Red Hill volcanic field, also known as Quemado 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 the vicinity of the ghost town of Red Hill in Catron County

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 ...

. Red Hill is east of the larger Springerville volcanic field and includes

Zuñi Salt Lake Zuñi Salt Lake, also Zuni Salt Lake is a rare high desert lake, and a classic maar, located in Catron County, New Mexico, United States, about south of the Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. Description Zuñi Salt Lake is extremely shallow, with a d ...

. The area is made up of

scoria cone Scoria is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock that was ejected from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains or clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) ''G ...

and silicic dome fields. Over 40 volcanic vents have been identified in the field. These erupted basaltic flows, with no other rock types evident in the field. The largest crater in the field is Quemado crater, which is across and below the surrounding terrain, with a slightly elevated rim. This crater shows evidence of cycles of collapse and explosive eruption. It is surrounded by

olivine basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of ...

flows. The field is part of the

Jemez Lineament The Jemez Lineament is a chain of late Cenozoic volcanic fields, long, reaching from the Springerville and White Mountains volcanic fields in East-Central Arizona to the Raton-Clayton volcanic field in Northeastern New Mexico. The lineament ...

, a zone of young

s stretching from central Arizona to northeastern New Mexico.

Ar-Ar dating Arar or Ar-Ar may refer to: Geography and history * Arar, Saudi Arabia, the capital of Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah (The Northern Border) province ** Arar border crossing, a Saudi-Iraqi border crossing near Arar, Saudi Arabia and Nukhayb, Iraq * Arar, ...

of rock from the Red Hill volcanic field reveals that it was erupted in two pulses, from 7.9-5.2 million years ago ( Mya) and from 2.5 to 0.071 Mya. The older activity was along a narrow zone roughly aligned with the lineament, while later activity was across a broad north-south zone, with the focus of activity tending to move south to north. Future activity is most likely in the northern part of the field.

Notable vents

References

External links

* Landforms of Catron County, New Mexico Volcanic fields of New Mexico Maars of New Mexico Pleistocene volcanism Monogenetic volcanic fields {{NewMexico-geo-stub

Notable vents

See also

References

External links