Dotsero

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Dotsero
Dotsero LeeSiebert 081066.jpg
Dotsero maar in central Colorado near the junction of the Colorado and Eagle rivers.
Highest point
Elevation6,783 ft (2,067 m)[1]
Coordinates39°39′38″N 107°2′6″W / 39.66056°N 107.03500°W / 39.66056; -107.03500[1]
Geography
Topo mapUSGS Dotsero
Geology
Age of rockHolocene[1]
Mountain typemaar[1]
Last eruption2200 BCE ± 300 years[1]
Map pointer
Map of Eagle County
Dotsero near the confluence of the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County.

Dotsero is a 700-meter (2,300 ft) wide by 400-meter (1,300 ft) deep maar volcano located in Dotsero, Colorado near the junction of the Colorado River and the Eagle River. It is classified as a scoria cone with evaporitic rock, basaltic tephra, and oxidized sandstone. Erupting approximately 4200 years ago, it is the youngest volcano in Colorado.

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.[2] 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.[3]

Interstate 70 cuts across the lava flow.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Dotsero". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  2. ^ Wood, Charles A.; Jurgen Kienle (1990). Volcanos of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ Donna Gray (11 May 2005). "Dotsero volcano may erupt". Glenwood Spring Post Independent. Archived from the original on 2010-09-06.

External links[]

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