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Curtain of Fire
Meanwhile, lava broke out of the base of this side of the cinder cone forming the Bonito Flow all around you. The lava pooled, trapped by surrounding older volcanoes, and accumulated to perhaps 100 feet (30 m) thick during at least three separate flows. On the opposite of the cone, lava flowed more than six miles (10 km), filling a narrow valley. When the volcano coughed out its last cinders – after several months or perhaps several years – they were colored by the oxidation of iron in the magma. Similar to the way metal rusts, the magma came in contact with water-rich gasses emitted during the final stages of the eruption. These red cinders rim the top of the cone.
- Eruption date: sometime between 1040 and 1100
- Height: 1,000 feet (305 m)
- Elevation at summit: 8,029 feet (2,447 m)
- Diameter at base: 1 mile (1.6 km)
- Diameter at top: 2,250 feet (868 m) from rim to rim
- Depth of crater: 300 feet (91.4 m)
- Extruded material: approximately 1 billion tons
- Extent of ashfall: approximately 800 square miles (2,072 sq km)
mining
Paricutin
Volcanic eruptions may seem destructive but they are among the beneficial forces of a living planet: forces that build mountains, create oceans, and provide for live. Only when our planet has finished cooling will there be no volcanoes. Then, Earth will be a dead planet much like Mars. The eruption of Parícutin in Mexico, 1943, is considered the modern day equivalent of the Sunset eruption.
Dating Debates
What if scientists always agreed, never argued, or changed their minds?
Clues in Buried Homes: Until archeologists discovered Sinagua-style pithouses beneath the cinders, scientists did not suspect Sunset Crater was so young. Knowing the age of the pithouses from tree-ring dates and pottery types found in these homes, they concluded the eruption occurred after 1046 and before 1071.
Patterns in Tree Rings: Trees near an erupting volcano, if they are injured but continue to live, show a growth disturbance in their rings. Based on the growth pattern seen in three wood specimens from nearby Wupatki Pueblo, scientists hypothesized that the eruption occurred between the growing seasons of 1064 and 1065. But, this evidence is limited and inconclusive.
Magnetism in Rocks: Geologists have taken more than 100 core samples from the Sunset Crater lava flows for paleomagnetic studies. Using both paleomagnetic dating and stratigraphic evidence, geologists currently restrict the Sunset eruption to sometime between 1040 and 1100.