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Carrizozo Malpais

Carrizozo

Pyroclastic cone · United States · 1731m

The small dark hill in the middle distance right of center is Little Black Peak, a cinder cone topping a broad low shield volcano that was the source of the massive Carrizozo lava flow, which forms the dark streak extending across the photo. Most of the ~4.2 cu km pahoehoe flow extended off the photo to the right down the low-angle gradient of the Tularosa Basin to the SE for a distance of 75 km.
The small dark hill in the middle distance right of center is Little Black Peak, a cinder cone topping a broad low shield volcano that was the source of the massive Carrizozo lava flow, which forms the dark streak extending across the photo. Most of the ~4.2 cu km pahoehoe flow extended off the photo to the right down the low-angle gradient of the Tularosa Basin to the SE for a distance of 75 km. · Photo: Photo by Lee Siebert, 1999 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Pyroclastic cone
Country
United States
Region
North America Volcanic Regions / Basin and Range Volcanic Province
Elevation
1731m
Coordinates
33.780, -105.930
Last eruption
-3250
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Minor
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

The massive Carrizozo lava flow, which traveled 75 km down the Tularosa Basin of south-central New Mexico, is one of Earth's longest known Holocene lava flows. The youthful-looking flow originated from a broad low basaltic shield on the floor of the Tularosa Basin, east of the Rio Grande Rift, topped by Little Black Peak, a small cinder cone. The 4.2 km3 tube-fed pahoehoe flow covered 330 km2 and has a width that ranges from 1 km in the central neck region to 5 km in the proximal and distal portions. The flow was inferred to have been emplaced during a single long-duration eruption estimated to have lasted 2-3 decades. A surface exposure age of about 5,200 BP was obtained for the Carrizozo flow. An older lava flow traveled 16 km S and 11 km E from Broken Back crater.

From Wikipedia

The Carrizozo volcanic field is a monogenetic volcanic field located in New Mexico, US. The volcanic field consists of two lava flows, the Broken Back flow and the Carrizozo lava flow. Both lava flows originated from groups of cinder cones. The Broken Back flow is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long and the Carrizozo, one of the largest in the world, is 42 miles (68 km) long, covering 127 square miles (328 km2) with a volume of 1.0 cubic mile (4.2 km3).

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
3250 BCE~3250 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?3250 BCE3250 BCE3249 BCE3249 BCE3249 BCE

Detailed timeline

  1. 3250 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3250 – Ongoing
    Little Black Peak

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.