupted. Wow!

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These images are from my ongoing project in which I am trying to raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness.  

Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing locations that surround us.  

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Yehaw!!