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Bootheel Volcanic Field

Location: 
31° 20' to 32° 20' N, 107° 50' to 109° +' W, Hidalgo County
Age: 
35 Ma to 27 Ma
Significance: 
Collection of old calderas in extreme southwestern New Mexico
Composition: 
Rhyolite, andesite

 

Geological Overview

These calderas are part of the widespread volcanism that swept the Southwest during the Miocene. Like the Datil-Mogollon field to the immediate north, these have been broken up as part of the Basin and Range faulting and deeply dissected. Nonetheless, the centers of volcanism, and the fault-encircled extremely thick sections of outflow materials such as ash-flow tuffs and thick viscous lavas are evidence for the locations of the original calderas.

 

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