Volcano Eruption Analysis

There have been many volcano eruption occurred in New Mexico. Through these eruption we can make a prediction of what will happen in the future. I look at the Figure V1 that shows the location, age, and composition of volcanoes and volcanic rocks in New Mexico. Figure V2 shows the histogram of ages for volcanic rocks in the Jemez Mountains. Figure E1 shows the important large-scale tectonic features. After looking at Figure VI and V2 i noticed there is relationship between varies Volcano locations in the state of New Mexico. All the latest (<5Ma) volcano activities have happened in the Jemez Lineament and in Rio Grande Rift. In Lineament path there has been younger than 5 Ma volcano eruptions such as Mt. Taylor in 3.5 - 1.5Ma , Mesa Chivato …show more content…
So, we can predict that if a volcano erupts then it will most likely happened here. The last volcano eruption was in 725-3 ka at Zuni- Bandera. This means, knowing the volcanoes erupted closely in the last 5 Ma, so the last Zuni- Bandera could follow another one soon on the Lineament line. In the Rio Grande Rift there has been a mixture of younger and older volcanoes. The younger volcanoes being the Jornado volcanic field in 760 ma, Albuquerque Volcanoes in 165 ka, Cerros del Rio in 2.9 - 2.3ma, and Taos Plateau in 4.8 - 2.8 Ma. These are some of the volcanoes that is located in the Rio Grande Rift also indicting that this area also has higher chances of irruption soon or later. The impact of the irruption can be identified by the composition of the volcano. Most of the volcanoes erupted in the Lineament and the Rio Grande Rift are composed of Basalt which mean the eruption will not be as explosive. Basalt is a magic magma which high Viscosity, and less gases content therefore it will not have not have an big explosion. The lava will slowly come out which gives people more time to react and move to a safer