A map of New Mexico displaying an impressive number of volcanic NPS sites.
NPS
New Mexico boasts one of the greatest concentrations of young, uneroded volcanoes in North America. The dry climate helps to slow the process of erosion, giving scientists and visitors the chance to see some outstanding volcanic features. Many of the National Park Service sites in New Mexico are dedicated to preserving these volcanic features and the cultural connections that tie them to humankind. Valles Caldera is one such site.
Valles Caldera National Preserve is located in the Jemez volcanic field at the intersection of two major fault systems, the Rio Grande Rift and the Jemez Lineament. The rift, a stretching and thinning area of the earth’s crust, extends from central Colorado to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, and the lineament, a chain of volcanic fields, spans from east-central Arizona to the Raton-Clayton volcanic field in northeastern New Mexico.
The Jemez volcanic field started forming more than 14 million years ago with a series of eruptions, including at least two especially explosive events. The most recent event (about 1.2 million years ago) formed Valles Caldera. Following the eruption, the surrounding earth collapsed into the volcano's drained magma chamber, forming the broad, 12- to 15-mile-wide circular caldera you can visit today.
Since that time, an additional 15 eruptions have created the volcanic domes, or cerros, within the caldera, including the major central resurgent dome, Redondo Peak, which serves as the type locality (or model) for understanding caldera resurgence worldwide. Since the caldera-forming eruption 1.2 million years ago, these subsequent eruptions have happened every 80,000-100,000 years.
Today, Valles Caldera is dormant, but not extinct, and still displays signs of volcanic life with hot springs and boiling sulphuric acid fumaroles. If the volcano reawakened, there would be clues. Small earthquakes would take place as magma started moving around underground. If magma began rising closer to the surface, it might push the ground up and deform it. Highly sensitive instruments, like the seismometers on San Antonio Mountain and Cerros del Abrigo, could measure even the slightest changes. As time progressed, cracks would open, and some of them might emit ashes and gas. The warm and hot springs across the Jemez Mountains would get hotter, and we might even see the creation of geysers.
Scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory monitor Valles Caldera's seismic activity very closely, and for right now, they claim that it is “remarkably quiet."
The processes that created Valles Caldera, including volcanic eruption, collapse, and resurgence.
Morning e-bike ride to Obsidian Valley. I had forgotten how thrilling it is to ride a bike in the mountains. Nothing compares with the pure joy of coasting through patches of sun and shade, the scents of ponderosas, warm dust, and mountain sage in the air.
What you have to understand is that we’re sitting in the middle of a volcano. Not an active one, mind you; we won’t be fleeing ash clouds and lava flow without warning. But not an extinct one, either. So don’t get too complacent. This volcano is dormant. It’s only sleeping. Activity is still very much possible.
Locations:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Bandelier National Monument, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Big Bend National Park, Channel Islands National Park, Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial, Crater Lake National Park, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Katmai National Park & Preserve, National Park of American Samoa, Saguaro National Park, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve, Yellowstone National Parkmore »
Offices:Geologic Resources Division
Calderas are large collapse features that can be many miles in diameter. They form during especially large eruptions when the magma chamber is partially emptied, and the ground above it collapses into the momentary void. Crater Lake and Aniakchak Crater are calderas.
Locations:Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Badlands National Park, Bandelier National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capulin Volcano National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Channel Islands National Park, Chiricahua National Monument, City Of Rocks National Reserve, Colonial National Historical Park, Crater Lake National Park, Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve, Death Valley National Park, Devils Postpile National Monument, Devils Tower National Monument, El Malpais National Monument, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Fossil Butte National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Haleakalā National Park, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Lava Beds National Monument, Mojave National Preserve, Mount Rainier National Park, Niobrara National Scenic River, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Pinnacles National Park, Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, Waco Mammoth National Monument, Yellowstone National Parkmore »
Offices:Geologic Resources Division
The Cenozoic Era (66 million years ago [MYA] through today) is the "Age of Mammals." North America’s characteristic landscapes began to develop during the Cenozoic. Birds and mammals rose in prominence after the extinction of giant reptiles. Common Cenozoic fossils include cat-like carnivores and early horses, as well as ice age woolly mammoths.
Locations:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Crater Lake National Park, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Yellowstone National Park
Offices:Geologic Resources Division
Water lakes may exist in craters and calderas (large collapse features) as these depressions can become filled by rainwater or melting snow or ice, or be places where groundwater can accumulate at the surface. Crater lakes can be long-lived or ephemeral, and may contain fresh or acidic waters.
Locations:Bandelier National Monument, Valles Caldera National Preserve
Dr. Ana Steffen has worked at Valles Caldera National Preserve since its establishment, building an incredible legacy of science leadership and resource stewardship.
Locations:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Bandelier National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial, Crater Lake National Park, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Saguaro National Park, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Yellowstone National Parkmore »
Offices:Geologic Resources Division
Explosive calderas result from violent eruptions of great quantities of silicic magmas. These eruptions produce massive eruption columns that extend into the stratosphere, and voluminous pyroclastic flows. Eruptions that produce explosive calderas generally range from 6 (Colossal) on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) to 8 super eruptions (Apocalyptic).
Locations:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve, Yellowstone National Parkmore »
Offices:Geologic Resources Division
Fumaroles are places where steam and volcanic gases are emitted. They are present on most active volcanoes. The occurrence of fumaroles and other geothermal features such as hot springs, geysers, and mud pots are important signs that a volcano is active.
Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park.
Among the newest additions to the National Park System, the 88,900-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve is a surprising gem at the top of the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico that helps earn the state its motto—“The Land of Enchantment.”
