Aden Crater

Aden Crater
Aden Crater
Highest point
Elevation 4,477 ft (1,365 m)[1]
Coordinates 32°04′10″N 107°03′29″W / 32.0695412°N 107.058066°W / 32.0695412; -107.058066Coordinates: 32°04′10″N 107°03′29″W / 32.0695412°N 107.058066°W / 32.0695412; -107.058066[2]
Geography
Location Doña Ana County, New Mexico, U.S.
Topo map USGS Aden Crater
Geology
Mountain type shield volcano[3]
Volcanic field Potrillo volcanic field
Last eruption ca. 16,000 years ago[4]

Aden Crater is a small shield volcano, part of the Potrillo volcanic field of New Mexico.[3] It is in Doña Ana County between Santa Teresa, New Mexico and Las Cruces, New Mexico. It is in a remote location that can be hiked and explored. The area has deep caverns that can be very dangerous to inexperienced hikers and cavers.[5] A fossilized ground sloth,[6] now at the Peabody Museum, was found in a fumarole roughly 100' deep located on the SE portion of the crater rim. Several ground sloth coprolites were also recovered and were stored in the Geology department at UTEP.

No volcanic activity at Aden Crater is known from historic times. The most recent known activity has been dated to roughly 16 kya.[4]

References

  1. "Aden Crater". ListsOfJohn.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  2. "Aden Crater". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "New Mexico Volcanoes and Volcanics". USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Anthony E. Y.; Poths J. (1992). "3He Aden Crater, Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico, USA". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 56: 4105–4108. doi:10.1016/0016-7037(92)90022-b.
  5. "Man Rescued From Crater Near Las Cruces". KFOX TV. August 2, 2010. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  6. Sharp, Jay W. "Potrillo Volcanic Field". DesertUSA. Retrieved February 10, 2014.


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