31 March 2014

Hunt’s Hole: Climbing ripples in volcanic surge deposits

Posted by Callan Bentley

Besides Aden Crater, another volcano we visited in the Potrillo Volcanic Field was Hunt’s Hole, a moderate-sized maar crater south of the more famous Kilbourne Hole.

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Here’s our “Border to Beltway” crew on the lip of the crater:

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In the distance, you can see a cap of basalt (which acted as the “lid” on this hydrothermal “pressure cooker”). In the foreground, you can see patterns resulting from the erosion of the pyroclastic surge deposits from the eruption.

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On the far side of a little “cove” in the crater, I saw a lovely exposure of climbing ripples. The next 3 shots zoom progressively in on this primary volcanic/sedimentary structure:

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Josh and Jonathan make field observations on the pyroclastics:

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This was just a taster volcano for the day…

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…our next stop was Kilbourne Hole.