Some of My New Mexico Volcano-Related Photos - Part 1

[To be linked to other New Mexico Volcanic posts.]

On this post are some of my photos from east of the Jemez Mountains, of the Bandelier Tuff overlying older Basalts near and at the Rio Grande (from 1978) and a more recent photo taken by friends on vacation.

Here are a couple of them (labeled for educational use):

 Figure 1.

Figure 2.

I regret not having any other volcanic photos in the vicinity of the Rio Grande River.  When I was last on I-25 south, headed from Albuquerque to El Paso, I was in a hurry to reach my destination before nightfall, as El Paso freeways west of downtown were a "clustermuck" due to construction in 2016.

Northward of the Jemez Mountains and the Valles Caldera, here a few photos of three of the Albuquerque Volcanoes in 2015 (Arizona Trip #2) as I was leaving town, westward on I-40.  It wasn't until I checked Google Earth that I realized the extent of the Albuquerque Volcanic Field and what I had missed.  The age estimates for the volcanic field range from 170,000 to 70,000 years ago.

Figure 3.

Sitting atop the fissure-erupted basalt flows (left to right) are JA Volcano, Black Volcano, and Vulcan Volcano. The basal fissure-erupted flows overlie river terrace deposits.

After returning to I-40 West, a few miles later I again left the Interstate at Rio Puerco (Exit 140) to photograph a dissected (by erosion) volcano south of the freeway, as well as a basalt bluff and exposed terrace deposits near the Rio Puerco (seen below).

Figure 4.

I have yet to discover a name for this dissected volcano (above), just east of the Rio Puerco and south of I-40.

Figure 5.

Known variously as "Cubero Volcano" or "Flower Mountain"(?) (above), this apparently-dissected volcano sits atop presumed Cretaceous sedimentary rocks at Exit 104.  This is a view of the southern escarpment facing the Rio San Jose Valley.

In the McCartys-Grants Holocene basalt flows, on the Northside of I-40, the best exposures are between MM 96 and approximately MM 89 (near McBride Road). 

Figure 6.  

In the foreground (above), is a wetland hosted within an apparently collapsed lava tube. 

Figure 7.  Vesicular Basalt texture. 

 Figure 8.

Between the basalt flows in the foreground and the flows capping the mesa in the background, are Mesozoic sedimentary rocks.

Figure 9. 

Figure 10.

The McCartys flows are at the extreme northern end of the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field.  The estimated ages range between 3,200 and 1,250 years old.

Figure 11.  "Tachylite"

Tachylite "texture" on the surface of a McCartys flow. Because of the lack of internal structure (as with obsidian), the glossy surface readily decays upon long-term exposure to water.  It is a sign of a very young lava flow.

South of the I-40 intersection with East Santa Fe Ave. (Exit 85) is the El Malpais National Monument, certainly a worthy photo stop.  It would be a pleasure to spend 2 or 3 days exploring the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field as well as the Mt. Taylor Volcanic Field.  Several days of "homework" beforehand would yield more satisfying results.

[Some of My New Mexico Volcano-Related Photos - Part 2 will include the Navajo Volcanic Field.]

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