Super-Volcanoes, Part 2: La Garita

Between 22 and 32 million years ago, numerous supervolcanic eruptions reshaped the landscape in Colorado. The outburst of huge volcanic eruptions may have altered world climate. One of these eruptions, La Garita, expelled 5,000 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash, making it the largest eruption in geologic history of North America.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• geology
• volcano
• volcanic
• supervolcano
• ash
• La
• Garita
• Fish
• Canyon
• Tuff
• Oligocene
• Rhymemaiden1
• Claire
• fatassed
• cats

[Desertphile]

My favorite lava flows are in the East Mojave. They are so sharp a person can walk across the flows and be cut in dozens of places and not know it.

[WildwoodClaire1]

@Desertphile I suggest not walking on them.

[Rabimmel123]

i really like your geology-videos. they allmost inspired me to make my own series about the geology of western germany. keep it up, and maybe you'll push me over the edge ;)

[WildwoodClaire1]

@Rabimmel123 cool! Thank you!

[hgryphon]

Hey Claire, one thing I've wondered and never bothered to ask a geologist, even having known some in the past, is why do so many volcanoes and volcanic areas form in mountains and mountain ranges? I know this isn't always the case, but you'd think the magma would prefer a shorter distance near these weakened areas. Is there some aspect of mountain formation that makes them more likely to be volcanoes in volcanic areas?

[WildwoodClaire1]

@hgryphon In many cases, volcanoes and folded mountain chains are associated with subduction zones at the edges of colliding tectonic plates, where one plate (usually an oceanic pate) is sliding beneath another (usually a continental plate.) As the subducting plate is forced downward into the mantle, it begins to melt, forming magma that rises to the surface along zones of weakness in the continental plate. That's what formed the Alaskan, Cascade and Andean volcanoes.

[PrincipiaInfinitus]

WildwoodClaire1,

Please, do not change a thing.

I find your videos very informative. I understand everything you are saying, completely. Thank you, KUDOS!

Best Wishes!

[dondude69]

Interesting to hear about stuff here in Colorado. It would be really interesting to learn more through your interesting videos. Started watching nephy related stuff then just kept going. I now look forward to anything you make, so keep 'em coming.

[tburke64]

Would give my eye teeth to see you do a video, or series, on the ring of fire and the geologic reason of it's formation.

[StrikaAmaru]

@mjh012363 That's included in the etc ;)

[mjh012363]

@StrikaAmaru And Alaska. :)

[StrikaAmaru]

@mjh012363 That can't be right... ** googles "surface area USA" ** A = 3,794,100 mi^2 V = 5,000 mi^3 V / A = 50 / 37941 mi = 50 miles * 5280 (feet / mile) / 37941 = 6.958...

Woah! I stand corrected...

The value for USA surface includes lakes, rivers etc.