Steamboat Springs, Nevada
| Steamboat Springs | |
|---|---|
[[Image:
Fumarole at Steamboat Springs, Nevada |
|
| Elevation | 1,415 m (4,642 ft) [1] |
| Location | |
| Location | Washoe County, Nevada, USA |
| Coordinates | 39°22′30″N 119°43′12″W / 39.375°N 119.72°WCoordinates: 39°22′30″N 119°43′12″W / 39.375°N 119.72°W[1] |
| Geology | |
| Type | lava domes[2] |
| Age of rock | |
| Reference #: | 198 |
Steamboat Springs is a small volcanic field of rhyolitic lava domes and flows in western Nevada, USA, located south of Reno. There is extensive geothermal activity in the area, including numerous hot springs, steam vents, and fumaroles.[1] There were formerly a number of geysers in the area, but they have ceased to erupt because of geothermal drilling.[citation needed]
The state of Nevada has a Steamboat Springs Historical Marker (#198) situated along the eastern shoulder of the busy Reno-Carson Highway (secret SR 430 presently signed as US 395), approximately 1.65 miles (2.66 km) south of Tahoe Junction (the intersection with SR 341 and SR 431). There were once several mineral spas operating here along Steamboat Creek, with at least one still in business.
Steamboat Springs was once also a depot on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad's Reno-Carson City line. In 1871, with tracks yet to be built south through the Washoe Valley to Carson City, this temporary rail terminus became an important transfer point for passengers and freight heading up the Geiger Grade on stagecoaches bound for Virginia City and the mines of the Comstock Lode. Once tracks were extended south the following summer to meet the existing Carson-Virginia City rail line, such transfer business fell off rapidly.
The residential portions of this area, located mostly east of Steamboat Creek and south of modern-day SR 341, are now known simply as Steamboat.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "Steamboat Springs". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=120601-A. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
- ^ Wood, Charles A.; Jűrgen Kienle (1993). Volcanoes of North America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 156–258. ISBN 0-512-43811-X.
