Albuquerque volcanic field


Albuquerque volcanic field is a monogenetic volcanic field in the Albuquerque Basin in New Mexico, United States. The Albuquerque volcanic field is made of monogenetic volcanoes that produced lava flows, cinder cones, and spatter cones. It is located about 11 km west-northwest of the city of Albuquerque, and is contained within the borders of Petroglyph National Monument. The oldest lava flows cover about 60 square km. The cones are aligned and possibly formed above two roughly north-south trending fissures. J cone is the highest feature. Its base is made of cinder, but the crater contains a lava dome that was cut by an explosive eruption. The Albuquerque volcanic field was active from 170,000 to 70,000 years ago.

Notable vents

The largest of the cones in the Albuquerque volcanic field is Vulcan, named after the Roman god of fire. From a vantage point on top of the cone 200 feet above mesa, the alignment of the 5-mile-long chain of vents is particularly noticeable. Vulcan is a spatter cone, formed primarily by fire fountains that were active in the central vent and in smaller vents on flanks of the cone. Fragmented cinder and spatter material and lava flows dip at angles as high as 55° away from the central vent on the eastern and southern side of the Vulcan. The spatter material is thickest on the southeastern side of Vulcan, indicating that it was blown by the wind toward the south and east during the fountaining events. A solidified lava pond that consists of a massive gray basalt with weakly developed columnar jointing occupies the crater of Vulcan. Radial, sinuous lava tubes 8 to 20 inches across and 300 feet long are preserved on the northeast and northwest flanks of Vulcan.
Black Volcano is an inactive volcano near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Black Volcano is directly north of JA volcano. Black Volcano is the second of five volcanoes within the western boundary of Petroglyph National Monument. North of Black Volcano are Vulcan, Bond and Butte volcanoes. The date of its last eruption is unknown, but is believed to have been more than 150,000 years ago.