Lavic Lake volcanic field

Pisgah cinder cone is directly alongside route 66 and highway 40.

Lava flows extend across the valley floor.

The Lavic Lake volcanic field is a volcanic field with extinct cinder cones in the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California, United States, at 762 m (2,500 ft) elevation. Its cones lie directly alongside historic Route 66 and modern Interstate 40, between Barstow to the west and Ludlow 10 miles (16 km) to the east.^[1]

Description

The 100 km² (39 sq mi) Lavic Lake volcanic field is a basaltic pahoehoe lava plain and has four Holocene (approximately 10,000 years ago) cinder cone type volcanos, three in the Lavic Dry Lake area, and a fourth located southwest in the Rodman Mountains.^[1]^[2] The oldest cinder cone, Pisgah Crater may be pre-Holocene, erupting around 25,000 years ago.^[2]

Of the four cinder cones, Pisgah Crater stands as the most accessible and prominent volcano in the volcanic field with a height of 100 m (330 ft) above the field with a peak elevation of 2,545 feet (776 m), at 34°44′47″N 116°22′30″W / 34.74639°N 116.37500°W / 34.74639; -116.37500. The cone of Pisgah Crater has been modified by mining operations that provide a source of road aggregate.^[1]

The biome is the deserts and xeric shrublands, with smaller plants growing in soil pockets formed by erosion, sedimentation and wind deposits.