Golden Trout Creek, California, USA

Groundhog cinder cone in the Golden Trout Creek volcanic field, breached to the NE.  Image courtesy Rick Howard, 2002 via USFS and Smithsonian GVP

Advertisement

Central Madagascar Volcanic Fields

Central Madagascar volcanic field. Note multiple cinder cones in the field. Image courtesy WUSTL, 2016

Dotsero Volcanic Complex, Colorado, USA

Remaining maar of Dotsero volcanic complex.  Image courtesy Our Community Nov, 2019

Dotsero is the most recent of four quaternary volcanic centers in NW Colorado.  The locations and relative ages are: Dotsero (4,150 years ago), Willow Peak (undated), McCoy (0.64 Ma) and Triangle Peak (1.98 – 1.87 Ma).  Triangle Peak was the only one of these not monogenetic as it produced at least 11 lava flows before activity stopped.  Willow Peak is described as a young cinder cone with a narrow lava flow extending 6 – 7 km E.

Tatun Volcanic Group, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Looking across Taipei City to lava domes of the Tatun (Datun) Volcano Group.  Image courtesy Alexander Belousov, 2008 via Smithsonian GVP

The Tatun (Datun) Volcanic Group (TVG) is a number of andesitic lava domes in the northern portion of the island of Taiwan.  There are at least 20 volcanoes, the southernmost (and largest) of which are located only 15 km N of Taipei City.  This puts over 5 million within 5 km of the field and nearly 8 million within 30 km.

Volcanoes where we don’t expect them – GARROTXA VOLCANIC FIELD, NE Spain

Castellfollit de la Roca: The confluence of the rivers Fluvià and Toronell created this stunning geological monument between them: a 1 km long and 50 m high basaltic lava crag, consisting of two superimposed lava flows with columnar jointing. (© Nasobema lyricum 2006, via Wikimedia)

View to the north over the northern part of Garrotxa VF, with the town of Olot in the left middleground. In the background the snow covered Pyrenees can be seen. (© turismegarrotxa.com)

Today our fancy takes us to the NE of Spain. Just to the corner where the Pyrenees mountain range meets the Mediterranean Sea, to the province of Girona in Catalonia. For millions of us European tourists the Mediterranean Costa Brava with its golden beaches is a household name. As in so many other touristic spots in the world, one could ask, how many of the sun worshippers would have known that, some 60 km inland, there is a volcanic field to be visited?

Shishaldin Volcano, Alaska – Neighbor to Fisher Caldera

Shishaldin from 11 km altitude. Note the steam from the ice-free crater. Image courtesy AVO, Jun 2015.

Australia 1 – Introduction into Australian Volcanic Activity

Mount Elephant, Newer volcanic field, Victoria. Abandoned scoria quarry in the foreground. Photo courtesy Australian Geographic. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2017/05/volcanic-victoria/

Splitting North America – The Walker Lane – Part 2 – The Volcanic Fields

 

Schematic of Long Valley Caldera and surrounding volcanic structures. Relative locations of all three California calderas along the Walker Lane are depicted in previous images. Image courtesy Indiana.edu. http://www.indiana.edu/~sierra/papers/2010/jarosinski.html

Splitting North America – The Walker Lane – Part 1 – The Tectonics

Location of Walker Lane. San Andreas Fault System is depicted in red running from the lower right to the upper left of the image. Image courtesy Carlson et all. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article/9/6/1530/132671/kinematics-of-the-west-central-walker-lane

Recent Volcanic Activity in Nevada, USA – Part 2

Mud Springs volcano, Aurora – Bodie volcanic field. Lava flow is andesitic. Photo courtesy NASA Earth Observatory. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=50493