Glass Buttes, Lake County, Oregon, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Glass Buttes | Group of Mountains |
| Lake County | County |
| Oregon | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
43° 32' 29'' North , 120° 2' 59'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Group of Mountains
Köppen climate type:
Other/historical names associated with this locality:
Obsidian Buttes
Glass Buttes are a group of volcanic mountains made up of two prominent peaks and several smaller hills. They are located in the remote northeast corner of Lake County between Bend and Burns in Central Oregon, United States. Rising high above the elevated desert plain, the buttes are an important landmark in an area once known as Oregon's ‘great sandy desert’.
[In geomorphology, a butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word butte comes from the French word meaning knoll (but of any size); its use is prevalent in the Western United States, including the southwest, where mesa is used for the larger landform.]
Glass Buttes were formed approximately 5 to 5.8 million years ago during the late Miocene and Pliocene epochs. The mountains are remnants of ancient silicic volcanoes that have been worn down by erosion. The buttes are named for the numerous large deposits of obsidian found on their slopes. Deposits of alunite, cinnabar, hematite, hyalite, and pyrite are also found in certain areas. For thousands of years, Native Americans used obsidian for making cutting tools, arrowheads, and spear points. Obsidian was also an important trade good for Native Americans. Glass Buttes obsidian was used for these purposes at least 9000 years ago. Today, most of the mountains and surrounding land are administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Because the Glass Buttes complex has abundant, high-quality obsidian, the BLM has reserved 36 square miles (93 square km) as a free-use area where the public can gather obsidian for private use. No permits are required; however, individuals can only remove 250 pounds (ca. 113 kg) of obsidian per year. The nearest settlement is the small unincorporated community of Hampton, located 10 miles (ca. 16 km) northwest of the buttes.
[In geomorphology, a butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word butte comes from the French word meaning knoll (but of any size); its use is prevalent in the Western United States, including the southwest, where mesa is used for the larger landform.]
Glass Buttes were formed approximately 5 to 5.8 million years ago during the late Miocene and Pliocene epochs. The mountains are remnants of ancient silicic volcanoes that have been worn down by erosion. The buttes are named for the numerous large deposits of obsidian found on their slopes. Deposits of alunite, cinnabar, hematite, hyalite, and pyrite are also found in certain areas. For thousands of years, Native Americans used obsidian for making cutting tools, arrowheads, and spear points. Obsidian was also an important trade good for Native Americans. Glass Buttes obsidian was used for these purposes at least 9000 years ago. Today, most of the mountains and surrounding land are administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Because the Glass Buttes complex has abundant, high-quality obsidian, the BLM has reserved 36 square miles (93 square km) as a free-use area where the public can gather obsidian for private use. No permits are required; however, individuals can only remove 250 pounds (ca. 113 kg) of obsidian per year. The nearest settlement is the small unincorporated community of Hampton, located 10 miles (ca. 16 km) northwest of the buttes.
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Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.Mineral List
Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities2 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities
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Alphabetical List Tree Diagram
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Cinnabar | 2.CD.15a | HgS |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Unclassified | |||
| ⓘ | 'Opalite' | - | |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | ⓘ Cinnabar | HgS |
| Hg | Mercury | |
| Hg | ⓘ Cinnabar | HgS |
Other Databases
| Wikipedia: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Buttes |
|---|---|
| Wikidata ID: | Q28056308 |
Localities in this Region
- Oregon
- Lake County
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Calaveras-Baker DomainDomain
- Clarno–John Day BasinBasin
- Columbia Basin and RangeWide Rift
- Hornbrook-Ochoco BasinBasin
- Southeast Oregon–Northern California BasinsBasin
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References
Waters, Aaron (1927) A Structural and Petrographic Study of the Glass Buttes, Lake County, Oregon. The Journal of Geology, 35 (5) 441-452 doi:10.1086/623429
Broughton, Paul L. (1974) Obsidian Collecting at Oregon's Glass Buttes. Rocks & Minerals, 49 (11) 651-654 doi:10.1080/00357529.1974.11767190
Cummings, Michael L., Johnson, Michael L. (1986) Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Alteration at Glass Buttes, South-Central Oregon. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 25 (1) 233-234 doi:10.1016/0375-6742(86)90019-1
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Glass Buttes Mine, Glass Buttes, Lake County, Oregon, USA