El Elegante Crater facts for kids
El Elegante is a special type of volcanic crater called a maar. Its name means elegant one in Spanish. You can find it in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, within a very dry area called the Gran Desierto de Altar.
This crater is huge! It's about 250 metres (820 ft) (820 feet) deep and 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) (nearly a mile) wide. It's the biggest crater of its kind in the Pinacate Peaks volcanic area.
How El Elegante Formed
El Elegante crater was created about 32,000 years ago. This happened when groundwater (water found underground) seeped deep into the Earth. There, it met very hot magma (melted rock) rising from below.
When the hot magma touched the water, the water instantly turned into super-hot steam. This created a huge amount of pressure. The pressure caused a massive explosion, called a phreatomagmatic explosion.
This powerful blast blew a giant hole in the ground. It also shot out rocks, magma pieces, and ash far and wide. These materials spread out about 30 kilometres (19 mi) (18 miles) across what is now the desert floor. The edge of the crater is higher than the land around it. You can see layers of rock there, built up from all the material that was blasted out.
Long ago, before the last very hot period, El Elegante actually held a lake.
A Special Nature Reserve
El Elegante crater is located in a very important area. This area is a nature reserve called the El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve. In 2012, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. This means it's a place of special importance to everyone in the world.
The reserve works like a nature park. It protects the unique plants, animals, and landforms found there. El Elegante is the most popular crater for visitors in this amazing natural park.
