The Most Mysterious Volcanoes in the World Are in Arizona

Bright Side

Arizona might not be the first place you think of when it comes to volcanoes, but it actually has some of the most mysterious ones in the world! These ancient volcanoes, like the San Francisco Peaks, are now mostly dormant, but they once erupted with huge blasts of lava and ash. The mystery comes from how old and unusual they are—some scientists believe these volcanoes are millions of years old, and their exact origins remain a puzzle. There are lava fields and craters scattered around Arizona that hint at a fiery past. The area around Sunset Crater is especially eerie, with dark volcanic rock and a landscape that feels like you’re on another planet. Even though they’re quiet now, these volcanoes still tell the story of a time when Arizona’s land was shaped by powerful forces from deep inside the Earth.

Transcript

00:00Phew, you can finally send that last report for the day and breathe out.

00:04The weekend is around the corner, but just when you're about to hit send,

00:08you're alarmed by the low rumbling under your desk.

00:11Is it the light rail passing by?

00:13Unfortunately, that's not the case.

00:16It's a volcano speaking.

00:18What, here? In Arizona?

00:21That's right, the ground keeps shifting under Arizona,

00:24reminding us that Earth is alive.

00:26No panic, though. Let's arm ourselves with some context.

00:3120 American states have extinct, active, and dormant, currently sleeping, volcanoes.

00:38Among such states, you can find California,

00:42New Mexico,

00:44Nevada,

00:46Utah,

00:47and Colorado.

00:49On the bright side, Arizona's volcanoes are dormant at the moment,

00:53but it doesn't mean they won't go off in the near or not-so-near future.

00:58Now, how about traveling to Arizona to check the traces of its active volcanic past?

01:05They dot the desert landscapes of this state like spots dot a Dalmatian.

01:09There are entire volcanic fields southwest of Phoenix,

01:14east of Douglas,

01:17near Flagstaff,

01:19north of Kingman,

01:21and near the Mexico border.

01:24The most worrying thing about these fields is that even though they're not active at the moment,

01:30eruptions in this region might happen every thousand years or so.

01:33Well, the time seems to be up.

01:37The last powerful and destructive volcanic eruption occurred around 1,000 years ago at the Sunset Crater.

01:44Oh, this place is worth paying more attention to.

01:47And we will, but a bit later.

01:50First, we have to talk about hotspots.

01:53No, not that place where you can surf the web.

01:55In our volcanic context,

01:58a hotspot is a place where insane amounts of heat melt the overlying crust,

02:03Earth's thin outer layer,

02:04and form volcanoes.

02:06This heat rises from the mantle,

02:08which is located between our planet's dense,

02:11superheated core and the crust.

02:15Want to see an example of this type of volcanism?

02:18Welcome to the Hawaiian Islands.

02:20The Big Island has its active volcanoes because,

02:24at the moment,

02:25it's situated on top of the Hawaiian hotspot.

02:28The older Hawaiian islands were once there too,

02:31but later they drifted off towards the northwest.

02:35It happened because that's where the oceanic crust on top of which they sat,

02:39namely the Pacific Plate, moved.

02:43Now, look at the world's ocean basins.

02:45Yes, they're literally dotted with islands that sit on top of hotspots,

02:49like Hawaii,

02:51Iceland,

02:53Samoa,

02:54the Galapagos.

02:55Those are probably the most famous examples.

02:58But don't think that continents can't host hotspots.

03:01They can.

03:02But those are far less common.

03:04One of the most famous continental hotspots is,

03:07ah, I bet you know it.

03:09Yep, the one beneath the Yellowstone Caldera.

03:13By the way,

03:14the caldera is a vast volcanic crater,

03:16especially one formed as a result of a massive eruption

03:19that led to the collapse of the mouth of a volcano.

03:24The Yellowstone hotspot is basically the creator of Old Faithful

03:28and the rest of the hot springs and mudpots for which the National Park is famous.

03:32Speaking of Old Faithful,

03:35let's make a small detour and pay more attention to this wonder of nature.

03:40It's one of the most well-known geysers in the world.

03:43People have been coming from all over the globe to see it for more than a century.

03:48The cool thing about this geyser

03:50is that the likes of it can only form under very specific conditions.

03:55That's why they're pretty rare.

03:56Magma under the surface superheats pockets of underground water.

04:02The pressure there keeps growing

04:04until it eventually pushes the water upward with immense strength.

04:09A certain volcanic rock with a high silica content

04:12lines the tunnel through which this water escapes.

04:15Basically, it creates a unique pipe

04:17that can withstand unbelievable pressure and heat

04:21created by the water erupting above the ground.

04:23Old Faithful was the very first named geyser in Yellowstone.

04:29If you come to visit it expecting the thing to erupt every hour on the hour,

04:33you're going to be disappointed.

04:36On average, Old Faithful erupts every 91 minutes or so,

04:39which isn't that bad either.

04:41Plus, you can download a special app

04:43which will provide you with the approximate time of the next eruption.

04:47But be very careful while visiting and stay away from the site.

04:51The water erupting from the powerful geyser reaches 204 degrees Fahrenheit.

04:57The steam is even more scorching, up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

05:02It's hot enough to bake a cake.

05:05But let's get back to our volcanic hotspots.

05:09Scientists still don't clearly understand

05:11why there aren't many hotspot volcanoes on continental crust.

05:15One reason might be that the continental crust is much thicker than the oceanic crust,

05:21which is about four times as thick on average.

05:25Another reason could be that most of Earth's crust, about two-thirds of it, is oceanic.

05:31This means that there's less continental crust for hotspots to form under.

05:35Now, I bet those of you living in Arizona will appreciate the following info.

05:42We'll talk about a volcanic field right in the heart of this state.

05:46The San Francisco Volcanic Field.

05:49That's a massive area filled with over 600 volcanoes.

05:53Yes, they're mostly small, but it doesn't make them any less impressive.

05:57They're scattered across 1,800 square miles in northern Arizona, a giant territory.

06:04Interestingly, scientists are still debating about whether this volcanic field

06:08is actually sitting on top of a hotspot.

06:11But one thing they agree upon,

06:13the volcanoes in this area get younger as you move east.

06:17And this pattern matches up with the North American plate

06:20moving west over what could be

06:22a stationary hotspot beneath the surface of our planet.

06:26Cool, huh?

06:27The volcanic Hulapaloo in that area started around 6 million years ago.

06:34So, in geological terms, it's relatively young.

06:38As for the most recent eruption, it happened less than 1,000 years ago.

06:43The Sunset Crater, which I mentioned before, the one near Flagstaff,

06:47is the most famous vent from that eruption.

06:50The Sinagua people had to leave their homes at Wupatki Pueblo because of the eruption.

06:54That site is now part of the Wupatki National Monument.

06:59There, you can see how people lived in this volcanic region many years ago.

07:03If you go to explore this area, you'll notice that most of the volcanoes there are basalt cinder cones,

07:11small and steep.

07:12The Colorado Plateau has quite dry weather conditions.

07:17That's why the volcanoes haven't worn down much.

07:19Some of the best examples of those cones, like this one, called the SP Crater,

07:24still look like they appeared yesterday.

07:29But look around.

07:30It's not just cinder cones.

07:32The San Francisco volcanic field also has a stratovolcano,

07:37as well as some lava domes that formed from volcanic rocks with more silica than basalt

07:42you can find in places like Hawaii.

07:44It means they're thicker and don't flow as easily.

07:49Anyway, the stratovolcano is going to be one of the most epic sights you'll come across

07:53while exploring this volcanic field.

07:56Well, not the stratovolcano itself, but the San Francisco peaks,

08:00the remains of that giant formation.

08:02They stand tall at more than 12,600 feet.

08:07That's four and a half Burj Khalifas placed on top of one another.

08:11It makes the peaks some of the biggest landmarks in northern Arizona.

08:16They're not only stunning, but also sacred to the Native American people

08:20who have lived in the area for many generations.

08:25Now, unlike those superactive volcanoes in Hawaii,

08:28the San Francisco volcanic field takes its time.

08:32Thousands of years between eruptions.

08:35But you shouldn't relax just yet.

08:37Geologists say another eruption is likely to happen one day.

08:42It will probably occur in the remote eastern part of the field,

08:45away from big towns.

08:47Phew!

08:48And if that next eruption is anything like the one that formed Sunset Crater,

08:53it would be quite the show.

08:55Lava fountains and rivers of lava flowing.

08:58At the same time, the next eruption might not happen for centuries.

09:02Maybe even millennia.

09:05Until then, the San Francisco volcanic field will remain a hidden gem of volcanic history,

09:11waiting for its next fiery performance.

09:13Lava fountains.

09:14M

09:25No

09:25T

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