Mammoth Mountain

Mammoth Mountain (elevation 11,063ft) is a volcano in the Sierra Nevada. It lies to the West of the town of Mammoth Lakes, California. Mammoth Mountain is home to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area[?]. The ski area gets an unusually large amount of snow, due to Mammoth Mountain lying in a low gap in the Sierra crest[?].

Mammoth Mountain is dormant[?], being formed with a series of eruptions that ended 50,000 years ago. Mammoth had a minor phreatic[?] (steam) eruption 600 years ago. Mammoth lies on the South end of the Mono-Inyo[?] chain of volcanic craters, some of which erupted as recently as 250 years ago.

However, Mammoth is outgassing large amounts of carbon dioxide out of its South flank, near Horseshoe Lake[?]. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the ground reaches over 50%. This high concentration causes trees to die in a region over 100 acres in size (see photo, below). About 100 tons of carbon dioxide are produced a day. Camping is prohibited in the tree kill area, to prevent asphyxiation due to accumulation of carbon dioxide in a tent.

Mammoth Mountain lies within the Inyo National Forest[?].

Photograph

Carbon dioxide has killed a large area of trees

External links

• Mammoth Mountain Ski Area trail map (http://www.mammothmountain.com/winter/adventures/ski_ride/trail_map/index.cfm)
• USGS Volcano Hazards Program, Long Valley Observatory (http://lvo.wr.usgs.gov/)