Tremors shook the Earth, issuing a warning to Sinagua people living
nearby. Then, just over nine hundred and thirty years ago, a blink of an
eye on the geologic time scale, Sunset Crater Volcano rumbled to life.
Fiery lava spewed up from a central vent, drawing molten rock from ten
kilometers beneath the surface. Fountains of glowing liquid lava rose
hundreds of meters into the air, falling to Earth as cinders.
Remarkably well-preserved evidence of Sunset Crater Volcano’s sudden
birth is now protected in the National Monument. We would love to share
it with you! Come explore our colorful cinder cone on a virtual
field trip. We will take you along a trail that winds across one of
the frozen rivers of lava that gushed from Sunset Crater Volcano’s
rocky flanks. While you're visiting, why not step into our visitor
center to see our seismograph
record of Arizona’s earthquakes? Are you looking for 'just the facts'?
Click on the Sunset
Volcano button to get the details you're looking for. |
 |
