LAVA FLOW TRAIL
STOP 13
Changes to come?
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Sunset Crater
is just one volcano, surrounded by hundreds of others in the San
Francisco Volcanic Field. How can we tell if there will be another
eruption?
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The
people living here before the last eruption apparently had enough
warning to gather their belongings and move away. Archeologists
found few artifacts in the remains of their homes; even most of
the building timbers had been removed. Would we fare as well?
Today,
volcanologists study eruptions around the world, learning to make
more accurate predictions.
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Cinder
cones like this one usually erupt for short periods and then die
off forever. Sunset Crater is unlikely to erupt again, but a new
volcano may well occur - someday - within the surrounding San
Francisco Volcanic Field.
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In
the meantime, the quiet landscape you've seen on this virtual tour will
continue its gradual transformation through time. Most changes will
be slow and hard to see within a human lifetime. But with continued
protection as a national monument, natural processes will prevail. Cinders
and lava will give way to soil, and more trees will grow upon the slopes
of Sunset Crater.... until a new volcano emerges as the youngest on
the Colorado Plateau.
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