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| Above, a walkway through a Hawaiian lava field similar to some near Grants, New Mexico. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Along Interstate 40 near the town of Grants, New Mexico, there is an ancient lava field. There have been no eruptions in the area for thousands (or millions) of years.
All that could change. At least that's according to an article in Newsweek.
They wrote:
Dead volcanoes, seen throughout the southwestern United States, are evidence of volcanic fields that could wipe out infrastructure and disrupt air travel if new volcanoes erupt, a new study says. And researchers say that could happen at any time.
Over the past 2.58 million years, known as the Quaternary geologic period, some 1,800 volcanoes pockmarked the region straddling Arizona, parts of California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. If the Pinacate volcanic field in the Mexican state of Sonora is included, the number rises to more than 2,200. Some emerged as recently as 1,000 years ago.
These volcanoes are known as monogenetic, meaning "one life."
"A monogenetic volcano will erupt once, and that eruption may last several days to several decades, but after that, the volcano is basically dead," said volcanologist and study co-author Greg Valentine.
The paper published by Valentine and his colleagues in the journal Geoscience notes that although the volcanoes examined no longer pose a threat, they may reveal the potential for new eruptions.
"Monogenetic volcanoes tend to occur in areas that we call volcanic fields, and the American Southwest is just dotted with these," said Valentine, adding that no one knows when or where future eruptions will occur.
To read more, go here.
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