Lake Modoc is a former lake in California and Oregon, in the location of present-day Upper Klamath Lake, Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake. It existed during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, its formation probably influenced by volcanism and faulting. The bed of the former lake had plentiful resources for early humans, and today it is used for agriculture.
It has been known for over a century that large lakes previously existed in the Western United States, most notably Nevada's Lake Lahontan and Utah's Lake Bonneville. Such lakes also formed in eastern Oregon, where present-day Malheur Lake and Goose Lake are remnants of former pluvial lakes. Lake Modoc was so named by Samuel N. Dicken, professor of geography at the University of Oregon. [1] The region of Lake Modoc was first described during the early and mid-19th century. [2]
Lake Modoc was a pluvial lake that existed during the Pleistocene in basins formed by faulting and volcanism. It covered a length of 120 kilometres (75 mi) from south of Tule Lake in California to near present-day Fort Klamath in Oregon, its waters reaching an elevation of about 1,292 metres (4,239 ft) above sea level and covering an area of about 2,839 square kilometres (1,096 sq mi) [1] with a highly irregular shape. Several islands formed in the lake, such as the Klamath Hills, [3] present-day Miller Hill close to Klamath Falls and Turkey Hill close to Malin. [4] The shoreline of Lake Modoc is well visible close to Tule Lake. [5]
Unlike other pluvial lakes, Lake Modoc had a steady inflow of surface water, [1] owing to its proximity to snow- and glacier-covered mountains of the Cascade Range. Its watershed extended over present-day Modoc and Siskiyou counties (both in California), and Jackson, Klamath and Lake counties (all in Oregon), including the Williamson River, Sprague River and Lost River. [4] Cinder, pumice and volcanic ash from the Cascades filled the lake. [1]
Lake Modoc also featured an outflow, [1] at first to the south before a lava flow blocked it, [4] although seepage continued from there to this day. Presently, the Klamath River drains the area. [6] Given that the basin at present cannot hold a lake the size of Lake Modoc, it is likely that its formation and demise was influenced by the existence of outlets. [7]
Lake Modoc was probably formed by geologic processes such as faulting or by the Medicine Lake Volcano blocking a former southward-draining outlet. [7] The lake appears to have existed during the Pleistocene and late Pliocene, [8] with some lake deposits estimated to be at least 3 million years old. [7] During marine oxygen isotope stage 4, Lake Modoc was deep and cold. [9]
Water levels began to decrease as the Pleistocene ended, [2] as the climate became drier and the outlet to the Klamath River lower. [10] The former lake floor is nearly level, [1] and the shoreline is almost unwarped. [11] Today, Tule Lake, Upper Klamath Lake and Lower Klamath Lake remain from Lake Modoc; Upper Klamath Lake is the largest present-day lake in Oregon by surface area. [1]
The floor of the drying lake featured deep soils and abundant vegetation, water and wildlife; thus it was quickly populated by humans who migrated there over 3,000 years ago. [12] The former lake bed is now used as cropland, and agriculture is the most prevalent human land use in the region. [10] Part of the southern shoreline has been covered by lava flows, [13] and geologic processes have continued into the Holocene; the Glass Mountain lava flow was emplaced about 1,000 years ago, and some Holocene lava flows have been faulted. [7]
The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes:
Modoc County is a county in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least populous county. The county seat and only incorporated city is Alturas. Previous county seats include Lake City and Centerville. The county borders Nevada and Oregon.
Siskiyou County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka and its highest point is Mount Shasta. It falls within the Cascadia bioregion.
Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano, which is the largest volcano by area in the Cascade Range.
Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park is a state park of California in the United States. It is located in remote northeastern Shasta County and is only accessible to the public by boat.
Kintpuash, also known as Kientpaush, Kientpoos, and Captain Jack, was a chief of the Modoc tribe of California and Oregon. Kintpuash's name in the Modoc language meant 'Strikes the water brashly.'
The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard Muybridge photographed the early part of the US Army's campaign.
The Modoc are an Indigenous American people who historically lived in the area which is now northeastern California and central Southern Oregon. Currently, they include two federally recognized tribes, the Klamath Tribes in Oregon and the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, now known as the Modoc Nation.
The Battle of Lost River in November 1872 was the first battle in the Modoc War in the northwestern United States. The skirmish, which was fought near the Lost River along the California–Oregon border, was the result of an attempt by the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army to force a band of the Modoc tribe to relocate back to the Klamath Reservation, which they had left in objection of its conditions.
The Klamath River flows 257 miles (414 km) through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second largest river in California after the Sacramento River. Its nearly 16,000-square-mile (41,000 km2) watershed stretches from the high desert of south-central Oregon to the temperate rainforest of the North Coast. Unlike most rivers, the Klamath begins in a desert region and flows through the rugged Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains before reaching the ocean; National Geographic magazine has called the Klamath "a river upside down".
Upper Klamath Lake is a large, shallow freshwater lake east of the Cascade Range in south-central Oregon in the United States. The largest body of fresh water by surface area in Oregon, it is approximately 25 miles (40 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) wide and extends northwest from the city of Klamath Falls. It sits at an average elevation of 4,140 feet (1,260 m).
The Williamson River of south-central Oregon in the United States is about 100 miles (160 km) long. It drains about 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2) east of the Cascade Range. Together with its principal tributary, the Sprague River, it provides over half the inflow to Upper Klamath Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Oregon. The lake's outlet is the Link River, which flows into Lake Ewauna and the Klamath River.
Lost River begins and ends in a closed basin in northern California and southern Oregon in the United States. The river, 60 miles (97 km) long, flows in an arc from Clear Lake Reservoir in Modoc County, California, through Klamath County, Oregon, to Tule Lake in Siskiyou County, California. About 46 mi (74 km) of Lost River are in Oregon, and 14 miles (23 km) are in California.
Goose Lake is a large alkaline lake in the Goose Lake Valley on the Oregon–California border in the United States. Like many other lakes in the Great Basin, it is a pluvial lake that formed from precipitation and melting glaciers during the Pleistocene epoch. The north portion of the lake is in Lake County, Oregon, and the south portion is in Modoc County, California. The mountains at the north end of the lake are part of the Fremont National Forest, and the south end of the lake is adjacent to Modoc National Forest lands. Most of the valley property around the lake is privately owned agricultural land, though Goose Lake State Recreation Area is on the Oregon side of the lake.
Tule Lake is an intermittent lake covering an area of 13,000 acres (53 km2), 8.0 km (5.0 mi) long and 4.8 km (3.0 mi) across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon.
State Route 139 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. Running from SR 36 in Susanville north to Oregon Route 39 at the Oregon state line, it forms part of the shortest route between Reno, Nevada, and Klamath Falls, Oregon. SR 139 cuts through much of Modoc National Forest and passes near Antelope Mountain and Tule Lake. North of SR 299 near Canby, SR 139 was built by the federal government and turned over to the state in about 1940; the remainder was built by a joint highway district of Lassen and Modoc Counties, completed in 1956, and given to the state in 1959.
The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The 15,751-square-mile (40,790 km2) drainage basin is 35% in Oregon and 65% in California. In Oregon, the watershed typically lies east of the Cascade Range, while California contains most of the river's segment that passes through the mountains. In the Oregon-far northern California segment of the river, the watershed is semi-desert at lower elevations and dry alpine in the upper elevations. In the western part of the basin, in California, however, the climate is more of temperate rainforest, and the Trinity River watershed consists of a more typical alpine climate.
Lake Mojave is an ancient former lake fed by the Mojave River that, through the Holocene, occupied the Silver Lake and Soda Lake basins in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California. Its outlet may have ultimately emptied into the Colorado River north of Blythe.
Lake Corcoran is an ancient lake that covered the Central Valley of California.
The geology of California is highly complex, with numerous mountain ranges, substantial faulting and tectonic activity, rich natural resources and a history of both ancient and comparatively recent intense geological activity. The area formed as a series of small island arcs, deep-ocean sediments and mafic oceanic crust accreted to the western edge of North America, producing a series of deep basins and high mountain ranges.
| Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antarctica | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Europe |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North America |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
