From the "just happened to be on my mind" files, a revisit to a place about 150 miles NNE from El Paso, TX.
Last month I posted photos and text about the Carrizozo, NM Holocene basalt flows, from my one short visit there in 1985. It is one of the places I wish I had visited more, while I lived in El Paso (1977 - 1991). (At approximately 150 miles away, it was a little further than most solo day trips.) If another travel opportunity arises, a revisit to White Sands National Monument and Carrizozo would make for a really good "geo-photo" day. Perhaps call it "Sand and Fire"?
From that November post:
"It is noteworthy because the flows are estimated to be only 5,000 years old, the second youngest in the state behind the McCartys Basalts on I-40. From its source, Little Black Peak (a little north of U.S. Hwy 380 and west of U.S. Hwy 54), the basalt flows eventually traveled by lava tubes some 50 miles south, making it one of the longest flows on Earth erupted in the last 10,000 years."
[It was nice to see the volcanic scenery and the hikers' curiosity, but these folks were not Geologists. The Malpais Carrizozo (est. 5,000 years old) are not "ancient" in Geological terms. And the snow-shrouded peak is "Sierra Blanca Peak" (not to be confused with the Laccoliths of the same name on I-10 in Hudspeth County, Texas). Critique closed.]
From that November post:
"It is noteworthy because the flows are estimated to be only 5,000 years old, the second youngest in the state behind the McCartys Basalts on I-40. From its source, Little Black Peak (a little north of U.S. Hwy 380 and west of U.S. Hwy 54), the basalt flows eventually traveled by lava tubes some 50 miles south, making it one of the longest flows on Earth erupted in the last 10,000 years."
[It was nice to see the volcanic scenery and the hikers' curiosity, but these folks were not Geologists. The Malpais Carrizozo (est. 5,000 years old) are not "ancient" in Geological terms. And the snow-shrouded peak is "Sierra Blanca Peak" (not to be confused with the Laccoliths of the same name on I-10 in Hudspeth County, Texas). Critique closed.]
[I may post a few more pertinent videos if I find them.]
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