Zuni-Bandera volcanic field

The Bandera crater in the center of the volcanic field

The Zuni - Bandera volcanic field is located in Cibola County, New Mexico in the United States of America. It covers an area of ​​2460 km ², which extends along the Jemez fault zone west of the Rio Grande Riftzonensystems. It is characterized by its large, extensive lava fields and a variety of cinder cones.

A part of the volcanic field, with the Bandera Crater, the El Malpais lava field and the McCarthy, is covered by the El Malpais National Monument.

Geology

There were two main phases of activity of the volcanic field are determined. The elder was in a period of million years ago, about 3.8 to 3.7. The younger started about 1.7 million years ago and continues to this day and created the extensive lava field, which is known under the name El Malpais. The youngest part of the lava field is the McCarthy - lava, which has a stretch of 60 km to the northeast and has individual lava flows of up to 29 km in length. In the legends of the Indians, the emergence of this lava field is described 1,000 years ago. However, investigations by the radio -carbon method showed the lava field to an age of 3,000 years. The only other activity of the Holocene could be detected at Bandera Crater, this has an age of about nine or ten thousand years.

Another large lava field is that of the Fence Lake, this has an extension of up to 90 km to the west.

Source

  • Zuni - Bandera in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
  • Geology of the Zuni Bandera volcanic field
  • Mountain in North America
  • Mountain in New Mexico
  • Zweitausender
  • Geography (New Mexico)
  • Geography (United States)
  • Spatter and cinder cone
  • Cibola County
Basalt
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