# Geologists, amateur rockhounds - is this an ancient volcano? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574 "2009-04-28T00:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/1 "2009-04-28T00:47:00Z")
I flew from Providence to Phoenix and somewhere in the Colorado plateau or northern New Mexico region I photographed [this](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r156/Phlosphr/DSCF4410.jpg). To me it looks like a crator of some kind, either pushing up through the crust or it’s an old impact site. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/2 "2009-04-28T00:56:14Z")
It looks a lot like this pic. https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=35.907962,-104.874115&spn=0.493865,0.672226&t=h&z=11 Which I believe is this. > [@](#): > > Ocaté (Mora) Volcanic Field > Location: Covers area encompassed between Eagle Nest, Watrous, and > Wagon Mound; bounded by NM 120, 38, and 161 and I-25; mostly private > land, but some access at margins. > Situated to the east of the Sangre de Cristo range, this small field is > similar in age (ranging from 9 million to 60,000 years old) and rock type > to many of the eruptions within the Raton-Clayton volcanic field to the > northeast. The field consists of basaltic to dacitic flows and associated > vents ranging in age from late Miocene to Pleistocene (over an 8 million > year period). Regional uplift and subsequent erosion, as in the western > Raton-Clayton field, has resulted in inverted topography where the oldest > lava flows occupy the highest local elevation. Three major levels of > lava flow-capped mesas decrease in elevation from west to east. Maxon > Crater, a shield volcano capped with a low and broad scoria vent > complex, is the source for flows that moved 90 km down drainages to > the confluence of the Mora and Canadian rivers. This volcano lies just > west of the rest stop on I-25 between Watrous and Wagon Mound. The > volcanic field can be circumnavigated by taking a loop from I-25 at > Wagon Mound to Mora and back to Watrous on I-25. Those who ski at > Angel Fire may not realize that they are just to the east of Agua Fria > Peak, one of the westernmost of the Ocate volcanoes (erupted about 5 > million years ago). From here [http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/pdf\_files/NMvolcanoes.pdf](http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/pdf_files/NMvolcanoes.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/3 "2009-04-28T01:27:18Z")
Yes, yes - in the northwest of that map is the exact site I took the pic. You have to drag is down slightly. I thought it was impressive from my vantage point. I’d love to go down and explore it, hike around maybe camp. Looks like it might be private land or BLM land. Thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/4 "2009-04-28T02:21:34Z")
gazpacho, your map started at 3699 S Monaco St, Denver. That sounded familiar. Turns out I spent 2 weeks there a while back. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/5 "2009-04-28T03:55:25Z")
Fubaya, I think that 3699 S Monaco St, Denver is left over from some search you did. I see no such stuff in my google maps link. I was really amazed at how quickly I found the spot. If you zoom out to where you can see all of New Mexico you can see what looks like it may be it. If I hadn’t seen it in about a minute I would have given up. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/6 "2009-04-28T16:27:55Z")
Not only am I a geologist, I’m a bona fide volcanologist (although one on the very not-exciting side of things: igneous petrogenesis and trace-element geochemistry). That said, and I hate to be a buzz-kill, but what is pictured (and shown in the google map) is absolutely, positively NOT a volcano, ancient or otherwise. It is a structural dome that may have an igneous (although not volcanic) origin… in other words, it MIGHT be a laccolith, but it is, alas, not a volcano. (As noted, it does like in the Ocate volcanic field, so it most likely a laccolith.) My source? This Geologic Map of New Mexico. Warning! Gigantic (17Mb) PDF: [http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/state/NM-500k-geology.pdf](http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/state/NM-500k-geology.pdf) Explanation (1 Mb): [http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/state/NM-500k-explanation.pdf](http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/state/NM-500k-explanation.pdf) Linking page: [http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/state/home.cfm](http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/state/home.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/7 "2009-04-28T17:34:02Z")
Update: In that pic, the big, black obvious thing is what I described in the post above. Probably a laccolith, domed Triassic rock, etc. However… a bit less obvious in that picture, right at the “mouth” of the big laccolith and just in front of the jet engine there does like a wee volcano: the Maxson Crater, part of an old basaltic shield volcano! Coordinates: 35.8986503 -104.8897209 Aerial photo: > **[【2019年最新】エアークローゼットの口コミと実際に利用した感想](https://www.satelliteviews.net/aircloset/?fid=891691&state=NM&ftype=crater)** > > エアークローゼットはプロのスタイリストが自分に合わせた服をコーディネートしてくれる人気の洋服レンタルサービスです。ここでは利用者の口コミ、実際にエアークローゼットに申し込んで届いた洋服の感想、料金プランやブランドなどについて紹介しています。 ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geologists-amateur-rockhounds-is-this-an-ancient-volcano/494574/8 "2009-04-29T01:31:33Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Fubaya, I think that 3699 S Monaco St, Denver is left over from some search you did. Oh sorry. I thought you were staying there. Nice place but I was going to warn you about… well doesn’t matter. I guess it’s not such a small world. That’s weird, that address shouldn’t be on this computer or under my google account.