No latest activity reported for Santa Clara.

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.

Hamblin W K, 1987. Late Cenozoic volcanism in the St. George basin, Utah. {Geol Soc Amer Centennial Field Guide, Rocky Mountain Section}, 2: 291-294

Higgins J M, 2003. Geology of Snow Canyon State Park, Utah. {In}: Sprinkel D A, Chidsey T C Jr, Anderson P B (eds) {Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments}, Utah Geol Assoc Publ, 28: 479-494

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

A Pliocene-to-Quaternary volcanic field north of St. George in SW Utah contains numerous cinder cones and lava flows. The Santa Clara lava flow, originating from two youthful cinder cones above Snow Canyon, is one of the youngest late-Quaternary lava flows in the Colorado Plateau/Basin and Range region. The sparsely vegetated flow traveled 16 km to the south down Snow Canyon, excavated through rocks of the colorful Navajo Sandstone. The age of the Santa Clara flow is not known precisely, but was initially estimated from degree of erosion to be about the same age as the roughly 1000-year-old Sunset Crater in Arizona (Hamblin, 1987). The later discovery of skeletal remains and Indian artifacts with an estimated age of 1500-2500 years within a collapsed lava tube, as well as other geomorphological arguments, suggested that the flow could be 10,000-20,000 years old (Higgins, 2003). Older Snow Canyon flows of two generations now cap mesa tops as a result of topographic inversion.