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Pinacate Peaks

Pinacate

Volcanic field · Mexico · 1183m

The Pinacate volcanic field covers approximately 55 x 60 km and contains numerous maars and scoria cones. The field is prominent in this arid region of NW México near the head of the Gulf of California. The crater rim across the center of the photo is the 1.6-km-wide Cráter Elegante maar. Pinacate Peak in the distance is at the summit of Santa Clara shield volcano, which contains many scoria cones and lava flow fields.
The Pinacate volcanic field covers approximately 55 x 60 km and contains numerous maars and scoria cones. The field is prominent in this arid region of NW México near the head of the Gulf of California. The crater rim across the center of the photo is the 1.6-km-wide Cráter Elegante maar. Pinacate Peak in the distance is at the summit of Santa Clara shield volcano, which contains many scoria cones and lava flow fields. · Photo: Photo by Richard Waitt, 1988 (U.S. Geological Survey). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Volcanic field
Country
Mexico
Region
North America Volcanic Regions / Basin and Range Volcanic Province
Elevation
1183m
Coordinates
31.850, -113.500
Last eruption
Unknown
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Cluster
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

Pinacate is a roughly 55 x 60 km volcanic field in the Sonoran desert of NW México. It contains numerous maars, tuff rings, and cinder cones of late-Pleistocene to Holocene age. The 2,000 km2 field is a prominent feature in this arid, sparsely populated region between the Arizona border and the head of the Gulf of California. An older volcanic period constructed the Santa Clara basaltic-to-trachytic shield volcano. This was followed by the eruption of more than 500 basaltic cinder cones and lava flows that cover the slopes of Santa Clara and the surrounding desert. Among the principal features of the field are two maars: Elegante crater (1.6 km wide) and Cerro Colorado (1 km wide). Legends from the Tohono O'odham people tell of eruptions, though accounts of ash-and-steam eruptions in the 20th century are questionable.

From Wikipedia

The Pinacate Peaks are a group of volcanic peaks and cinder cones located mostly in the Mexican state of Sonora along the international border adjacent to the U.S. state of Arizona, surrounded by the vast sand dune field of the Gran Desierto de Altar, at the desert's southeast.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1928~1929 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1933~1934 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?19281929193119321933

Detailed timeline

  1. 1934VEI ?Geological estimate
    1934-12-31 – 1935-01-02
  2. 1928VEI ?Geological estimate
    1928-06-09 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.