Vulcan (inactive volcano)
| Vulcan | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 6,033 ft (1,839 m) |
| Prominence | 600 ft (183 m) |
| Location | |
| Location | Petroglyph National Monument Bernalillo County, New Mexico, USA |
| Geology | |
| Type | Stratovolcano |
| Age of rock | > 10,000 years |
| Last eruption | 150,000+ years ago |
Vulcan, named after the Roman god of fire, is an inactive volcano on Albuquerque, New Mexico's West Mesa. It is the largest of the volcanos in Albuquerque's Volcanic Field . Vulcan is a spatter cone, formed primarily by fire fountains that were active in the central vent and in smaller vents on flanks of the cone. These flank vents formed the arches and caves seen today. From a vantage point on top of the cone 600 feet above vally floor, the alignment of the 5-mile-long chain of vents is particularly noticeable.[1] Spatter forms when blobs of lava are emitted from a vent. The blobs cool as they fly through the air, and the partially molten blobs then land on the side of the cone to weld together to form a hard crust. Fragmental cinder and spatter material and lava flows dip at angles as high as 55° away from the central vent on the eastern and southern side of Vulcan. The spatter material is thickest on the southeastern side of Vulcan, indicating that it was blown by the wind toward the south and east during the fountaining events. A solidified lava pond that consists of a massive gray basalt with weakly developed columnar jointing occupies the crater of Vulcan. Radial, sinuous lava tubes 8 to 20 inches across and 300 feet long are preserved on the northeast and northwest flanks of Vulcan.[2][3]
Vulcan lies in a large geological zone known as the Rio Grande rift, which followes the Rio Grande from southern Colorado through El Paso, Texas, after which it becomes indistiguishable from the Range and Basin province of northern Mexico. This wrent in the Earth's surface, where two land masses are pulling away from one another, is responsible for much of the volcanic activity and Mountain-building that occured throughout the area.
Vulcan lies in Petroglyph National Monument, with access to the volcanoes during buisness hours, after which any vehicles are locked in and subject to fines and impoundment. It rests in a volcanic field approximatly 7 mi. northwest of Albuquerque. To the south are the volcanoes Black, folloed by JA volcano. To the north lie Bond and Butte volcanos and the Jemez Mountains. To the west is the giant stratovolcano Mount Taylor (Navajo: Tsoodził, The Turquoise Mountain), and to the east are the cities of Rio Rancho, Albuquerque, the village of Corralas, and the Sandia Mountains.
Vulcan is believed to have last erupted around 150,000 years ago. It was once belived to be extinct. After Earth and space-based geodetic measurements indicated ongoing surface uplift above the "Socorro Magma Body". at approximately 2 mm/year, it was reclassified as inactive or dorment.[4]
[edit] Referances
- ^ [1], US National Monuments.
- ^ Smith, G.A., Florence, P.S., Castounis, A.D., Luongo, M., Moore, J.D., Throne, J., Zelley, K., 1999, Basaltic near-vent facies of Vulcan Cone, Albuquerque volcanoes, New Mexico New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook 50, p. 211-219..
- ^ [2], New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
- ^ [3],Magma Uplift in New Mexico.
