Dotsero

Dotsero

Dotsero maar in central Colorado near the junction of the Colorado and Eagle rivers.
Highest point
Elevation 6,783 ft (2,067 m)[1]
Coordinates 39°39′38″N 107°2′6″W / 39.66056°N 107.03500°W / 39.66056; -107.03500[1]
Geography
Location Dotsero, Colorado,
United States
Topo map USGS Dotsero
Geology
Age of rock Holocene[1]
Mountain type maar[1]
Last eruption 2200 BCE ± 300 years[1]
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 blew, it created small scoria cones that were constructed along a NNE-SSW line on either side of the maar.[1] The eruption date is based upon radiocarbon dating of wood found underneath some of the scoria.[2] 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.[1]

Volcanoes that have erupted in the past 10,000 years are more likely to become active again.[3]

Interstate 70 cuts across the lava flow.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dotsero". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  2. Wood, Charles A.; Jurgen Kienle (1990). Volcanos of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge University Press.
  3. "Donna Gray". Glenwood Spring Post Independent. 11 May 2005. Archived from the original on 2010-09-06.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.