Dotsero

Dotsero
Dotsero maar in central Colorado near the junction of the Colorado and Eagle rivers.
Elevation	6,783 ft (2,067 m) [1]
Location
Location	Dotsero, Colorado, USA
Coordinates	39°39′38″N 107°2′6″W / 39.66056°N 107.035°W / 39.66056; -107.035[1]
Topo map	USGS Dotsero
Geology
Type	maar[1]
Age of rock	Holocene[1]
Last eruption	2200 BC ± 300 years[1]

Dotsero near the confluence of the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County.

Dotsero is a 700-meter (2,300 ft) wide by 400-meter (1,300 ft) deep maar volcano located in Dotsero, Colorado near the junction of the Colorado River and the Eagle River. It is classified as a scoria cone with evaporitic rock, basaltic tephra, and oxidized sandstone. Erupting approximately 4200 years ago, it is the youngest volcano in Colorado. It is currently dormant.^[1]

Eruption information

This Holocene volcano erupted in the year 2220 ± 300 years B.C. When Dotsero blew, it created small scoria cones that were constructed along a NNE-SSW line on either side of the maar.^[1] The eruption date is based upon radiocarbon dating of wood found underneath some of the scoria.^[2] It is one of the youngest eruptions in the continental U.S. and it produced an explosion crater, a lahar, and a 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) long lava flow.^[1]

Volcanoes that have erupted in the past 10,000 years are more likely to become active again.^[3]

Interstate 70 cuts across the lava flow.

External links

• Google Map of Dotsero Volcano

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Dotsero". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1208-01-. Retrieved 2008-08-20. 
2. ^ Wood, Charles A.; Jurgen Kienle (1990). Volcanos of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge University Press. 
3. ^ "Donna Gray". Glenwood Spring Post Independent. 11 May 2005. Archived from the original on 2010-09-06. http://www.webcitation.org/5sXfRJdKp.