Dotsero facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dotsero
Dotsero maar in central Colorado near the junction of the Colorado and Eagle rivers.
Highest point
Elevation	6,783 ft (2,067 m)
Geography
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Topo map	USGS Dotsero
Geology
Age of rock	Holocene
Mountain type	maar
Last eruption	2200 BCE ± 300 years

Dotsero near the confluence of the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County.

Dotsero is a 700-meter (2,300 ft) wide by 400-meter (1,300 ft) deep maar volcano located in Dotsero, Colorado near the junction of the Colorado River and the Eagle River. It is classified as a scoria cone with evaporitic rock, basaltic tephra, and oxidized sandstone. Erupting approximately 4200 years ago, it is the youngest volcano in Colorado.

Eruption information

This Holocene volcano erupted in the year 2220 ± 300 years B.C. When Dotsero did erupt, it created small scoria cones that were constructed along a NNE-SSW line on either side of the maar. The eruption date is based upon radiocarbon dating of wood found underneath some of the scoria. It is one of the youngest eruptions in the continental U.S. and it produced an explosion crater, a lahar, and a 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) long lava flow.

Dotsero, and all volcanoes that have erupted in the past 10,000 years, are more likely to become active again. The United States Geological Survey considers it a moderate threat to impact air travel if it were to erupt.

Interstate 70 cuts across the lava flow.