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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Newberry Volcano - Paulina Peak panoramas

If you visit Newberry Volcano be sure to drive up the narrow dirt road to the top of Paulina Peak where you'll get these spectacular views of the caldera as well as distant mountains like the Three Sisters and even Mount Adams all the way in southern Washington.

This first panorama was taken near the parking lot.  The lake on the left is Paulina Lake which is separated from East Lake by a small volcanic cone.  The summit is at 7,984 feet and the original volcano stood probably about 4,000 feet taller before it collapsed about 80,000 years ago much as Mt. Mazama did about 7,700 years ago to create Crater Lake. The Newberry Volcano Caldera may have looked more like Crater Lake at one time, but it is much older and has had a great deal of volcanic activity in the time since its collapse.  The 4 images that make up this panorama were taken with my 18-250mm Sigma lens at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

This wider panorama was taken below the parking lot where there is a view across most of the caldera.  On the right is the Obsidian Lava flow that flowed to about 2 miles from its source about 1,300 years ago.  Archeological evidence indicates that this caldera has been occupied since at least 9,500 years ago and included a dwelling that was buried by Mt. Mazama ash when Crater Lake formed about 7,700 years ago.  15 portrait oriented images were stitched into this panorama, taken at 22mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/6.4, ISO 200.


This 4 frame panorama shows the extent of the Obsidian Flow from its source on the southern edge of the caldera to its end about 2 miles away.  This lava flow along with hot springs in the two lakes and other activity (including some bulging likely due to magma movement below the caldera) suggests that this volcano is not finished and might again put on a show at some time in the future.  These images were taken at 37mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/6.4, ISO 200.

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