Hot Creek (Mono County)

Last updated
Hot Creek
Hot Creek steam.jpg
Steam from geothermal springs rise above Hot Creek
Location
Country United States
State California
County Mono
Physical characteristics
Source 
  location Twin Lakes
  coordinates 37°37′05″N119°00′28″W / 37.61806°N 119.00778°W / 37.61806; -119.00778 [1]
  elevation8,563 ft (2,610 m)
Mouth  
  location
Owens River
  coordinates
37°42′30″N118°47′01″W / 37.70833°N 118.78361°W / 37.70833; -118.78361 Coordinates: 37°42′30″N118°47′01″W / 37.70833°N 118.78361°W / 37.70833; -118.78361 [2]
  elevation
6,844 ft (2,086 m)
The Hot Creek Pools Mammoth Hot Creek Pools.jpg
The Hot Creek Pools
Hot Creek Panorama in the Summer Mammoth Hot Creek Panorama.jpg
Hot Creek Panorama in the Summer
Hot Creek: fly fishing in the stream. PamFlyFishingHotCreek.JPG
Hot Creek: fly fishing in the stream.

Hot Creek, starting as Mammoth Creek, is a stream in Mono County of eastern California, in the Western United States. It is within the Inyo National Forest.

Contents

Course

Mammoth Creek

The creek begins its course in the eastern Sierra Nevada named as Mammoth Creek. It originates as an outflow of Twin Lakes, just south of Mammoth Mountain and above the town of Mammoth Lakes. The stream is primarily sourced from melted snow water at 8,500 feet (2,600 m) above sea level. It is quite cold, rarely being above 50 °F (10 °C).

Hot Creek

As Mammoth Creek leaves the Sierra and flows east into the Long Valley Caldera it is joined by warmer water from geothermal springs at the Hot Creek State Fish Hatchery. From this confluence the stream is named Hot Creek, though its water temperature seldom exceeds 68 °F (20 °C) until it reaches Hot Creek Gorge, 8 miles (13 km) east of Mammoth Lakes. [3] In the Hot Creek Gorge, numerous hot springs near and in the stream bed add hot water into the stream. Its mouth is at the confluence with the Owens River upstream from Crowley Lake.

Ecology

The springs near Hot Creek host one of the two known Tui chub populations of the endangered Owens tui chub species. [4]

The Long Valley Observatory of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a volcano observatory, monitors spring activity, water temperatures and chemistry, and stream flow, as well as the caldera volcanic activity. [3]

Hot Creek hydrothermal system

USGS map of the Mono Basin area, showing the Long Valley Caldera (click to see detail). Map of Long Valley Mono area.png
USGS map of the Mono Basin area, showing the Long Valley Caldera (click to see detail).

In hydrothermal systems, the circulation of ground water is driven by a combination of topography and geothermal heat sources. The system in the Long Valley Caldera is recharged primarily from snowmelt in the highlands around the western and southern rims of the caldera. The meltwater infiltrates to depths of a few kilometers (or miles), where some is heated to at least 430 °F (220 °C) by hot rock near the Inyo craters. The heated water, kept from boiling by high pressure, still has lower density than cold water, and it rises along steeply inclined fractures to depths of 0.3–1.25 miles (0.48–2.01 km). It then flows eastward through rock layers to hydrothermal vent discharge points at the surface along Hot Creek and around Crowley Lake. The water temperature declines eastward because of heat loss and mixing with cold water, and in the springs near Crowley Lake temperatures are at only about 125 °F (50 °C).

The springs in Hot Creek all emerge along a stream section between two faults and discharge a total of about 8.5 cubic feet per second (about 240 liters per second) of hot water. This water flow represents nearly 70 percent of the total heat discharged by all thermal springs in Long Valley Caldera. The thermal springs farther east all discharge less water and at lower temperatures. [3]

The larger and more vigorous springs discharge from fractures in the volcanic rock in the gorge. Rock fracturing happens because the thermal area lies within a region of frequent earthquakes and active uplift of the ground. When fractures become sealed by mineral deposition, spring discharge and temperature decline. When new fractures develop or sealed fractures reopen, spring discharge and temperatures can increase suddenly. [5]

Access

The Hot Creek Gorge area of Hot Creek is managed by the U.S. Inyo National Forest as a geologic interpretive site and recreation area. It is popular for fishing, swimming, hiking, bird watching, and photography activities.

Dangers and recent activity

Fumarole--steam vent beside Hot Creek, in the Hot Creek Gorge. Hot-creek-steam-vent.jpg
Fumarole—steam vent beside Hot Creek, in the Hot Creek Gorge.

Hot Creek in the Hot Creek Gorge section can harbor dangers as the locations, discharge rates, and temperatures of springs often change. The changes can be sudden and dangerous to unprepared visitors (especially if entering beyond walkways and fences).

Since May 2006, springs in and near the most popular swimming areas have been geysering or intermittently spurting very hot, sediment-laden water as high as 6 feet (2 m) above the stream surface. At times this geysering activity is vigorous enough to produce "popping" sounds audible from hundreds of feet away. The geysering usually lasts a few seconds and occurs at irregular intervals, with several minutes between eruptions. Fumaroles, or steam vents, are also located in the gorge. They can occur in the ground beyond the creek bed. The unpredictability of this hazardous spring activity led the U.S. Forest Service to close parts of the Hot Creek Gorge in June 2006, [6] and the closure has remained in effect as of February 2016. [7]

Hot Creek Gorge was a filming location in the 1969 film True Grit, as well as the 1960 film North to Alaska also starring John Wayne, the 1966 Steve McQueen film Nevada Smith, and the 1971 film Shoot Out with Gregory Peck, which also starred True Grit's Jeff Corey.

See also

Related Research Articles

Long Valley Caldera

Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the Earth's largest calderas, measuring about 20 mi (32 km) long (east-west), 11 mi (18 km) wide (north-south), and up to 3,000 ft (910 m) deep.

Geothermal areas of Yellowstone Geyser basins and other geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park

The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone, 465 of which are active during an average year. These are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in smaller thermal areas throughout the Park. The number of geysers in each geyser basin are as follows: Upper Geyser Basin (410), Midway Geyser Basin (59), Lower Geyser Basin (283), Norris Geyser Basin (193), West Thumb Geyser Basin (84), Gibbon Geyser Basin (24), Lone Star Geyser Basin (21), Shoshone Geyser Basin (107), Heart Lake Geyser Basin (69), other areas (33). Although famous large geysers like Old Faithful are part of the total, most of Yellowstone's geysers are small, erupting to only a foot or two. The hydrothermal system that supplies the geysers with hot water sits within an ancient active caldera. Many of the thermal features in Yellowstone build up sinter, geyserite, or travertine deposits around and within them.

Mammoth Mountain

Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side.

Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water. Hydrothermal circulation occurs most often in the vicinity of sources of heat within the Earth's crust. In general, this occurs near volcanic activity, but can occur in the deep crust related to the intrusion of granite, or as the result of orogeny or metamorphism.

Spring (hydrology) Point at which water emerges from an aquifer to the surface

A spring is a point at which water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. It is a component of the hydrosphere.

Mono–Inyo Craters Volcanic chain in eastern California, United States

The Mono–Inyo Craters are a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows in Mono County, Eastern California. The chain stretches 25 miles (40 km) from the northwest shore of Mono Lake to the south of Mammoth Mountain. The Mono Lake Volcanic Field forms the northernmost part of the chain and consists of two volcanic islands in the lake and one cinder cone volcano on its northwest shore. Most of the Mono Craters, which make up the bulk of the northern part of the Mono–Inyo chain, are phreatic volcanoes that have since been either plugged or over-topped by rhyolite domes and lava flows. The Inyo volcanic chain form much of the southern part of the chain and consist of phreatic explosion pits, and rhyolitic lava flows and domes. The southernmost part of the chain consists of fumaroles and explosion pits on Mammoth Mountain and a set of cinder cones south of the mountain; the latter are called the Red Cones.

Geothermal areas in Lassen Volcanic National Park

The geothermal areas in Lassen Volcanic National Park include several groups of hot springs and fumaroles, as remnants of former volcanic activity, exist in Lassen Volcanic National Park in northeastern California. Most of these lie in or are closely adjacent to Mount Tehama's caldera. Bumpass Hell is the most spectacular of these, but others of importance are Sulphur Works, Little Hot Springs Valley, Boiling Springs Lake and Devil's Kitchen. In each thermal area, the highest temperature of water generally is close to the boiling temperature at the altitude of the particular spring or fumarole — 198 °F (92 °C) at Bumpass Hell and 191 °F (88 °C) on the northwest flanks of Lassen Peak. Temperatures as high as 230 °F (110 °C) have been recorded in the park.

Yellowstone Caldera Volcanic caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United states

The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corner of Wyoming. The caldera measures 43 by 28 miles, and postcaldera lavas spill out a significant distance beyond the caldera proper.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Canyon on the Yellowstone River

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the first large canyon on the Yellowstone River downstream from Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The canyon is approximately 24 miles (39 km) long, between 800 and 1,200 ft deep and from .25 to .75 mi wide.

Kern River Wild And Scenic River in California, United States

The Kern River, originally Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is a Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately 165 miles (270 km) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It is the southernmost major river system in the Sierra Nevada, and is the only major river in the Sierra that drains in a southerly direction.

Owens River

The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately 183 miles (295 km) long. It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at the endorheic Owens Lake south of Lone Pine, at the bottom of a 2,600 sq mi (6,700 km2) watershed.

Lake Rotorua Lake in the North Island of New Zealand

Lake Rotorua is the second largest lake in the North Island of New Zealand by surface area, and covers 79.8 km2. With a mean depth of only 10 metres it is considerably smaller than nearby Lake Tarawera in terms of volume of water. It is located in the Bay of Plenty region. The city of Rotorua is sited on its southern shore, and the town of Ngongotahā is at the western edge of the lake.

Bishop Tuff

The Bishop Tuff is a welded tuff that formed 767,100 ± 900 years ago as a rhyolitic pyroclastic flow during the eruption that created the Long Valley Caldera. Large outcrops of the tuff are located in Inyo and Mono Counties, California, United States.

Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley Volcanic Valley in New Zealand

The Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley is the hydrothermal system created on 10 June 1886 by the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera, on the North Island of New Zealand. It encompasses Lake Rotomahana, the site of the Pink and White Terraces, as well as the location of the Waimangu Geyser, which was active from 1900 to 1904. The area has been increasingly accessible as a tourist attraction and contains Frying Pan Lake, which is the largest hot spring in the world, and the steaming and usually pale blue Inferno Crater Lake, the largest geyser-like feature in the world although the geyser itself cannot be seen since it plays at the bottom of the lake.

Hydrothermal explosions occur when superheated water trapped below the surface of the earth rapidly converts from liquid to steam, violently disrupting the confining rock. Boiling water, steam, mud, and rock fragments are ejected over an area of a few meters up to several kilometers in diameter. Although the energy inherently comes from a deep igneous source, this energy is transferred to the surface by circulating meteoric water rather than by magma, as occurs in volcanic eruptions. The energy is stored as heat in hot water and rock within a few hundred feet of the surface.

Casa Diablo Hot Springs, California Locale in California, United States

Casa Diablo Hot Springs is a hot springs and active geothermal location, near Mammoth Lakes and the Eastern Sierra Nevada, in Mono County, eastern California.

California Volcano Observatory

The California Volcano Observatory (CalVO) is the volcano observatory that monitors the volcanic and geologic activity of California and Nevada. It is a part of the Volcano Hazards Program of the United States Geological Survey, a scientific agency of the United States government.

Owens tui chub Subspecies of fish

The Owens tui chub was described in 1973 as a subspecies of tui chub endemic to the Owens River Basin in Eastern California, United States. The Owens tui chub is distinguished from its closest relative, the Lahontan tui chub, by scales with a weakly developed or absent basal shield, 13 to 29 lateral and apical radii, also by the structure of its pharyngeal arches, the number of anal fin rays, 10 to 14 gill rakers, and 52 to 58 lateral line scales. Dorsal and lateral coloration varies from bronze to dusky green, grading to silver or white on the belly. It may reach a total length of 30 centimetres (12 in). Owens tui chub are believed to be derived from Lahontan Basin tui chub that entered the Owens Basin from the north during the Pleistocene Epoch.

Akutan Hot Springs Thermal springs

Akutan Hot Springs is a system of several dozen thermal springs and a geyser in the Akutan geothermal area, Akutan Island, Alaska.

References

  1. "Twin Lakes". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. "Hot Creek". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  3. 1 2 3 "Boiling Water at Hot Creek" (PDF). Our Volcanic Public Lands. USGS and USFS. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  4. "Owens Tui Chub". Biological Opinion for SNFPA SEIS Final. USFS. 2003-07-30. Archived from the original on 2009-07-10.
  5. Oliver, Lynn; Farrar, Christopher (2007). "Challenges of managing the Hot Creek Thermal Area, Inyo National Forest, California". 103rd Annual Meeting, Geological Society of America.
  6. "New Activity at Hot Creek Geologic Site" . Retrieved 2007-05-05. Inyo National Forest Press Release
  7. Grasseschi, Wendilyn (March 25, 2013). "Inyo National Forest hears resident comments, suggestions". Mammoth Times.