Indian Tunnel Lava Tube
June 05, 2014
Photographer: Kurt Allen Fisher
Summary Author: Kurt Allen Fisher
The Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho is a complex of volcanic cinder cones and associated subterranean lava tubes. These tubes often have entrances that are partially collapsed and filled with rubble, as shown in the above photo of the entrance to Indian Tunnel lava tube. This serpentine lava tube is about 30 ft (9 m) high, 50 ft (15 m) wide and 800 ft (244 m) long. Lava fields here result from flows between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago. On the Moon, similar groups of volcanic cones have been found at the Mauris Hills complex. In fact, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered what appear to be collapsed entrances to lunar lava tubes. Photo taken on August 16, 2011.
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