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GLOSSARY
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Parallel dikes? Nope. These two formations actually represent a single dike; they are the conglomerates formed on either side of a dike which has eroded away, leaving the parallel conglomerates standing alone. The dike material itself is visible just under the soil between the conglomerates. |
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Spanish Peaks Dike, La Veta, CO.
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Weathering and erosion have worn through parts of this dike forming "fenestras", or windows, through the dike. |
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Spanish Peaks Dike, La Veta, CO.
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Murphy's Law
From the Spanish Peaks area, the class headed south towards
Raton, New Mexico to spend the night. I decided to camp in the
Sugarite Canyon State Park just outside Raton. Sugarite Canyon
is eroded into lava capped mesas and my campground was just
below some beautiful lava flows. I spent an enjoyable evening
photographing the park's scenery and abundant wildlife (there
were more wild turkeys in Sugarite than I had ever seen anywhere
else in New Mexico). I fell asleep to the sound of the wind in
the oaks while watching a thunderstorm light up the southeastern
Colorado skies with lightning. I broke camp early and headed to
Capulin, getting some nice shots of volcanic features in
the Clayton-Raton field, including the Capulin cone and the
Sierra Grande shield volcano.
Unfortunately, I seem to have lost that roll of film. Thinking
back, I probably left it on a pile of rocks at the Capulin
Monument while changing film in my camera. Several more
additions to Mr. Murphy's photo album of lost memories. We pick
up the field trip along the road to the top of Capulin volcano
at the National Monument in northeast New Mexico, just off of
highway 64 about forty miles east of Raton.
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Mud Hill is a tuff ring formed by a large phreatic (steam)
explosion.
Northeast of Mud Hill is another cinder cone called Baby Capulin for its similarity in shape to Capulin itself. Capulin experienced at least four eruptive phases and the lava flows associated with each phase are named, uniquely, Flows One, Two, Three, and Four. The area in front of Mud Hill is part of Lava Flow Four which extends to the right off of the image. Flow Four continues northeast beyond Mud Hill for several miles and can be seen to the left of Baby Capulin. All the lava flows are covered with some amount of soil and sparse vegetation. |
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Looking NE from crater road, Capulin Volcano, NM.
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Beth leads us down into the crater from the parking lot atop the west rim of the cinder cone. Hot ash and cinders were raining down on us as noxious gases seared our eyes and throats and explosions reverberated throughout the crater ... ummm ... that is, it was a beautiful New Mexico day and perfect for a short hike in the morning sunshine. Sigh. |
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View of crater bottom from west rim, Capulin Volcano, NM.
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Beth is explaining the fairly solid construction of the Capulin crater walls. The Capulin volcano erupted lava from vents, called "bocas", near the base of the cinder cone, not from the crater. The vent in the crater erupted gas, ash, and various sized cinders, some of which landed in a partially molten state and welded together forming the solid lava walls of the crater. The type of cinders which were erupted here are visible in the field behind Beth. |
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Crater vent area, Capulin Volcano, NM.
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The Capulin Volcano crater vent. The vent is just above the brown colored cinders at the center of the image. This area is to the right of the preceding image. |
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Crater vent, Capulin Volcano, NM.
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