The Carrizozo volcanic field is a monogenetic

volcanic field A volcanic field is an area of Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. The type and number of volcanoes required to be called a "field" is not well-defined. Volcanic fields usually consist of clusters of up to 100 volcanoes ...

located in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, US. The volcanic field consists of two lava flows, the Broken Back flow and the Carrizozo lava flow (Carrizozo Malpais), the second youngest in New Mexico. Both lava flows originated from groups of

cinder cone A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions o ...

s. The Broken Back flow is approximately long and the Carrizozo, one of the largest in the world, is long, covering with a volume of .

Carrizozo Malpais

The Carrizozo Malpais is a large lava flow on the west side of

Carrizozo, New Mexico Carrizozo is a town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat, with a population of 996 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1899, the town provided the main railroad access for Lincoln County, and the town experienced signif ...

, on the northern part of the

Tularosa Basin The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas, in the Southwestern United States. Geography The Tularosa Basin is located prim ...

between Sierra Blanca to the southeast and the

Oscura Mountains Oscura Mountains, originally known to the Spanish as the ''Sierra Oscura'', are a ridge of mountains, trending north and south, east of the Jornada del Muerto and west of the Tularosa Valley. It is located in Socorro County and Lincoln County, N ...

to the west. The

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

making up the flow came from Little Black Peak, about north-northwest of Carrizozo. It reached about south-southwest along the bottom of

in two active flows. Initial age estimates ranged from 1,000 to 1,500 years ago, but recent cosmogenic dating techniques revealed the eruption date is 5200 ± 700 years ago. At their southern end, the lava flows are about north of the dune fields of

White Sands National Park White Sands National Park is an American national park located in the state of New Mexico and completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. The park covers in the Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a field of white sand dun ...

. The Carrizozo Woman's Club helped protect this state area. The lava flow is composed of pahoēhoē lava that spread through

lava tube A lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. Formation A lava tube is a type of lava ca ...

s. The eruptions are estimated to have lasted about three decades, and the extent of the flow reflects this long eruptive duration rather than a high eruption rate. The Valley of Fires Recreation Area provides access to the Malpaís on its east edge, about west of

Carrizozo Carrizozo is a town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat, with a population of 996 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1899, the town provided the main railroad access for Lincoln County, and the town experienced signif ...

U.S. Route 380 U.S. Route 380 (US 380) is an east–west United States highway. The highway's eastern terminus is in Greenville, Texas at an intersection with Interstate 30, of which the easternmost 3–4 miles are concurrent with US 69 in a loop around t ...

. The highway has several scenic overlooks where it crosses the Malpaís. The entire extent of the flow can be seen from higher elevations to the east on

. The

Trinity (nuclear test) Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto desert abo ...

, first atomic bomb detonation site, is northwest.

Broken Back flow

The Broken Back flow erupted from vents (a north-trending fissure, Broken Back Crater, and an unnamed cinder cone) located about northwest of Little Black Peak. The flow covered an area of about and is partially overlapped by the younger Carrizozo Malpais. This flow is significantly older than the Carrizozo Malpais, with an age estimated as 100,000 years, based on the degree of weathering and erosion. File:Carrizozo.jpg, The location of Carrizozo. File:Carrizozo Lava Flow.jpg, Satellite image of Carrizozo. File:Carrizozo Malpais Overview.jpg, An overview of the lava flows (Little Black Peak in distance). File:Carrizozo Malpais Closeup.jpg, A close-up view of the lava flows, showing pahoēhoē (Hawaiian for "ropey") lava flow structure. File:Carrizozo Malpais Juniper.jpeg, A

western juniper ''Juniperus occidentalis'', known as the western juniper, is a shrub or tree native to the Western United States, growing in mountains at altitudes of and rarely down to . It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because it is a widesp ...

tree grows out of the Carrizozo Malpaís.

Geology

The volcanic field is associated with the

Rio Grande Rift The Rio Grande rift is a north-trending continental rift zone. It separates the Colorado Plateau in the west from the interior of the North American craton on the east. The rift extends from central Colorado in the north to the state of Chihua ...

, a region of the

Earth's crust Earth's crust is Earth's thin outer shell of rock, referring to less than 1% of Earth's radius and volume. It is the top component of the lithosphere, a division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The ...

that is being slowly pulled apart. This produces

faulting In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

that provides paths for

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

to reach the Earth's surface from its

upper mantle The upper mantle of Earth is a very thick layer of rock inside the planet, which begins just beneath the crust (at about under the oceans and about under the continents) and ends at the top of the lower mantle at . Temperatures range from appro ...

. The lavas erupted were mildly

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

in composition, similar to the nearby

Jornada del Muerto The name Jornada del Muerto translates from Spanish as "Single Day's Journey of the Dead Man" or even "Route of the Dead Man, though the modern literal translation is closer to "The Working Day of the Dead". It was the name given by the Spanish ...

, Hillsboro, and Black Mesa () flows. Seismic measurements in the region have detected a possible thermal anomaly associated with the volcanic field.

Carrizozo Malpais

Broken Back flow

Geology

Notable vents

See also

References

External links