Thursday, June 04, 2015

Sunset Crater, San Francisco Volcanic Field

Sunset Crater is the youngest cone in the San Francisco volcanic field in northern Arizona.   Over the past 6 million years, more than 600 volcanic cones formed, with an eruption every 3,000 years on average.   Sunset Crater may have erupted during the winter of the year 1064-1065.  The erupted materials are alkali olivine basalts, which may have erupted over a 10 year period.


Figure: Digital Elevation Model from "Roadside Geology: Wuptaki anbd Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments," by Sarah Hanson, AZGS Down-to-Earth series #15




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