Chinati Mountain Caldera Complex

The Chinati Mountains Caldera Complex is a volcanic caldera complex located primarily in the Chinati Mountains within the Trans-Pecos Volcanic Field [1]

It is the largest and most documented volcano within the Trans-Pecos Volcanic Field and it is comprised mostly of 2 calderas, the Infernito Caldera, and the Chinati Mountain Caldera. The main caldera, the Chinati mountain caldera erupted around 32-31 MA which created the Mitchell mesa tuff. However, the Infernito Caldera is older than the Chinati mountains caldera, at around 37 MA which created the Infernito tuff. The Infernito Caldera was partially destroyed by the formation of the Chinati mountains caldera. The main caldera, on the western side, is mainly thick rhyolite around 100 metres (330 ft) thick, while the eastern half of the caldera is thinner, around 10 metres (33 ft)[2]

References
  1. "Chinati Mountains Geology" (PDF).
  2. "Volcanology of The Chinati Mountains".


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.