Big Pine volcanic field
Big Pine volcanic field
late to early Pleistocene
Consists of a dominantly basaltic volcanic field, composed of scoria/cinder cones, lava flows, and other eruptive products distributed across the central Owens Valley south of Big Pine. Compositions typically range from olivine tholeiite to alkali olivine basalt (e.g. Darrow, 1972; Ormerod and others, 1991; Vazquez and Woolford, 2015). The only documented exception is the high-silica rhyolite of the Fish Spring coulee (e.g. Macdonald and others, 1991).
Several Ar-Ar dates ~1.2 Ma provide the oldest age estimated for the field (e.g., Gillespie, 1982; Gillespie and others, 1983; Blondes and others, 2008). However, the stratigraphically lowest flows are not exposed; undated basalts have been documented at up to ~250 m depth in the subsurface (Coufal and others, 1991 cited in Vazquez and Woolford, 2015). The youngest age determination for the field is ~17 ka, determined by cosmogenic 36Cl dating on a relatively unweathered basaltic lava flow with well-preserved surface morphology in the younger Aberdeen part of the field (Vazquez and Woolford, 2015). Eruptive products are interbedded with glacial and alluvial deposits. Vents are typically monogenetic and concentrated along the Sierra Nevada frontal fault and White Mountains fault zones (e.g. Vazquez and Woolford, 2015); many volcanic deposits are displaced by faults. 
Many volcanic features, including cinder cones, a’a and pahoehoe lava flows with tumuli, pressure ridges, columnar joints, lava rafts, and other features are present in the field and were produced by Strombolian and lesser Hawaiian-style eruptions (e.g. Woolford, 2009).