BGuthrie Photos: AZ -- Sunset Crater Volcano Natl Monument

AZ -- Sunset Crater Volcano Natl Monument:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SCRAT_170713_009.JPG: Geological Infant Erupting less than 1,000 years ago, Sunset Crater is the youngest in an impressive field of volcanoes all around you. The 1,000-foot-high (305m) cinder cone we see today formed when basalt magma rose directly to the surface through a primary vent. Gas pressure produced a roaring fountain of lava estimated at 850 feet (260m) high. Pressure blasted the lava into pieces, which cooled in flight and piled into this cone-shaped hill. As gas pressure decreased, lava oozed several times from the base of the cone. When the magma ran out of gas, lava spattered the rim. The volcano was short-lived, only months or a couple of years at most from birth to extinction. The bright-rimmed cone impressed John Wesley Powell, who explored the San Francisco volcanic field in 1885. He wrote, "The contrast in the colors is so great that on viewing the mountain from a distance the red cinders seem to be on fire." His "Sunset" mountain became known officially as Sunset Crater. Traditional Names Dzil K'�dz�tsoo� (Yellow top mountain), Navajo Mahdt billah (lava or burnt land), Yavapai Ha gudni K�� (where it burnt), Apache Palatsmo (Red hill), Hopi In 1943, a volcano erupted in a corn field near the Mexican village of Par�cutin, creating a cinder cone almost identical to Sunset Crater. This volcano was documented from birth (1943) to extinction (1952) and helps us understand what happened here 1,000 years ago. Like Par�cutin, the eruption that created Sunset Crater destroyed the fields and homes of Native peoples who had lived in this area for centuries. Some families may have relocated to lower elevations, establishing new farming villages preserved now within Wupatki National Monument. Farmers observe Par�cutin volcano, where the ash fall and lava buried five villages and displace thousands of people.
2. SCRAT_170713_025.JPG: "The Peaks" They dominate the horizon, rising 12,633 feet (3851 m) to Arizona's highest point. Visible for miles from all directions, they stand guard over a land which has long sustained people in spirit and natural resources. All of the region's Native peoples revere them. Spanish friars christened these peaks as San Francisco Mountain in 1629 to honor their St. Francis of Assisi. The first wave of Spanish explorers, surprised that such large mountains did not spawn lakes or streams, charted them the Sierra Sin Agua - mountains without water. Conversely, most Native names for the peaks are a reference to a mountain with life-giving moisture. This immense stratovolcano captures large amounts of rain and snowfall, yet surface water is scarce. Moisture drains down rapidly through fractured bedrock and much is sponged up by porous volcanic rock. The closest river, the Little Colorado, is connected to the peaks by drainage but rarely receives water directly. San Francisco Mountain is sculpted into four peaks, from left to right: Agassiz, Humphreys, Fremont, and Doyle. San Francisco Mountain bounded many traditional homelands and was a landscape shared by all the region's indigenous groups.
3. SCRAT_170713_039.JPG: Sunset Crater Volcano Elevation 8,039 ft.
4. SCRAT_170713_054.JPG: Lava Lake
5. SCRAT_170713_064.JPG: Living on The Margins
6. SCRAT_170713_082.JPG: Lenox Crater Trail Bonito Vista Trail
7. SCRAT_170713_085.JPG: Lava Flow Trail
8. SCRAT_170713_092.JPG: Volcanic Terrain
9. SCRAT_170713_105.JPG: Rabbitbrush
10. SCRAT_170713_114.JPG: Ponderosa Pine
11. SCRAT_170713_126.JPG: Lichen
12. SCRAT_170713_136.JPG: The Birth of a Mountain About 1,000 years ago, something spectacular happened in the lives of local Native peoples. Perhaps they first observed a change in animal behavior. Maybe they noticed the ground warming. Then the tremors increased in number and intensity. By the time the earth cracked open, people had their belongings packed. What followed impacted life profoundly in this corner of the Southwest. A 1,000-foot-high (305m) cinder cone, known today as Sunset Crater, grew where open parks and forests had been. Volcanic ash buried about 64,000 acres of potential farmland. Many people lost their homes and livelihoods. Stories symbolizing the significance of the eruption were told and retold. Word of the phenomenon may have spread across the continent. Today, the area's American Indian groups consider this a sacred landscape where life was cleansed, where a connection exists to the world below and the universe above...a landscape that cautions, reminds, and teaches.
13. SCRAT_170713_153.JPG: Apache Plume
14. SCRAT_170713_161.JPG: Life and Landscape Transformed The landscape before you has existed on Earth for less than 1,000 years, less time than Romanesque architecture or paper money. Consequently, this environment has unique scientific value. Geologists come here to study weathering processes and soil formation. Ecologists are learning what it takes - and how long - to recolonize a new, hotter, dryer, nutrient-poor environment. The harshness of this environment may mimic the effects of global warming and long-term drought. What we learn here may help us predict the impacts of continued warming trends. Sunset Crater Facts Eruption date: sometime between 1040 and 1100 Height: 1,000 feet (305m) Elevation at summit: 8,029 feet (2,447m) Diameter at base: 1 mile (1.6km) Diamter at top: 2,250 feet (868m) from rim to rim Depth of crater: 300 feet (91.4m) Extruded material: about 1 billion tons Extent of ashfall: about 800 square miles (2,073sq km)
15. SCRAT_170713_170.JPG: Twoneedle Pinyon
16. SCRAT_170713_184.JPG: The Power to Symbolize As a living ancestral homeland to the Hopi, Zuni, Yavapai, Havasupai, Navajo, Western Apache, and Southern Paiute, Sunset Crater is remembered, revered, and cared for. People return often, bringing prayers and engaging in timeless traditions. Through the land, the past comes into the present, stories are recalled and values are evoked. Hopi people believe that their ancestors' spirits, the Katsinas, travel from the San Francisco Peaks to the Hopi villages and back each year via Palatsmo (Sunset Crater) and Bonito Park. Some deities reside in the immediate area. The Pueblo of Zuni considers Sunset Crater part of a much larger sacred landscape which continues to be important for plant and mineral collection. Pilgrimages have taken place in historic times. The Navajo people believe the cinder cones surrounding Dook'o'oostiid (San Francisco Peaks), including Dz�l k'�dz�tsoo� (Sunset Crater), are the guardians or protectors of Dook'o'oostiid. Within these sacred mountains reside Navajo deities honored every day by offerings.
17. SCRAT_170713_191.JPG: Wax Currant
18. SCRAT_170713_197.JPG: Changes to Come Buried under Sunset Crater's lava and cinders are perhaps dozens of pithouses. Those excavated revealed few artifacts; even building timbers had been removed. This suggests people had ample warning of the impending eruption. The changed environment forced new adaptations, which included migration from the area. Those who stayed nearby had to adapt their traditional agricultural technology to lower elevations and cinder-covered land. Wherever we live, changes occur around us. Some changes are only visible if we pay close attention; others demand our full attention for survival. The 1943 eruption of Par�cutin in Mexico (pictured above) is the modern day equivalent of the Sunset eruption, providing eyewitness accounts and analogies. The Sunset eruption began in a 'curtain of fire' eruption, like the one in Hawaii (background image). Then, like Par�cutin, the cinder cone grew and lava flowed from the base of the cone. Pithouses like this were the early dwellings of indigenous farming groups who lived in the area from about the year 500 until 1300. Archeologists attribute this architectural style to the Sinagua culture.
19. SCRAT_170713_202.JPG: Pithouses like this were the early dwellings of indigenous farming groups who lived in the area from about the year 500 until 1300. Archeologists attribute this architectural style to the Sinagua culture.
20. SCRAT_170713_204.JPG: The 1943 eruption of Par�cutin in Mexico (pictured above) is the modern day equivalent of the Sunset eruption, providing eyewitness accounts and analogies. The Sunset eruption began in a 'curtain of fire' eruption, like the one in Hawaii (background image). Then, like Par�cutin, the cinder cone grew and lava flowed from the base of the cone.
21. SCRAT_170713_219.JPG: Frozen in Time
22. SCRAT_170713_221.JPG: Squeeze-Up
23. SCRAT_170713_292.JPG: Do No Harm
24. SCRAT_170713_331.JPG: Cinder Hills Overlook
Wikipedia Description: Sunset Crater
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sunset Crater is a cinder cone located north of Flagstaff, Arizona in the United States. The crater lies within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.

Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field) that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks. It first erupted in 1064 , and the last major eruption occurred in 1100 , raising the volcano's height to about 300 meters. A final burst of activity in the 13th century painted the upper portion of the otherwise black cone with bright red and orange rocks, giving the volcano its name. The volcano has partially revegetated, with pines and wildflowers. The crater has given its name to the Sunset Crater Beardtongue (Penstemon clutei).

Damage from hikers forced the National Park Service to close a trail leading to the crater, but a short trail at the base remains.

The hiking trail below the summit skirts the substantial Bonita Lava Flow. This hardened lava is black and appears fresh as it has devastated the forest in its path. The lava flow also created an ice cave or tube that is now closed to the public after a partial collapse.
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