Dotsero

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.

Dotsero
Dotsero maar in central Colorado near the junction of the Colorado and Eagle rivers.
Highest point
Elevation6,783 ft (2,067 m)[1]
Coordinates39°39′38″N 107°2′6″W[1]
Geography
Topo mapUSGS Dotsero
Geology
Age of rockHolocene[1]
Mountain typemaar[1]
Last eruption2200 BCE ± 300 years[1]
Map pointer
Map of Eagle County
Dotsero near the confluence of the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County.

Eruption information

This Holocene volcano erupted in the year 2220 ± 300 years B.C. When Dotsero did erupt, 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]

Dotsero, and all volcanoes that have erupted in the past 10,000 years, are more likely to become active again. The United States Geological Survey considers it a moderate threat to impact air travel if it were to erupt.[3]

Interstate 70 cuts across the lava flow. At the base of the volcano is a mobile home park.[4]

References
  1. "Dotsero". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. 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 (11 May 2005). "Dotsero volcano may erupt". Glenwood Spring Post Independent. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17.
  4. Boster, Seth (November 2, 2020). "What makes this Colorado volcano a 'moderate' threat?". The Gazette. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
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