La Garita Caldera
supervolcanic caldera
La Garita Caldera is a large supervolcanic caldera in the San Juan Mountains. It is near the town of Creede in southwestern Colorado, United States.[1]
| La Garita Caldera | |
|---|---|
 Volcanic ash formations of La Garita Caldera, looking northeast (Wheeler Geologic Monument). | |
| Highest point | |
| Coordinates | 37°45′23″N 106°56′03″W / 37.75639°N 106.93417°W |
| Geography | |
  La Garita Caldera Position of La Garita Caldera in Colorado | |
| Location | Mineral County, Colorado, US, near Creede |
| Parent range | San Juan Mountains |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Caldera |
| Last eruption | 26.3 mya (Fish Canyon Tuff 27.8 mya) |
The volcanic eruption is one of the largest known in Earth's history and one of the most powerful known supervolcanic events. This eruption had a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8, the highest on the scale.[2][3]
All mountains and calderas on the West coast of the Americas have the same root cause: they are all a product of the western move of the Americas, which has been going on for millions of years. That is basically why the Americas have mountains in the West, and lowlands in the East.
References
change- ↑ Steven, Thomas A.; Lipman, Peter W. (1976). "Calderas of the San Juan Volcanic Field, Southwestern Colorado". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Papers. 958. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 1–35. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
- ↑ "What's the Biggest Volcanic Eruption Ever?". livescience.com. November 10, 2010. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
- ↑ Best, MG (2013). "The 36–18 Ma Indian Peak–Caliente ignimbrite field and calderas, southeastern Great Basin, USA: Multicyclic super-eruptions". Geosphere. 9 (4): 864–950. Bibcode:2013Geosp...9..864B. doi:10.1130/GES00902.1.