SIERRA GRANDE SHIELD VOLCANO
The Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field is an
elongated,WNW-ESE trending, ~140 km-long lava & volcano field in
northeastern New Mexico and southern Colorado. It consists of cinder
cones, spatter cones, shield volcanoes, and fissure vents. Erupted
materials range from mafic to intermediate to alkaline lavas (basalts, basaltic
andesites, andesites, dacites, nephelinites, basanites).
The largest volcano in the field is the Sierra
Grande Shield Volcano. Shield volcanoes have a low, broad
profile. The largest volcano on Earth is this type (Mauna Loa Volcano,
Hawaii Hotspot), and the largest volcano in the Solar System is this type (Mt.
Olympus Volcano, Olympus Hotspot, Tharsis region, Mars).
Sierra Grande Shield Volcano (looking SE from atop Capulin Cinder Cone) - this is
the largest volcano in the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. It's located to
the south and southwest of the small town of Des Moines in northwestern Union
County, northeastern New Mexico, USA.
Sierra Grande Andesite (7.3 cm across at its widest) - vesicular andesite
from lava flow on the eastern side of Sierra Grande Shield Volcano,
Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field, northeastern New Mexico, USA (36° 42’ 24.26”
North, 103° 47’ 46.75” West). This lava flow is from the upper Upper
Pliocene, dating to 1.9 m.y. The rock consists of generally small
phenocrysts of augite pyroxene, hypersthene pyroxene, olivine, and plagioclase
in a glassy to microcrystalline groundmass dominated by feldspar, pyroxenes,
plus some other minerals.