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Tuesday, September 09, 2014

The Big Obsidian Flow in Newberry Volcano

One of the youngest lava flows in Oregon occured in the Newberry Volcano only 1300 years ago.  The third image from my last post shows the Obsidian flow from near the highest point on the Newberry Volcano, on Paulina Peak.  There is a nice trail into the Obsidian Lava Flow that gives you a close up look at the devastation of the flow and how the area is slowly returning to a life-bearing landscape.


The start of the trail near the parking lot is wooded with the lava flow nearly 100 feet tall and is visible through the trees.  This image was taken with my Sigma 18-250mm lens on my 70D at 18mm with an exposure of 1/80 seconds at f/9, ISO 100.


Near the start of the trail, it climbs a set of stairs up the side of the flow.  This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/9, ISO 200.


The Obsidian flow has a lot of different types of lava - this is an Obsidian outcrop with other types of lava and pumice.  This image was taken at 250mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/6.4, ISO 200.


This outcrop of obsidian shows lots of interesting structure.  The next two frames zoom in on one of the larger blocks of Obsidian, showing its glassy structure.






This lonely old tree has seen better times.  In the distance is Paulina Peak on the rim of the caldera.  This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/2500 seconds at f/4.6, ISO 200.


Looking across the Obsidian flow towards Paulina Lake in the center of the caldera.  In the distance are two of the many volcanoes in Oregon.  This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/2500 seconds at f/4.6, ISO 200.

This last image is of the photographer and his sweetie next to an old tree growing amongst the lava flow as nature slowly encroaches on the barren landscape.  This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.