Seems hard to rule out future activity since only intermittent conduits exist could we not just be in a lull interval before the strain within the larger basin and range province shifts again to become more conducive to volcanism?
@@Dragrath1 at the end of the video, he states that the magma is no longer present in the magma chamber. So in turn, there's nothing there to keep any conduits open for fresh magma to intrude into the magma chamber again. Judging by that, I would venture to guess that it would be extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible for the chamber to be recharged with magma and pose a threat to the surrounding landscape anymore. Notice how I say "extremely difficult, if not *nearly* impossible". I am certainly not an expert, nowhere near to being one. So I can't rule out the possibility that it could maybe one day do just that. But, judging by how it was erupting every 4,400 years or so and then stopped and hasn't erupted in over 300,000 years and there being no sign of any activity indicating that there is anything going on underground, I'd agree with his assessment. But, even though I say that, take what I say with a grain of salt as he is the expert and I am just using deductive reasoning and I am no expert in geologic processes. Quite the contrary, I am in fact a chemist.
@@BackYardScience2000 Yes there is no magma chamber now but a number of monogenic volcanic events don't have a "magma chamber" i.e. long term reservoirs of magma in the crust rather the material comes right from the mantle itself to the surface particularly as the crust is thin. If you force a new weak point via sheering Usually this requires weak points in the crust but specifically most of western North America specifically including the basin and range are being driven by the underlying clockwise rotation sheering the crust. Now in terms of how and why this clockwise rotation is and has been ongoing for the last 50 or so million years is still a bit controversial in how to interpret geologic processes but it is generally recognized to be related to the relative motion of the Pacific compared to North America but arguably based on the newly emerging paradigm of more precise dating of magmas and more extensive use of seismic tomography data it would appear to have to do with the silicate glacier analog that we call North America having crossed over onto the Pacific convective cell and or plate via the upwelling site we call the East Pacific Rise. In this picture the crust has become mostly oceanic in characteristic as dense mafic intrusions and high sustained extension mean the crust has become both dense and thin (as the basement crust of Laurentia has been melted and or fallen away into the deeper mantle and really is only supported by the hot asthenosphere. Assuming North America continues to the south west it may get forced apart again at which point more volcanism could potentially result. My comment was mostly focused in terms of emphasizing the role of timescales here the rifting is occurring over millions of years and we are only looking at a short snapshot of time.
There are Problems with your assessment! 1) the RIM area. Which is a subduction zone, going from Williams,AZ, past Flagstaff,Sedona, through Show Low, Springerville on over to Reserve N. Mex.. As such, does not need a magma chamber. All depends on geologic shift 2) multiple Hot Springs run in many areas . These springs are drying up and getting to hot to swim in. 3) vents are appearing. With toxic gases. 4) you also missed the Massive spire of a volcanic core in alpine and the multiple Lava Lakes that are in the springerville volcanic area. Good that you noted it though!
The highest peak in Arizona, Mt Humphries is a 12, 633 Ft dormant stratovolcano near Flagstaff. The entire San Francisco range, in which the mountain resides, is volcanic.
Cool, I drove home in January Show Low to Springerville, little did I know about this volcanic field. This is on my path to southern AZ so more to look for this winter. Thanks for the great episodes!!!
Thanks for this. As long as you are doing Arizona, consider a video on the Superstition Mountains, just east of Phoenix. This is a large caldera complex, though I think is much older than Springerville. Beautiful area for hiking and camping. And has some unique volcanic features such as Weaver's Needle.
I've driven through this area many times, and this video answered all the questions I've wondered about on those trips! It would be great to know the geology of Cumbres de Monterrey National Park in Mexico.
My family and I drove thru that area last week. We saw all the basalt(?) rock, and commented that there must have been volcanoes here in the past. Thanks for the fascinating geologic history of Arizona.
Still waiting for a video on the Monogenetic Potrillo Volcanic Field and Aden Volcanic Field in New Mexico near Las Cruces. The southern part is extinct, but to the North at Aden Crater, a small shield volcano, they estimate it last erupted 15,000 to 16,000 years ago. At the Southern end of the field is the famous to rockhound fans, Kilbourne Hole, a huge maar over a square mile in area. It is famous for having Olivine deposits with some being gem quality Peridot, but you have to work to find the high quality stuff. Be aware of the border situation. Let the Border Patrol pick up hitchhikers, you can call 911 out there. Lot of off-roading at the north end, an official BLM OHV designated area up near Interstate 10.
Flagstaff, you can find imprints from cobs of maize the people threw on molten lava hoping to placate the 'demons' trying to escape from their prison under the earth. Show Low is on the edge of an Apache rez. They don't seem to mind, but then, they would also go to Animas Valley (Valley of tormented Souls) and use the steam vents to cook their prey. Spanish thought the valley was an outlet to Hell. But then, they also believed Apaches were demons :)
@@marschlosser4540 Reminds me of the people tossing all sorts of food onto lava flows during gentle eruptions (Fagradalsfjall and Leilani Estates eruption seem to have had quite a bit of this lol). I'd imagine the effect of corn popping on a lava flow would be rather impressive, I can see how that could turn to ritual. Are there any mythologies preserving the events of the eruption? Volcanic eruptions in Australia that occurred tens of thousands of years ago are still imprinted on aboriginal mythologies, as is the eruption of Mt Mazama (Crater Lake) with the local Native Americans.
@@StuffandThings_ Yes, it's Pueblo country. They have stories about it. I think they said it was several hundred years before they returned to the area. Volcanoes are known for the quality and quantity of food that can be raised there. Mineral rich soil, plenty of CO2, ad basalt absorbs moisture, and releases it into the soil.
There are at least two more in the state that I know of. Though the one in the south east corner I do not know the name of. There is also the Sentinel Volcanic Field. Unless I was hallucinating there is a volcanic field around mormon lake as well.
He's done Valles Caldera, Carrizozo and the El Malpais that erupted 3000 years ago and the huge Socorro Magma body that is 1100 square miles in area, but not very thick and 12 km deep. Next hopefully will be the Potrillo Volcanic field down south of Las Cruces that last erupted 16,000 years ago.
We have an extinct volcano in Prescott Valley, AZ. Glassford Hill. The East, Northeast side has either been blown out or had a land slide. There is a very large and prominent lava dome also.
As I drive to work in the morning, and look a Glassford Hill, my layman eye has often thought the same thing. I have wondered if it is a dome or just the inner neck of the original lava tube becoming exposed by the erosion of the softer material surrounding the neck?
To be considered active, a volcano's last eruption has to have been 10,000 years ago or less. This volcano last erupted 308,000 years ago which is well before then, so no. It is not considered active. The volcano is extinct.
In a word, yes. I have a view of Mt. Rainier from my window, here in Seattle. It is an active volcano, even though it's latest erruption was during the late 19th century. Mt. St. Helens wasn't thought to be an active volcano until it erupted in 1980. By the way, Mt. Rainier also has several glaciers and around 36 acres of permanent ice on its surface.
I live in Sulfur Springs Valley (Cochise County) at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains. On the other side of the valley is Turkey Creek Caldera, which is just south of Chiricahua National Monument. According to the USGS, the eruption of 120 cubic miles of rock left a 12-mile crater.
Love this video! I love this particular area of the country and those lava flows always fascinated me. Especially the ones along I 40 there outside of Flagstaff. You can actually see it right on the road
I keep thinking I will get less interested in this videos at some point, but no, every day I think I should learn more. So, can anyone recommend some great books about volcanoes and how they work?
Again I owned a home near these features for ten years and traveled there for twenty years. I mapped the cinder cones once trying to identify Pueblo Ancient solar based mapping systems. There is an extremely pattern to the vents such that they take on a man made appearance. I had many beautiful days and nights there.
Wow I didn't realize they had so many volcanos. So u think u can do a video on idahos volcanos. Are they still active due to all the hot springs they have?
Oooh please do this for the Lunar Crater volcanic field in Nevada?! Geologically interesting but it also has ties to NASA with lander, rover & astronaut training. Thanks!
Could you cover Yamsay Mountain in Oregon? Its like Newberry yet much more obscure (and without the caldera). Using the terrain view on google maps you can even see that the rows of cinder cones on this volcano form a very similar SSE-NNW trend, presumably due to faulting. Eastern Oregon has some very enigmatic volcanoes...
I've seen this old subduction zone that weakens the crust, the cause of the volcanoes, in shots made across Eastern Colorado and watched the drillers move into the area. Very interesting.
Basalt lava domes are unheard of for me! THis volcanic field is very interesting! Now, A question for you: What do you think is the largest cinder cone in height, volume and area on the planet?
Gotta love the Jemez lineament, definitely one of my favorite features of North American geology. The entire area from the Rockies to the Cascades and Sierra Nevada is just overflowing with unique and weird geologic phenomena. Such a shame that so many of these volcanoes tend to be very, very dormant (or extinct), it would be amazing to watch pretty much any of them erupting (although I'd have a personal preference for Uinkaret volcanic field for obvious reasons).
That the feild is extinct is a blessing for any residents in the area . Where I live are several volcanic feilds , one has a large population over it , while it's compion , also has another large population as what is now one city - it used to be 5 . The craters of these two city wide + craters is over 5a. Miles across & probably closer to 100 , as the cliffs of the eastern wall , cannot be seen from on top of the western wall - the tallest part is over 3,500 feet - the veiws used to be great , as a 36 exposure , 35ml SLR film , could be used at that location , for a full 360° Veiw , or image .
No there might be some ancient extinct volcanoes but the last eruption that occurred in the Appalachian mountains was in Virginia at molehill but that was millions and millions and millions of years ago.
Decades ago I flew over this area and saw these "weird, out of place, volcanic looking features" and pointed it out to the person I was traveling with . " you and your volcanos. you see them everywhere you look" she said. After seeing this, I feel somewhat vindicated. Where is that same hippie chick, dead head groupie now I wonder ?
Funny how ordinary people don't associate Arizona with volcanoes. I mean, the highest peak in the state (Humphreys) is literally a volcano. Also, people get surprised about volcanoes in the Grand Canyon.
I don't understand how magma can be under pressure in the earth. If the earth is mostly made out of chunks of solid rock that are gravitationally self attracted, shouldn't the rock be self supporting as it is arranged in a sphere and thus the downward load is transferred laterally and shared among all the earth as a lateral stress, like how an architectural arch works?
Is Winnemucca Mountain an ancient volcano. It is located in Winnemucca, Nevada. There is evidence of a lava flow. However I wonder if it came from the mountain.