![]() ![]() ![]() NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data provided by the United States Geological Survey. Visit this National Recreation Area to explore the hardened lava fields Lava Flow in the Valley of Fires Do you spend much time exploring Google Earth I don’t. By Harry Baker published 29 September 2022 The 50-mile-long lava flow is one of the largest of its kind on Earth. ![]() This is a flat plain but a rugged landscape nonetheless. This lava flow is believed to be one of the most recent lava flows in the continental United States, dating back 1,500 years. Both southeast and northwest of the lava flow, the landscape appears dark, but this results not from volcanic rocks but from vegetation-lined hills. The Valley of Fires in Carrizozo, New Mexico is one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States. The Carrizozo Lava Flow WSA is located in central New Mexico. Near the lava flow’s northeastern end is the town of Carrizozo. An older, less conspicuous lava flow emanated from Broken Back Crater to the north. Geologists suspect that this massive lava flow occurred in a single episode that lasted 20 to 30 years, and date the surface of Carrizozo at roughly 5,200 years old. The lava’s composition enabled it to flow easily down the Tularosa Basin, an area of depressed rock in southern New Mexico. The Carrizozo lava flow originated from a shield volcano with a low, broad profile resembling an ancient warrior shield. This is a cinder cone-a simple type of volcano made from congealed droplets and blobs of lava that erupted from a single vent. The high point on Carrizozo is Little Black Peak. The surface of the lava is extremely rough and broken by fractures, collapsed lava tubes, and. Basalt tends to flow easily, and this lava flow is described as a pahoehoe flow-advancing through lobes or toes that separate from a cooled crust. The Carrizozo Lava Flow WSA is located in central New Mexico. Within its curving borders, the Carrizozo lava flow has a uniform dark color, thanks to its basalt content. The flow varies in width from 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) along its slender neck to 5 kilometers (3 miles) at either end. The enhanced Thematic Mapper on NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite captured this photo-like image of Carrizozo Malpais on May 18, 2003. Stretching roughly 75 kilometers (47 miles), Carrizozo is one of Earth’s longest known lava flows from the Holocene Epoch (the geologic time span since the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age). The scar is the Carrizozo Malpais, a massive lava flow left over from volcanic activity that occurred several thousand years ago. In south-central New Mexico, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the brilliant white gypsum deposit that includes White Sands National Monument, a charcoal-brown scar undulates across the arid landscape. ![]()
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