"Ubehebe" is pronounced as YOU-bee-HEE-bee[1] and its etymology is unclear;[2] it may mean "woman's breast" (hïbí-bici) in Owens Valley Paiute[3] but is often mistakenly translated as "big basket".

[19] Pyroclastic deposits reach distances of up to 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Ubehebe Crater[31] and cover an area of about 15 square kilometres (5.8 sq mi) with a layer less than 50 metres (160 ft) thick;[18] they are classified as base surges, which are turbulent flows formed when magma and water interact with water in an explosive manner.

[6] The deposits are graded and show wave-like structures[27] that form conspicuous ripples and wavefields where exposed by stream erosion[32] or road cuts.

[33] Blocks with sizes of up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) are embedded in the deposits,[27] which are covered by volcanic ash, lapilli, and lava bombs.

[26] Conglomerates and sandstones form a 0.5-kilometre-thick (1,600 ft) sequence under Ubehebe Crater;[16] they are part of the so-called Navadu Formation.

[40] The Cottonwood Mountains consist of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and in part Tertiary sedimentary rocks; most of the terrain west and north of the Ubehebe Craters is covered by modern alluvium.

[17][43] The chemistry of the volcanic rocks is very homogeneous between various vents[11] and isotope ratios indicate that the magmas are derived from Precambrian mantle material that underlies the Mojave lithosphere.

[47] During the Little Ice Age, temperatures were low enough to allow the development of snow patches in the Ubehebe Craters, which then left nivation landforms.

[15] Today, precipitation usually occurs in the form of sudden rainfall that can trigger substantial erosion[51] and sometimes generates ephemeral lakes in the craters.

[50] The volcanic eruptions at Ubehebe Craters involved significant amounts of water, perhaps implying that they took place under wetter than present climates,[49] but later it was found that the Ubehebe Craters formed during the relatively dry Medieval Warm Period and that the phreatomagmatic activity can explained by the presence of only small amounts of groundwater.

[40] This makes Ubehebe Craters the most recent basaltic eruption in the continental United States[9] and, together with the Salton Buttes, one of the youngest in southern California.

[58] Fragmented lava and rocks were blown high into the air during the explosions, and covered an area of 39 square kilometres (15 sq mi) when they fell down again.

[64] A paved road[14] passes north and west of Ubehebe Crater and a parking lot is on its rim,[65] which is surrounded by a trail.

[8] The volcanoes are in the northern part of Death Valley National Park[27] and the desert scenery of the craters have been described as picturesque.

[8] Hazards stem mainly from the often exhausting paths and the loose, unstable ground[4] when descending into the Ubehebe Crater.

[66][67] An incomplete[68] circular 10-kilometre-wide (6.2 mi) volcano hazard zone has been defined for the Ubehebe Craters, which reaches Scotty's Castle, within which pyroclastic surges and steam blasts could be expected in case of renewed eruptions.