Volcanic activity in the field commenced in the Late Miocene and after a pause between 3 and 1 million years ago continued into the latest Pleistocene.

Among the better known are the Cascade volcanoes created by subduction off the western coast of North America,[15] which include the caldera of Mount Mazama (created by a large eruption in the early Holocene)[16] as well as stratovolcanoes such as Mount St. Helens and mafic volcanic fields.

[17] Other volcanic centres in the United States are those associated with Yellowstone Caldera and Snake River Plain,[18] those along the margins of the Colorado Plateau,[19] volcanoes linked to the Rio Grande Rift and Jemez lineament,[20] and finally volcanoes in the western Basin and Range Province such as the Cima volcanic field[21] where the crust is extending.

[33] The Black Tank cone is the source of a 2-kilometer (1.2 mi) long lava flow, which at first forms a levee-bound channel and then narrows out into a lobate shape.

Bombs and cinders cover the less eroded cones, which are also sometimes surrounded by base surge deposits.

[33] Erosion has dug gullies and larger valleys in the older cones,[38] including one 150-meter (490 ft) deep gorge.

[41] The volcanic field was emplaced on a basement of Tertiary age, which comprises both crystalline bedrock and thick gravel deposits.

[39] Other rock formations in the area are of Proterozoic–Paleozoic to Mesozoic (Teutonia batholith) age, and the region is considered to be part of the Ivanpah uplift.

[50] The oldest flows have flat or gentle surfaces and their source vents are heavily degraded.

[51] Lava flows are also in part covered by wind-transported or erosional material[6] and desert varnish.

[22] The rock composition has not changed much during the history of the Cima volcanoes,[55] but three distinct groups have been identified.

[56] The magma erupted in the field ultimately appears to originate from the lithospheric or asthenospheric mantle with little contribution of crustal components,[57] unlike earlier felsic volcanism.

[60] Before the beginning of the Holocene, the climate was wetter and this facilitated the development of soils on lava flows.

[63] The youngest cone is unvegetated[64] and little vegetation has developed on other recent volcanic vents and lava flows.

[55] An eruption rate of 8 events per 100,000 years and a magma output of 0.001 cubic kilometers per millennium (0.00024 cu mi/ka) has been estimated for the Cima field.

[66] According to potassium-argon dating, volcanic activity started in the Miocene and continued to the end of the Pleistocene.