In areas such as Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lassen National Forest, visitors will sometimes see craters known as splatter cones. They were created thousands of years ago when lava poured from fissures along a rock formation. Gaseous pressures built up near the fissures and caused the lava to spew upward like a fountain. Chunks or clots of lava landed, flattened, and plastered themselves to the ground. Craters were left behind where the fountains had appeared. Together with the flattened chunks of lava, these craters came to be known as splatter cones.
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