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Bombadil
Gondolin
Sep 9 2014, 4:17pm
Post #1 of 8
(2043 views)
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Is The Lonely Mountain an Extinct Volcano?
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When Bilbo is @ the Top of the OAK Trees in Mirkwood
there are 2 shots of the Lonely Mountain in the background
that Give it a Twin TOP Points look? (@ 25:30)
This Peak is pretty much on the Same Longitude
AZzz.. Mount Doom which IZz..Due South about 800 miles;
an active Volcano...
WHY does Bomby have this Theory?
1. On the Back side of Pikes Peak, here in Colorado
is one of the Richest Square miles of minerals IZZ next
to the Town of Cripple Creek...An Extinct Volcano
cinder cone...
Mostly Gold & Silver was found there over 130 years ago.
Also!... next to the town of Central City due north of Cripple Creek
(about 100 miles) is another extinct Volcano cinder cone...
with another vast store of Gold & Silver, mined for over a hundred years TOO!
2. Not a Geologist , but someone here? might be?
3.The Vertical Shafts that Dwaves find so much,
aren't likely to have been Hollowed out by the Dwarves.
4. The Heat of Magma would have turned lesser minerals
into Gold, Silver...and
YES DIAMONDS, Sapphires, Rubys etc.
It's kinda cool to think EREBOR!.. IZz
Productive,
Yet,... Mount Doom IZz..
Destructive?
Yet this Theory IZz..never mentioned
in the Books nor..
on the Discussion boards here..
What do you think..?
bom
www.charlie-art.biz
"What Your Mind can conceive... charlie can achieve"
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Rickster
Nargothrond
Sep 9 2014, 10:59pm
Post #2 of 8
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It could be an old sleeping one
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Many people think so
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Farficom
Ossiriand
Sep 10 2014, 4:55am
Post #3 of 8
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I always assumed it was a mountain that was rich with gold, jewels, and other lovely things... and therefore was hollowed out throughout time by the Dwarves who called it home.
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Aitieuriskon
Menegroth
Sep 10 2014, 3:42pm
Post #4 of 8
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IIRC, in the 1977 animated Hobbit, wasn't the Mountain shaped a bit like a volcano?
I always thought it was strange that such a large peak would be isolated from the nearest mountain range by such a distance. If only I had KWFonstad's atlas on me, I'm sure she's got something to say about the geology of Wilderland...
"After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of 'truth', and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear." Professor Tolkien, 1951
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moreorless
Mithlond
Sep 10 2014, 6:42pm
Post #5 of 8
(1562 views)
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WHY does Bomby have this Theory?
1. On the Back side of Pikes Peak, here in Colorado
is one of the Richest Square miles of minerals IZZ next
to the Town of Cripple Creek...An Extinct Volcano
cinder cone...
Mostly Gold & Silver was found there over 130 years ago.
Also!... next to the town of Central City due north of Cripple Creek
(about 100 miles) is another extinct Volcano cinder cone...
with another vast store of Gold & Silver, mined for over a hundred years TOO!
2. Not a Geologist , but someone here? might be?
3.The Vertical Shafts that Dwaves find so much,
aren't likely to have been Hollowed out by the Dwarves.
4. The Heat of Magma would have turned lesser minerals
into Gold, Silver...and
YES DIAMONDS, Sapphires, Rubys etc.
My assumption was always that it was a former volcano for many of the reasons you mention.
As far as the mechanisms that lead to volcano's often having deposites of precious metals and jems goes its a bit more complex. Metals like gold and silver are present in volcanos along subduction zones(like the Cascades) rather than volcanic plumes(such as Hawaii) actually due to the seawater in the subducted rock leching the normally finely spread minerals out of the rock and then depositing them in high concentrations as it cools. Diamonds and the like are generally forced by crystal growth under high pressure, again often involving water.
You need to remember of course that geology and more specifically plate tectonics is a science that has advanced greatly in recent decades, much of what we know today wasn't known pre war or even in the post war years Tolkien was working. Still I think Tolkiens geography does tend to stand up quite well although of course the mechanisms of Arda's creation in his work was divine. You could argue I spose that the Sil whilst clearly outlining divide influence is might refer to processes close to reality in Arda's ill defined early creation beyond the understanding of the elves.
(This post was edited by moreorless on Sep 10 2014, 6:50pm)
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Cirashala
Doriath
Sep 11 2014, 6:38am
Post #6 of 8
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I just read the section on the Lonely Mountain in my atlas
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and nope- she goes into detail about the geography of the mountain, but not the geology, unfortunately 
But unless Tolkien was a lousy geologist, the mountain HAS to be a volcano, extinct or dormant it has to be- there's no doubt about it. I absolutely adored plate tectonics, and if it weren't for the fact that I choose life (meaning you wouldn't catch me dead inside the cone of a rumbling volcano!) I would have strongly considered vulcanology back when I was trying to decide on a college major.
The Lonely Mountain is a conic or composite volcano (the difference is that conic is comprised of pretty much all rock, whereas composite has layers of rock and ash and sediment comprising it).
It is NOT near any other mountain range, and there are only two things (IIRC) that can cause a mountain to be formed- plate tectonics, in which two or more of the earth's crusts collide and both push up (one up and one down gives us faults, like for example the San Andreas fault in Los Angeles that was responsible for the infamous Northridge earthquakes in 1994- I was in that earthquake, fifty miles away from the epicenter, and nearly got thrown from the top bunk), or as a result of magma hardening into rock layer by layer from volcanic activity.
In order for the Lonely Mountain to have been created by plate tectonics, it would have to be part of a range- the earth's plates aren't small enough to only yield one peak. To illustrate my example- the Misty Mountains, the White Mountains of Gondor, Ered Luin- they were all created by plate tectonics (all in a fairly straight line, clearly indicating a border between two plates). Our real world examples of plate tectonic created ranges include the Swiss Alps, the Rocky Mountains of North America, the Andes of Peru, the Himalayas, etc.
That is NOT to say that mountains in ranges are absent of volcanic activity- in fact, the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean is a prime example of plate tectonic activity that results in volcanic activity as well (Hawai'i, however, is entirely volcanic, as it's located in the middle of the Pacific plate- even still bearing several active shield volcanoes- Mauna Loa and Mount Kilauea among them). And Yellowstone National Park (home of Old Faithful geyser) is actually part of a (technically active due to geysers) supervolcano, and is located in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. And there are about five or six volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain range on the US Pacific coast (one of them being the infamous Mt. St. Helens).
However, a lone mountain must be formed due to magma flowing up through a weak spot in the earth's crust. It cannot be formed by plate tectonics- else there would be a range, not a single peak. As to whether or not it's active, I highly doubt it (dormant maybe, but certainly not active) else the dwarves would not have been able to settle in it twice (technically thrice, if you count reclamation after Smaug) over the span of several hundred years with their old kingdom still intact.
And Bombadil above is quite right- volcanoes are extremely rich sources of minerals and precious metals. The superheated magma is excellent for compressing and superheating carbon to form into diamonds much faster than natural compression, and gold and other precious metals can be found in abundance in old volcanic tunnels. There is a great deal of rich rock in magma, flowing with minerals that compress into gems. This is also why volcanic ash is so good for enriching and fertilizing soil- it's so full of nutrients that people risk living within a mile or two (sometimes closer) of very active volcanoes in desperation for good farmland in many countries.
So yes, I am definitely of the opinion that the Lonely Mountain is either a dormant or extinct volcano (though for the life of me I don't remember how long til a volcano qualifies for extinction- I know it's 50 years of no activity for dormancy (hence why Yellowstone still counts as active due to the geysers, though it hasn't erupted in hundreds of years (thank goodness- they're actually fearing a massive eruption and it would be bad news because it would take out about five or six US states, one of which I live in!  )), but don't recall extinction time- I'm really sick today with an unknown bug I have been battling for nearly a week that's only getting worse and brain doesn't want to work all the way  ).
So I know I'm not Karen Fonstad, nor have I ever pursued geology and vulcanology as a career (despite possessing a keen interest in the subject) but I hope my answer has at least helped a little bit 
(This post was edited by Cirashala on Sep 11 2014, 6:39am)
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Bombadil
Gondolin
Sep 11 2014, 10:58am
Post #7 of 8
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Yes! Bomby wazz checking Karen's Book, TOO!
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But my copy is First edition copywrited in 1981
(There is an Updated version, sometime in 1990's)
But if you think about it..Mount Doom (Orodruin)
is centered on a Plateau of Gorgoroth
surrounded by the Mountains of Mordor..
KWF's Quote: "Mount Doom was evidently
a composite or strato-volcano..."
(pg. 146)
Bombyzz theory of these 2 Lonely Mountains
on the same Longitude would make
Geological sense,
IF you allow yourself to Think
"The Lonely Mountain is OLDER
in the Geological History of MiddelEarth..
IT's Cooled,
Whereas Mount Doom is younger therefore HOT.
This Ancient Mountain also has Yielded
THE Arkenstone
& likely found in the DEEPEST shaft
in the Heart of The LM.
Understandably WHY it was so Prized by Thror.
Since
"If Found?
it was likely WAZZZ,
the Hardest to Find"?
................
AND, Most Ancient of all GEMS to be found there....
Jus' another Maybe-Not-sooo..BizarroMundo Theory
from
Bomby..
www.charlie-art.biz
"What Your Mind can conceive... charlie can achieve"
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Cirashala
Doriath
Sep 11 2014, 4:51pm
Post #8 of 8
(1495 views)
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though longitude doesn't make a lot of sense if they aren't in a range. That would imply that there was some sort of fault or weakness in the earth's crust all along that longitude, and if that was the case there would be more than just two over a thousand miles away from each other. Just like the Ring of Fire 
And yes- the Arkenstone was quite likely the result of superheated volcanic activity, and of course since Mt. Doom is still very much active there would be no way that anyone could extract more Arkenstones from it without incinerating themselves.
It would be an interesting theory to think about- how much wealth Mt. Doom could possess if it ever decided to go extinct. But all the poison in the air would probably make the area quite inhospitable for a significantly long time, thus preventing colonization.
I do have the newer Atlas- one of the few ME books I own (it and TH and one visual guide are the only hardcover ones, but definitely worth it!). And it's certainly proven invaluable for my fan fiction writing! 
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