Modoc Plateau

{{Short description|Plateau in the northeast corner of California, United States}}

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File:Pit River Valley.jpg winds through the Modoc Plateau.]]

The Modoc Plateau lies in the northeast corner of California as well as parts of Oregon and Nevada. Nearly {{convert|1000000|acre}} of the Modoc National Forest are on the plateau between the Medicine Lake Highlands in the west and the Warner Mountains in the east.

Its landform is volcanic table land ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level, cut by many north–south faults. "Occasioned lakes, marshes, and sluggishly flowing streams meander across the plateau."[http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/information/publications/cgs_notes/note_36/Documents/note_36.pdf ‘’California Geologic Provinces,’’ Note 36, page 2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222132418/http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/information/publications/cgs_notes/note_36/Documents/note_36.pdf |date=2016-12-22 }}

It is a thick accumulation of lava flows and tuff beds, along with many small volcanic cones. It has cinder cones, juniper flats, pine forests, and seasonal lakes.{{cite book|title=Fire in California's ecosystems|first=Neil G.|last=Sugihara|page=225|publisher=University of California Press|year=2006}} The plateau is thought to have been formed approximately 25 million years ago as a southern extension of the Columbia Plateau flood basalts.{{cite book|first=A.A.|last=Schoenherr|year=1992|title=Natural History of California|publisher=University of California Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00scho/page/61 61]|isbn=0-520-06922-6}}