No latest activity reported for Coso Volcanic Field.

Below is a summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

The following references are the sources used for data regarding this volcano. References are linked directly to our volcano data file. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title. Additional discussion of data sources can be found under Volcano Data Criteria.

Coombs H A, Howard A D, 1960. United States of America. {Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields}, Rome: IAVCEI, 9: 1-68

Duffield W A, Bacon C R, 1981. Geologic map of the Coso volcanic field and adjacent areas, Inyo County, California. {U S Geol Surv Misc Invest Ser Map}, I-1200, 1:50,000

Duffield W A, Bacon C R, Dalrymple G B, 1980. Late Cenozoic volcanism, geochronology, and structure of the Coso Range, Inyo County, California. {J Geophys Res}, 85: 2381-2404

Monastero F C, 2002. Model for sucess: an overview of industry-military cooperation in the development of power operations at the Coso geothermal field in southern California. {Geotherm Res Council Bull}, 31: 188-195

Monastero F C, 1998. . (pers. comm.)

Smith R L, Shaw H R, 1975. Igneous-related geothermal systems. {U S Geol Surv Circ}, 726: 58-83

Wood C A, Kienle J (eds), 1990. {Volcanoes of North America}. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ Press, 354 p

The Coso volcanic field, located east of the Sierra Nevada Range at the western edge of the Basin and Range province consists of Pliocene to Quaternary rhyolitic lava domes and basaltic cinder cones covering a 400 sq km area. Much of the volcanic field lies within the China Lake Naval Weapons Center. Active fumaroles and thermal springs are present in an area that is a producing geothermal field. The youngest eruptions were chemically bimodal, forming basaltic lava flows along with 38 rhyolitic lava flows and domes, most with youthful, constructional forms. The latest dated eruption formed the Volcano Peak basaltic cinder cone and lava flow and was Potassium-Argon dated at 39,000 +/- 33,000 years ago. Although most activity ended during the late Pleistocene, the youngest lava dome may be of Holocene age based on geomorphological evidence (Monastero 1998, pers. comm.).