The Psychotic Volcano of Colton Crater Arizona

in photography •  7 years ago 

As ancient volcanoes go, this one must have had as one  geologist called it “one psychotic volcanic eruption!” 

If you really like detailed volcano stories, then you are in luck!

Between 200,000  and 800,000 years ago a column of rising magma split the earth open and  the volcano that would become Colton Crater above in this image, began  its eruption.  Initially it was your typical run of the mill cinder cone  type volcano, chugging away and spewing out a sizeable mound of cinders  and hot lava splatter.  

Over a relatively short (in geologic time) period of a few years  around 800 feet of basal-tephra accumulated in multiple successive  layers still visible along the crater walls, primarily on the interior  slope on the south side of the crater. 

The full life cycle most likely  only lasted something less than 10 years, based upon a comparison to a  very similar crater named Paricutin, which is a larger cinder cone  located in Mexico, which was a recent occurrence that was well  documented by volcanologists. Beginning in 1943 and ending in 1952 a  1,400 foot cinder cone was formed and provided a working case study for  volcanologists. It provided a wealth of information.  

As Colton (the volcano above) grew and began to fill with cinders, a  branch separated from the main vent and formed two parasitic cones, both  located on the south side of the main cinder cone, one of them actually  growing slightly taller than its parent volcano. 

This caused one of  more lava flows to be forced underneath the north and northeast cinder  walls. Lighter and more buoyant cinders were then elevated and floated  away on top of the lava flow in a process known as “rafting”. At least  one if not two low spots on the crater rim were created in this way.   

Rafting is a common occurrence in many cinder cones but with Colton  Crater it occurred in such an unusual manner that at least 200 feet of  one of the tephra layers (Tephra is fragmental material produced by a  volcanic eruption) in the cinder wall above the lava flow was  drastically undermined, breaking off from its horizontal plane and  rotating 90° until it stood vertical!   

The visible monolith that remains today is often mistaken for a dyke,  a vertical conduit that feeds magma to a volcano.  The lava, carrying  its rafted cinders, flowed a distance of four miles to the north. SP  Mountain, (which I have posted about before on Steemit) is actually a  much younger volcano, and is sitting on a thick layer of lava that came  out of Colton Crater. 

The flow is not well defined and difficult to see  because over time it was covered by a thick layer of soil, then grass  and cedar trees have grown on it, much like you see in the image above,  with trees growing around the rim.  So, we have around 800 feet of cinder cone, two separate parasitic  cones growing within it, 4 miles of lava flowing carrying or rafting  cinders and a 200' slab of tephra rim violently rotated 90° to a  vertical position! It is unusual and amazing that this happened at one  volcano we are just getting started! The most cataclysmic event is yet  to come.   

The Biggest Bang Now Happens! 

To have a better understanding of what happened next one needs to  understand the geology beneath Colton Crater. This is located just north  of Flagstaff, Arizona and the entire surrounding area is literally  covered by a veneer of volcanic lava flows.  

However, beneath the lava  is a 350' thick layer of Kaibab Limestone.  This limestone layer is visible at the Grand Canyon as the top layer  of sedimentary rock. Limestone is calcium carbonate rock which is slowly  dissolved by acidic rainfall over a long period of time. Subsequently,  limestone is the most common rock layer that caves, caverns and  sinkholes form in.   

Volcanologists are not clear on exactly how it happened, but somehow  Colton Crater had a significant quantity of water which channeled  through an underground passage in the limestone and suddenly and  explosively poured into the magma chamber causing a phreatomagmatic  (steam/magma) eruption, as the water flashed to steam it expanded 1,700  times.   

The earth heaved in a gigantic explosion that violently blasted the  entire guts of the volcano into the sky. A sizable earthquake radiated  away from the site as its pyroclastic mushroom cloud full of molten  magma pulverized limestone and shattered tephra surged skyward into the  stratosphere.  

The intense blast excavated all the limestone strata  along with any lava above it and the core of the original cinder cone.  This left behind a crater that is hundreds of feet deeper than the  volcano was tall. And what goes up must come down! As the now pulverized  magma and rock debris fell back to earth in a red super-heated rain, it  was still so hot that it formed a layer of welded tuff on the rim of  what was left of the now bare cinder cone.    

Colton Crater had been swept clean and the two parasitic cones along  with the volcanic lava flow and surrounding area were buried under a  thick blanket of debris including ash, dust and rock. In the last  violent gasp from the decapitated magma chamber, a new cinder cone began  to build in the bottom of the glutted volcano but within a week or two  it lost pressure and froze where it stands today.  

You can clearly see this in the center of the crater in the image  above. The volcano that became Colton Crater was now finished.  Colton  Crater is 4,100 feet across and 1,100 feet deep from the rims highest  point. The bottom of the crater bowl is 250 feet below the elevation of  the surrounding desert floor.  

I lensed this image during my aerial exploration of the volcanic  fields around Flagstaff. I find it interesting when looking at this to  realize that this volcanic crater is three times the width and depth of  the pit left behind by the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated on earth.    

From "Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition" my    personal project of exploration in the North American Wilderness.  

 I am on a mission to raise awareness of our Iconic Natural  Heritage Treasures of North America. If you wish to help spread the word  and share these images of our amazing planet, please consider upvoting and resteemit !  

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Awesome photography man!

Thank you! glad you like it and I appreciate the support

Your every photography is very exceptional.Great Photography.

Thank you so much for such kind words. I appreciate the support

Great Photography.

Thanks so much!

That picture of the volcano - yikes. It looks and feels scary. Like I could get lost in it forever. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed this!

amazing article

Thanks!

Volcanoes are already violently noisy, and now you tell me about a psychotic one? Haha! Nice article, @skypilot! Upvoted.

Thanks! I got that term from reading a thesis a volcanologist wrote about this volcano and I thought it was a very cool way to describe it!

I really like the composition here. I like how you centralized the volcano with a tilt shift blur effect, forcing the eyes to be led to the center of the volcano and its curvy movement and form. Adding the story made the photo much more meaningful and rich in interest, and I really enjoyed the manipulation of colors to make it look more earthy and warm, although the volcano may not be active. Photographers can learn something from this.

Ahhhh LOVE IT! thanks so much for this... to me it is about how the image transmits the overall message. I really appreciate your insight! Very cool and really awesome that you would say this. Yehaw for real!

  ·  7 years ago Reveal Comment

This looks absolutely stunning. Wish I could visit some volcanos too one day.

Thanks so much! And you can!! They are everywhere out west in the USA especially. I am continuously amazed by the ancient volcanic craters and lava flows I find everywhere!

Maan, it truly sounds amazing.

Guess I should start planning a USA trip, huh :)

Sweet. Love it.

Thanks