When people typically think of lava flows moving down terrain in the United States,
the state of Hawaii typically comes to mind.
Yet, it is not the only state where this has recently occurred.
In fact, one of the largest effusive eruptions to occur in human history originated in an
unexpected location, New Mexico.
Approximately 5,300 years ago, a several decade long volcanic eruption occurred, which continuously
output a large volume of lava.
By the time the eruption had ended, a 50 mile or 80 kilometer long lava flow had been constructed,
which is today one of the most prominent landmarks visible from the international space station.
This massive lava flow was only the latest eruption from the Carrizozo volcano, which
is still considered to be active.
The Carrizozo volcano is located in south central New Mexico, where it is 100 miles
south-southeast of the city of Albuquerque.
You might be wondering why exactly this section of New Mexico contains a volcano.
The reason why it exists is that in west central New Mexico, the crust is slowly spreading
apart to the east and west.
This rift zone in the state has created a large thin zone in the crust, causing magma
in the mantle to easily permeate the overlying crust and occasionally erupt, thus forming
a chain of volcanoes.
The area where the Carrizozo volcano is today merely represents an extension of the overall
rift zone.
The Carrizozo volcano throughout its entirety has only produced two eruptions.
The first eruption occurred approximately 100,000 years ago when a volume of lava erupted
onto the desert plains.
As a fountain of lava rose several hundred meters into the sky, lava which fell back
to the ground began to flow downhill.
Moments later, a second vent emerged a kilometer to the southeast.
These two vents then simultaneously ejected bombs of lava and produced intermittent explosions
in what is termed a strombolian style eruption.
It is named this due to the eruption's similarity to those witnessed at Mount Stromboli.
Lava continued to spectacularly erupt from these vents for several more months until
finally, the eruption ended.
What remained at the center of the eruption was a series of two 300 foot tall cinder cones,
the northernmost of which has a prominent crater in its center.
The area covered by lava totaled 50 square kilometers or 19 square miles and is outlined
on screen.
The overall volcanic field then became dormant.
Then, in 3259 BC, a series of intense earthquake struck the region.
Over time, they became shallower and shallower, until finally an eruption began on the surface
at a small cinder cone.
Today, this cinder cone is known as Little Black Peak, which stands a mere 80 feet above
the surrounding landscape.
Over the next several months, then years, then decades, this vent continuously erupted
about 5.5 cubic meters of lava per second.
This lava had a very low viscosity and as a result traveled long distances downhill,
slowly flowing towards the south.
Eventually, the lava erupted out of the cinder cone was unable to travel any further, resulting
in existing new material being transported underground in a series of lava tubes.
By the time this 25 year long eruption had ended, 330 square kilometers or 127 square
miles had been covered in molten rock.
In total, 4.3 cubic kilometers of lava was erupted, marking this effusive eruption as
the 8th largest to occur in the last 10,000 years.
Since then, no additional eruptions have occurred.
Overall, this specific volcano should not erupt again for a long time, as its eruptions
occur about once every 50,000 years.
Its existing volcanic cones will not erupt again, as the next eruption will form a new
volcanic cone along the implied chain of activity which is marked on screen.
Such an eruption would be at worst only mildly explosive, and would result in another long
distance lava flow.
The worst effects from such an eruption would be the destruction of either one or two of
the area's regional highways, as they could conceivably get buried in lava.
As a result of these hazards, the US Geological Survey designated Carrizozo as a low threat
volcano.
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