Big_Cave
Big Cave
Mountain in United States of America
Big Cave is a small shield volcano located in northern California in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of the Pacific Northwest. With an elevation listed at either 4,130 feet (1,260 m) or 4,131 feet (1,259 m), it is the product of subduction of several tectonic plates under the North American Plate, which continues at a rate of 4 centimetres (1.6 in) each year.
Big Cave has a basaltic composition, with a rough surface texture, and has been covered by lava flows. Located between Big Lake to the north and Bald Mountain to the south, it forms part of a belt of Late Quaternary volcanoes moving north from the Lassen Peak volcano. It last erupted either during the late Pleistocene or Holocene epoch; its exact age is unknown. It does not possess any major subfeatures besides young pyroclastic cones on its northern flank and on its summit.