LAVA FLOW TRAIL
STOP 10
After the lava
cools
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  Buried
under Sunset Crater's lava and cinders are perhaps dozens of pit houses,
built by people of the Sinagua culture before the eruption. These people
apparently heeded the warning signs - earthquakes and rising steam -
and moved to nearby areas, including those now within Wupatki and Walnut
Canyon National Monuments. But people for miles around must have witnessed
the eruption.
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 Whatever
life existed within Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument before the
cinder cone’s fiery birth was completely obliterated by the time the
eruptions ceased. Volcanic eruptions provide a clean slate, forcing
life to start from scratch. Very few of the necessities of life are
found on freshly-cooled lava.
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 The
nature of the lava and cinders poses considerable obstacles to recolonization
by living things. You've already seen the bubbly, vesicular texture
of basalt up close. When water falls on Sunset Crater’s cindery surface,
it quickly drains through, leaving little behind to support plant or
animal life. Here in northern Arizona, annual precipitation averages
just 16 inches.
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| There are 2 lava flows of different ages in
the photo above. The youngest is actually the lower lava flow; it pushed
up underneath the first! |
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