The Most Explosive Volcano of the Southwest; Arizona's Sunset Crater
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- Approximately 938 years ago, a several hundred square mile patch of land just north of Flagstaff in Arizona was devastated by a powerful volcanic eruption. This eruption originated from the Sunset Crater volcano of the San Francisco volcanic field, going on to coat a wide swath of land in more than a foot thick of ash. While cinder cones are traditionally only mildly explosive and produced strombolian eruptions, Sunset Crater was highly explosive and produced sub-plinian eruptions which even sent a plume of ash to a height of 66,000 feet. This video discusses this cinder cone, and what factors made Sunset Crater the most explosive cinder cone currently known to geology.
Thumbnail Photo Credit: McGimsey, R. G., Alaska Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey, avo.alaska.edu/images/image.p.... This image was then overlaid with text in addition to GeologyHub made graphics (the GeologyHub logo and the image border overlay).
A clarification: This video's title "the most explosive volcano of the southwest" indicates the most explosive in terms of bulk tephra ejected in combination with volcanic explosivity index rating that occurred strictly at some point during the Holocene epoch (from 9,650 BCE until the present with this epoch still being ongoing).
Note: Luckily, Sunset Crater will never erupt again. However, the broader San Francisco volcanic field which it is a part of will erupt again at some point in the future. However, such a future eruption would be most likely to be 2 orders of magnitude less explosive and destructive at Sunset Crater's 1085 CE eruption.
Note #2: This video's thumbnail image portrays what Sunset Crater's 1085 CE eruption might have looked like during its sub-plinian eruptive phase.
A special thanks to the Extreme Pursuit UA-cam channel for granting me permission to use clips of his footage!
Video Sources from the Extreme Pursuit UA-cam channel:
[1] • Lava flows of Manaro V...
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This video is protected under "fair use". If you see an image and/or video which is your own in this video, and/or think my discussion of a scientific paper (and/or discussion/mentioning of the data/information within a scientific paper) does not fall under the fair use doctrine, and wish for it to be censored or removed, contact me by email at geologyhubyt@gmail.com and I will make the necessary changes.
Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) and/or in this video's thumbnail image:
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Sources/Citations:
[1] U.S. Geological Survey
[2] Ort, Michael & Elson, M. & Anderson, Kirk & Duffield, W. & Samples, Terry. (2008). Variable effects of cinder-cone eruptions on prehistoric agrarian human populations in the American southwest. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 176. 363-376. 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.01.031.
[3] Source of Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) methodology and criteria: Newhall, C. G., and Self, S. (1982), The volcanic explosivity index (VEI) an estimate of explosive magnitude for historical volcanism, J. Geophys. Res., 87(C2), 1231-1238, doi:10.1029/JC087iC02p01231. Accessed / Read by / geologyhub on Oct 5th, 2022
[4] VEIs, dates/years, composition, tephra layer name, DRE estimates, and bulk tephra volume estimates for volcanic eruptions shown in this video which were assigned a VEI 4 or larger without an asterisk after their name are sourced from the LaMEVE database (British Geological Survey © UKRI), www2.bgs.ac.uk/vogripa/view/c..., Used with Permission
0:00 A Devastated Landscape
1:29 Cinder Cones
2:56 Sunset Crater
3:27 Lava Composition
4:10 Gas Content
4:48 Conclusion
![Lp. Последняя Реальность #107 РОДНОЙ ДОМ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IK3QKzKUlHM/mqdefault.jpg)
Sunset Crater's 1085 CE eruption was the most explosive southwest United States eruption during the Holocene epoch. Yet, if we go further back and look at the Pleistocene epoch, one of Valles Caldera's eruptions (VEI 7) in New Mexico takes the title, being more than 1,000 times as explosive as Sunset Crater's 1085 CE eruption.
Will tjis affect Danis land?
الله ينفجر بركان الحجر الأصفر ويفجرنا جميعاً الحمد الله لننجو من الأرض.الله يجلب يوم القيامة فتبو على الله
@@usabreakingnewscentral1048 هناك وسيط واحد بين الله والإنسان ، الرجل يسوع المسيح. اطلبه وستجد الخلاص - إنه عطية الله المجانية.
@@usabreakingnewscentral1048Stop talking bollocks .
Superb video as always. This eruption was essentially an Etna SEC style paroxysm that kept going on and on and on..
Same absurd level of gas in basaltic magma. Only this time, it didn't only last for 3h...
If we would have an idea to what it is like, you'll have to look at Paricutin 1943 or Lonquimay 1989.
Etnas 1669 eruption might have been like that too.
It's interesting that after watching this channel daily for over a year, I feel it's not only beginning to stick, but I'm actually starting to gain a real understanding and appreciation for the science. Just 10 minutes of lesson a day is easily the equivalent any 'Intro to Subject 101' class I have ever taken.
My hat is off and I bow deeply. Thank you Professor.
This is what I love about this channel... I had no idea there were so many interesting volcanos in the US. Makes me want to go on a volcano tour. Hmm....
Very true. His videos have made me appreciate the volcanoes in the western United States more.
Sunset Crater is one the the true hidden gems in the US. I can't recommend visiting it enough.
And quite a few of them arent far from and some even in plain view of major interstates. (Former OTR truck driver)
@@melgillham462 I had a friend who had routes out west. The stories he told!
@@scillyautomatic some seriously crazy stuff happens. As example. Idaho is no stranger to tornadoes and high winds. I left Twin falls as a serious storm was moving in from the west and not long after it started raining pebbles. And it continued for miles on end. I couldnt outrun it being speed governed to 78 mph. I later learned that storm had high straight winds and a tornado that was on our tail all that way. From Twin falls to the Snake river gorge west of pocatello. I literally had to have my truck repainted and the windshields replaced. It looked sandblasted. Have an awesome day David.🤝❤🇺🇸
Heres an interesting point you might dive into in a future episide..
I live in south east oklahoma. But all over the state, those who have drilled wells often end up with what is commonly referred to as "gyp" water, or a sulphurous taste and even an odor. Not all wells have it. Ive heard various explanations for it from a charcoal layer to gaseous emissions to rock layer contents to mineral infiltration. It seems a varied topic to cover. 🤝👍
Would love to hear more about why and how regarding these cones in Arizona and New Mexico. Love your stuff. Keep it up!
I would love to know what created the San Dia Mountains in Albuquerque, NM.
Those like most of the mountains out west in what is today the Basin and Range that formed after the 50 Ma switch over from compression to extension they are horst mountains which are a kind of block fault terrain formed when crust is extended allowing some sections to fall down under gravity simultaneously pushing up adjacent sections due to the displacement of the underlying asthenosphere.
Basically since North America began Subducting the East Pacific Rise around 50 million years ago the old compressive Laramide mountains, which based on Nick Zentner's recent A to Z livestream appear to have been collisional mountains formed as North America collided with a series of major mature volcanic archipelagos i.e. Indonesia.
These former mountains have been getting pulled apart slowly ever since though at varying rates over time and so most of the Grabens have been filled in by thick layers of sediment eroded off their counterpart horsts.
This activity today is most intense in and around the Colorado plateau and the current rocky mountains and seems to be related to the underlying hot underdensity in not just the fluid asthenosphere but the deeper hot mantle solidified by the high pressures.
Notably as pointed out by Robert S. Hildebrand this zone appears to be a bigger feature which in particular connects directly to Yellowstone(which appears to lie on the boundary and serves as a Junction not dissimilar to a typical oceanic triple Junction where only two branches are active) to the North and the Rio Grande rift valley complex to the South. the discontinuity linking up eventually to the west to both the East Pacific Rise and Juan de Fuca Ridge after diving into New Mexico and Arizona or Idaho south eastern Oregon and Northern California respectively.
Likely relevant in this story is that the colder mantle associated with the root of North America seems to be stuck largely to the North and East of this divide and includes the relatively "cold high density slabs at least one of which directly connects to the Juan de Fuca slab subducting into the Cascadia trench.
Given that Slab Pull appears to be the primary driver of plate motion The extension is probably the consequence of the Slab pull from Cascadia and the Trans Mexican volcanic belt respectively continuing to try an pull the continent to the southwest. However the unusual discontinuity associated with the East Pacific Rise seems to have stopped the root of the continent from crossing over so its more or less the upper layers of the continent getting stretched out as some kind of scaled up thrust sheet where the asthenosphere acts as the associated weak layer. Its kind of like the NA craton got caught on a kink in the EPR where the formerly oceanic Pacific counterpart to Iceland Siletzia was once located. If this model is correct millions of years of mounting strain has subsequently led to a section of the NA craton known as the Colorado plateau getting torqued off the continent due to the difference in motion between the EPR and NA respectively.
Your mountains are likely a small piece of that story a chunk of NA being stretched out onto the Pacific which has been pushed up by the sinking of its neighbor chunks.
Very interesting volcano. So limestone is a key factor in the extra punch that these sub plinian basalt eruptions....
That is cool to know now. Another amazing update on a groundbreaking new volcanic mechanisms and very important news for residents that live near San Francisco volcanic field. That whole area is incredible and i hope more important studies continue there. Who knows, maybe Arz or amazingly, Utah will become the next state in lower 48 states to see an eruption.... not likely but still interesting to imagine. Thanks
That's exactly what explains why Vesuvius can be so explosive at least for that 1631-1944 eruptive cycle.
The magma it produces is tephrite, which can be thought as extremely alkaline basaltic andesite. Not that viscous per se, and indeed Vesuvius éruptions often have produced long reaching lava flows.
But it's magma chamber sits smack into a large layer of dolomitic rock which is calcium and magnesium carbonate. To complicate matters even more, that layer is riddled with faults through which groundwater can infiltrate when magmatic pressure goes down...
That's why you get those paroxysmal phases of 4km+ lava fountains.
Once the gas pressure is exhausted, water starts pouring in, flashes to steam and repressurizes the system, and the volcano enters the really dangerous phase, which is constant phreatomagmatic to Vulcanian activity, heavy ash production and pyroclastic flows.
This grows weaker and weaker until the eruption stops.
@@pierreetienneschneider6731 Thanks. I think you know this, but the 1631 eruption significantly truncated Vesuvius' cone.
I am always intrigued with your content. Very informative and entertaining. Thank you.
Sunset Crater shows that multiple factors determine the explosivity of a volcanic eruption, not just viscosity.
Once again, I have noticed that you have removed Toba's VEI 9 eruption estimate, probably due to the recently published paper that suggested that it was comprised of multiple eruptions. I have heard thatthis may apply to many supereruptions as well!
It's clear that the rock a batch of magma has to pass through on its way to the surface can have a significant effect on the magma composition and therefore type and style of eruption...and may be overlooked. I thought perhaps the violence of the eruption might be down to an abundance of local groundwater. It didn't occur to me that the heat from the magma passing through it would cause the limestome to decompose and release CO2. Do volcanologists regularly take especial note of the 'country rock' around volcanoes and volcanic fields?
Beautiful presentation!
I love volcanoes and your channel is so interesting. I’m learning so much.
Would still like to see a video to understand black cinder vs red cinders and even brown cinders. I manage a cinder mine in Flagstaff and would love to help.
Geology Hub Rocks❣️👍
If I'm not wrong, Paricutin also produced pyroclastic flows in the most explosive part of its eruption.
Yeah when I looked up that volcanic fields activity the paper I found noted it produced "violent strombolian"(more explosive and voluminous than typical strombolian eruptions) to sub Plinian activity near the peak of its eruptive phase. It wasn't unique in its high explosiveness either the previous eruption from the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic field El Jorullo was also explosive reaching a VEI of 4.
Though the geologic setting of these volcanic fields is different I can't help but notice one similarity in that both the San Francisco volcanic field and the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic field had produced a stratovolcano vent during the Pleistocene before activity switched back to monogenic vents. I wonder if there is any connection in this regard?
Thanks.
Your channel is great. I traveled through Montana twice in 3 years and am fascinated by West Butte, Gold Butte and Mt Brown. How did these big lumps form on the flat western Plateau of Montana?
I almost hate to say it, but it hit me that this is the volcanic equivalent of a massive shart. (:
Do a series on ‘most surprising eruptions’ - thinking about Pinatubo and (maybe) MSH - where a mountain had been quiet for hundreds of years then suddenly woke up…
Could you do a detailed video about Iwo Jima? Is it expected to have a large eruption? Can you determine when the eruption might happen?
Great post. I did not know of this cinder cone region. I wonder if it's exclusive or are there other similar regions around the world. Regardless, I've seen all the other volcano-themed channels and GH stands head and shoulders above them, no disrespect intended to those others, just stating my opinion.
I was there not to long ago. It was very impressive
Spent time as an aerial firefighter back in the 90's. Fought fires inthe Sunset crater and Valles Caldera.
When a volcano erupts over an extended period of time, like Kilaeua, how is it measured on the VEI?
Can you address how the presence of a mile or two of glacier ice from last ice age interacted with eruptions in North America ? Particularly the eruptions that occurred near the last glacial maximum about 100,000 years ago. Do you think it's likely that volcanic activity may have ended the last ice age roughly 15,000 years ago?
Why did Humphrey's peak/the San Francisco Volcano just west of Sunset Crater form such a towering edifice when the majority of the field dating back millions of years is just monogenetic cinder cones and a few lava domes? What was so special about that one spot that caused so many repeat eruptions necessary to build a stratovolcano?
How does these gases form underneath?
How far away is this from where you live? Have you been there?
Why are the volcanoes in Alaska more active compared to the ones in the lower forty eight?
Could Sunset erupt again or is it extist
Cinder cone volcanoes rarely erupt again though the lava can be produced again through a new vent nearby. I have heard that the Fagradalsfyall eruptions in iceland of the last three years are an example of this.
@@michaeldeierhoi4096 thanks
We have the same type of volcanoes in France, called "La Chaîne des Puys", the Puy Chain in English
Switzerland
I don't like if people assume "south west" is always their own country. South West of what? Please be more specific and open minded.
I like the content though. Thanks for the daily videos and keep doing what you do
"South West of what?", you ask? Well, it's South and West of where you are. Unless you are Southwest of there. Then you need to go Northeast. But that would suck because you can't get to the Southwest by going Northeast. You're so screwed! If you'd been going to Albuquerque from any direction except North, East, or West, you coulda hung a left when you got there. But since you are Northeast of the Southwest, that won't fly, Orville. So, no need to worry about the Southwest. You flat can't make it from where you are.
Could an eruption of that magnitude repeat itself at the San Francisco volcanic field?
He's covered the field before. Take a gander at the back catalog.
No doubt, high concentrations of gas can cause the violent expulsion of solids 😏
What the hell is a boeing
Beoing is a air company of USA NATION
#AmericaNews
It's spelled Boeing!
would be interesting to talk about magma interaction with different minerals as it intrudes through the crust like limestone or petroleum
BREAKING: As the El Garito volcan does sets, the ash plume rises, terrigle today 1rd supervolcano erupts causing USA NATION to panic and evacuation.
Palms 24:6
"Praise the armies of Allah."
#AmericaNews
بتسخًلنص بتسن بمثر لمثتيرل بمبر بمبر ب بمقربنبخ لخقخيت 😮
What?🤨
Horrible today: 1 hour before Yellowstone sets,as the earth rises,rumbling across plains
#AmericaNews
Did you hit your head on something?
@@KSparks80 Switzerland
Can these type of cones produce a VEI 5 or 6 eruption?
A 5 could be reachable, just let it run on longer then it did and reach the 1 km3 barrier.
A 6.... Well it has to hit the 10km3 mark, which would either imply an absurdly long eruption (very improbable) or a fissure eruption with multiple cinder cones going off at high rates.
Eldgjà and Laki in Iceland may fit this.
Switzerland
Huh
@@funnyperson4027الله ينفجر بركان الحجر الأصفر ويفجرنا جميعاً الحمد الله لننجو من الأرض.