Taos Plateau volcanic field

Rio Grande Gorge

The Taos Plateau volcanic field is an area of extensive volcanism in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is the second largest volcanic field in the Rio Grande Rift, spreading over 7,000 km2. The age of most of the vents and associated lava flows in the field is estimated to be between 1.8 and 4 million years, with a few 22-million-year-old vents. The composition of the lavas varies from tholeiitic basalt to rhyolite. Landforms include sheet flows, cinder cones, and shield volcanoes. The sheet flows are well-exposed in the Rio Grande Gorge carved by the Rio Grande. The highest point of the field is San Antonio Mountain at 10,908 feet (3,325 m).

Notable vents

Name Elevation Location Last eruption
metersfeetCoordinates
San Antonio Mountain 3,325 10,908 36°51′34″N 106°01′7.3″W / 36.85944°N 106.018694°W / 36.85944; -106.018694 -
Ute Mountain 3,076 10,093 - -
Cerro de la Olla 2,887 9,475 - -
Cerro del Aire 2,750 9,045 - -
Cerro Chiflo 2,736 8,978 - -
Guadalupe Mountain North 2,688 8,820 - -
Guadalupe Mountain South 2,658 8,722 - -
Cerro Montoso 2,638 8,655 - -

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taos Plateau Volcanic Field.

Coordinates: 36°50′N 105°50′W / 36.83°N 105.83°W / 36.83; -105.83

Neogene Period
Miocene Pliocene
Aquitanian | Burdigalian
Langhian | Serravallian
Tortonian | Messinian
Zanclean | Piacenzian
Quaternary
Pleistocene Holocene
Early | Middle | Late Preboreal | Boreal |
Atlantic | Subboreal | Subatlantic


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