Albuquerque volcanic field facts for kids
The Albuquerque volcanic field is a cool group of volcanoes in New Mexico, United States. It's about 7 miles (11 km) west of the city of Albuquerque. This volcanic field is part of the Petroglyph National Monument, which is a protected area.
These volcanoes were active a long time ago, between 190,000 and 155,000 years ago. They are a type called a monogenetic volcanic field, which means each volcano erupted only once. The field includes different volcanic features like lava flows, cinder cones, and spatter cones. The oldest lava flows cover a large area, about 23 square miles (60 km²). The cones line up, suggesting they formed over cracks in the Earth called fissures.
Albuquerque's Volcanoes
The Albuquerque volcanic field is home to several interesting volcanoes. These include some well-known ones like Vulcan and Black Volcano. They are all part of a chain of volcanic vents.
Meet Vulcan
The biggest volcano in the Albuquerque volcanic field is named Vulcan. It's named after the Roman god of fire. From the top of Vulcan, which is about 200 feet (61 meters) above the flat land, you can clearly see how the volcanoes line up. This chain of vents stretches for about 5 miles (8 km).
Vulcan is a type of volcano called a spatter cone. It formed mostly from "fire fountains." These are like giant lava fireworks that shot blobs of hot lava into the air. As the lava blobs flew, they cooled down a bit. Then, they landed on the sides of the cone and stuck together, forming a hard crust.
The material that makes up Vulcan's sides, like cinder and spatter, slopes steeply away from its center. On the eastern and southern sides, these slopes can be as steep as 55 degrees. The spatter material is thickest on the southeastern side. This tells us that winds blew the lava blobs mostly towards the south and east during the eruptions.
Inside Vulcan's crater, there's a solidified lava pond. This pond is made of a solid gray rock called basalt. You can also find cool lava tubes on Vulcan's sides. These tubes are like tunnels that hot lava flowed through. They are about 8 to 20 inches (20 to 51 cm) wide and can be up to 300 feet (91 meters) long.
Black Volcano
Black Volcano is another inactive volcano located near Albuquerque, New Mexico. It sits directly north of JA Volcano. Black Volcano is the second volcano in a line of five, if you travel from south to north within the Petroglyph National Monument. North of Black Volcano, you'll find Vulcan, Bond, and Butte volcanoes.
We don't know the exact date of Black Volcano's last eruption. However, scientists believe it was more than 150,000 years ago.
