Cinder Cone and the Fantastic Lava Beds edifice. The summit of Cinder Cone has a crater with a double rim (photo), probably created by two different phases of one eruptive period. The cone also has a widespread ash deposit identifiable for from the cone. Blocks of red, cemented scoria within the Painted Dunes lava flows (photo) are pieces of this earlier cone, which were carried away by the flowing lava. When Cinder Cone formed, the magma feeding the eruption changed composition, shifting from basaltic andesite to andesite before returning to basaltic andesite with increased titanium content. While basaltic andesites are volcanic rocks containing 53 to 57% silica,
Lava Decade Volcano in 1991. Deaths attributed to volcanoes frequently have a different cause, for example volcanic ejecta, pyroclastic flow from a collapsing lava dome, lahars, poisonous gases that travel ahead of lava, or explosions caused when the flow comes into contact with water. A particularly dangerous area is called a lava bench. This very young ground will typically break-off and fall into the sea. Areas of recent lava flows continue to represent a hazard long after the lava has cooled. Where young flows have created new lands, land is more unstable and can break-off into the sea. Flows often crack