Sierra Grande is an extinct

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

in northeastern

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 ...

that rises 2,200 feet above the surrounding plain. It is part of the inactive Raton-Clayton volcanic field.

Geography

On a clear day, Sierra Grande can be seen from as far away as

Texline, Texas Texline is a town in northwestern Dallam County, Texas, United States. The population was 507 at the 2010 Census. The town is named for its location near the New Mexico-Texas state line. The town sits on U.S. Highway 87, which continues southea ...

, as well as from the summits of the

Culebra Range The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountains ...

in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The eastern slopes of Sierra Grande are the easternmost point in the United States with an elevation of more than above sea level, and the peak is the highest in the United States east of 104 degrees west.

U.S. Highway 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

U.S. Highway 87 U.S. Highway 87 (US 87) is a north–south United States highway (though it is signed east–west in New Mexico) that runs for 1,998 miles (3,215 km) from northern Montana to southern Texas, making it the longest north-south roa ...

and the

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burli ...

run along the north and east of the volcano. The town of

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

is just to the northeast. To the northwest is

Capulin Volcano National Monument Capulin Volcano National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in northeastern New Mexico that protects and interprets an extinct cinder cone volcano and is part of the Raton-Clayton volcanic field. A paved road spirals gradually around ...

featuring Capulin Volcano, an extinct

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 ...

also in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field. Numerous watercourses form on and around the flanks of the volcano, including Pinabete Creek (which feeds into the

Dry Cimarron River The Cimarron River ( ; iow, Ñíxgu, script=Latn or , meaning 'Salt River'; chy, Hotóao'hé'e) extends across New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. The headwaters flow from Johnson Mesa west of Folsom in northeastern New Mexico. Mu ...

to the northeast), North Branch Corrumpa Creek and South Branch Corrumpa Creek (which join and become

Corrumpa Creek Corrumpa Creek is a watercourse in New Mexico and Oklahoma. It originates at Weatherly Lake, located 9 miles east-southeast of Des Moines in Union County, New Mexico. It results from the South Branch Corrumpa Creek, which originates south-southw ...

to the east at Weatherly Lake), Seneca Creek, and Carrizo Creek.

Geology

Sierra Grande is the largest volcano in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field. Its flows range in age from 3.8 to 2.6 million years. The volcano is largely composed of two-

pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe II) ...

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

, a rock type found almost nowhere else in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field.

References

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External links

{{Authority control Volcanoes of New Mexico Extinct volcanoes of the United States Shield volcanoes of the United States Landforms of Union County, New Mexico Mountains of New Mexico Mountains of Union County, New Mexico Volcanoes of the United States