The Northernmost of the Mono-Inyo Craters and immediately South of Mono Lake, Panum was formed 600-700 years ago when magma rising from the Earth's crust came in contact with water underground, turning the water to steam and causing a violent explosion that ejected debris from the Earth, and creating a ring of cinders (cinder cone). Eventually, rising magma pushed up a dome, then broke as magma below continued pushing up, until the volcano finally ran out of source magma, leaving the crater seen today.
View is atop the center breccia pile of magma. The cinder cone is visible as the ring around the crater. The next crater in the Mono-Inyo Craters, Northwest Coulee, is visible on the left. The Sierra Nevada is visible on the right.
Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California
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