Vernonia

by | Mar 29, 2018 | Vernonia

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Dotsero near the confluence of the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County.

Dotsero Crater is an elongate, 2,300 ft (700 m) long by 1,300 ft (400 m) wide, maar incised into sedimentary strata of the side of a mountain, called Blowout Hill, and local, irregular, mountainous topography. At an elevation of 7,316 ft (2,230 m), its north rim lies about 330 ft (100 m) higher than its south rim. Dotsero Crater is about 1,300 ft (400 m) deep. It is part of a maar and scoria cone complex in which the associated scoria cones are constructed along a NNE-SSW line on either side of the maar and is perched near the upper edge of steep sided canyons about 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor of the Eagle River. The axis of the maar and scoria cone complex aligns with the axis of a local syncline. Associated with the maar and scoria cones is a lahar and 2 mi (3.2 km)-long lava flow. Dotsero Crater lies northeast of Dotsero, Colorado near the junction of the Colorado River and the Eagle River.[2][3]

Eruption information

This Holocene volcano erupted in the year 2220 ± 300 years B.C. When Dotsero did erupt, it created small scoria cones that were constructed along a NNE-SSW line on either side of the maar.[1] The eruption date is based upon radiocarbon dating of wood found underneath some of the scoria.[4] It is one of the youngest eruptions in the continental U.S. and it produced an explosion crater, a lahar, and a 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) long lava flow.[1]

Dotsero, and all volcanoes that have erupted in the past 10,000 years, are more likely to become active again. The United States Geological Survey considers it a moderate threat to impact air travel if it were to erupt.[5]

Interstate 70 cuts across the lava flow. At the base of the volcano is a mobile home park.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Global Volcanism Program, 2024. Dotsero, Holocene Volcano List Volcanoes of the World database, Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC, last accessed June 30, 2024.
  2. ^ Sweeney, M.R., Grosso, Z.S. and Valentine, G.A., 2018. Topographic controls on a phreatomagmatic maar-diatreme eruption: Field and numerical results from the Holocene Dotsero volcano (Colorado, USA). Bulletin of Volcanology, 80, pp.1-25.
  3. ^ Davey, J., 2021. Dotsero Volcano Field Trip Overview. The Colorado Professional Geologist. 42(4), pp. 14-20.
  4. ^ Wood, Charles A.; Jurgen Kienle (1990). Volcanos of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge University Press.
  5. ^ Donna Gray (11 May 2005). "Dotsero volcano may erupt". Glenwood Spring Post Independent. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17.
  6. ^ Boster, Seth (November 2, 2020). "What makes this Colorado volcano a 'moderate' threat?". The Gazette. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
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