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Crater Lake, Oregon.
At first glance, the cluster of dark, jagged rocks just off-shore calls to mind the image of a ghostly ship with tall masts and drooping sails. The "Phantom Ship" is actually a remnant of an ancient volcano called the Phantoms Cone.
Unlike the youthful Wizard Island made mostly of cinders erupted within the last few thousand years, the dense lavas of Phantom Ship may be more than 400,000 years old -- the oldest exposed rocks in the Crater Lake caldera.
The ship consists of two overlapping andesitic lava flows, part of the layering within the Phantom Cone. The subsequent growth of Mt. Mazama -- a much larger volcano -- engulfed the Phantom Cone. After Mt. Mazama collapsed, Phantom Ship was exposed. It is part of a ridge that protrudes from the caldera wall. Most of the ridge is now submerged, leaving Phantom Ship stranded off shore. |