Wapi Lava Field
Shield in United States
Key Facts
Elevation
1,597 m (5,240 ft)
Type
Shield
Location
42.886°, -113.217°
Region
Yellowstone-Snake River Hotspot Volcano Group
Rock Type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Tectonic Setting
Rift zone
Location
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Overview
The Wapi Lava Field, SE of the Craters of the Moon, covers about 325 km2, and consists of a low shield volcano formed during an eruption around 300 BCE that produced ~6 km3 of pahoehoe lava flows. The small King's Bowl rift immediately to the north was also formed at about the same time along a central eruptive fissure flanked by two parallel non-eruptive fissures. This eruption produced a phreatic explosion that created Kings Bowl, an 80-m-long, 30-m-deep explosion crater.
Eruptions overlapped with the last eruptive period of the Craters of the Moon lava field. The vent area lies along the Great Rift of the Craters of the Moon and consists of five major and a half-dozen minor vents covering an area of 0. 5 km2.
The largest of the vents contains several pit craters truncating lava lakes that filled the crater. Pillar Butte, a mass of layered lava flows and agglutinates, forms the high point of the lava shield. The Split Butte maar to the west is partially overlapped by flows of the Wapi field.
Volcanic Hazards & Risk Assessment
Primary Hazards
Risk Level
Geological Composition & Structure
Rock Types
Tectonic Setting
Age & Formation
Eruption Statistics & Analysis
| Metric | Value | Global Ranking | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Recorded Eruptions | Unknown | Low | Moderately active volcano |
| Maximum VEI | VEI Unknown | Minor | Local impact potential |
| Recent Activity | 2326 years ago | Historical | Historically active |
Monitoring & Alert Status
Monitoring Networks
Current Status
Nearby Volcanoes in North America Volcanic Regions
Quick Info
- •Smithsonian ID: 324030
- •Evidence: Eruption Dated
- •Epoch: Holocene
About the Photo
The dramatic Kings Bowl rift cutting diagonally across the top of the photo produced a small 6-sq-km lava field about 2250 years ago immediately north of the much larger Wapi lava field. Kings Bowl itself is the small elongated crater on the right-center side of the rift in this photo; it formed during a phreatic explosion that deposited lighter-colored tephra to the east (upper right). The massive Wapi lava field, located out of view south (right) of Kings Bowl, covers an area of about 325 km2 and originated from Pillar Butte, a small shield volcano.
Photo by Susan Sakimoto (NASA, courtesy of Scott Hughes, Idaho State University).
Authority Sources
Related Volcanoes
Basic Information
This page shows basic data from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program. For more detailed information, visit the official Smithsonian page.