Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Raton-Clayton.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Raton-Clayton.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Raton-Clayton.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

327820

Pleistocene

3,350 m / 10,991 ft

36.42°N
104.08°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Cluster

Volcano Types
Volcanic field

Tectonic Setting

Rift zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Geological Summary

The Raton-Clayton volcanic field is a large Miocene-Quaternary field stretching from near Trinidad, Colorado to Clayton, New Mexico. The main pulse of volcanism took place between 4 and 1.8 million years ago. The relatively youthful-looking Capulin Mountain cinder cone was considered to have been active during the Holocene, based on stratigraphic correlations of its lava flow with distant alluvial sequences. However, later work indicated the lava flow was more than 22,000 years old. More-recent cosmogenic helium dating gave an age of 59,100 years for the lava flow (Sayre et al., 1995), who site additional geomorphological evidence for a Pleistocene age for Capulin Mountain. Several other cones and vents nearby, such as Baby Capulin, Twin Mountain, and the Purvine Mesa vents, are younger than Capulin Mountain (Dungan et al. 1989). Although they were erupted during the same geomorphologic period as Capulin Mountain, their precise age is not known.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Dungan M A, Thompson R A, Stormer J S, O'Neill J M, 1989. Rio Grande Rift volcanism: northeastern Jemez zone, New Mexico. New Mexico Bur Mines Min Resour Mem, 46: 435-486.

Elston W E, 1972. (pers. comm.).

Sayre W O, Ort M H, Graham D, 1995. Capulin volcano is approximately 59,100 years old. Park Science, 15: 10-11.

Smith R L, Shaw H R, 1975. Igneous-related geothermal systems. U S Geol Surv Circ, 726: 58-83.

Stormer J C, 1972. Mineralogy and petrology of the Raton-Clayton volcanic field, northeastern New Mexico. Geol Soc Amer Bull, 83: 3299-3322.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Raton-Clayton. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Raton-Clayton page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Chico Volcanic Field | Raton Mesa Volcanic Field

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Baby Capulin

Cone

2100 m

36° 49' 0.00" N

103° 56' 0.00" W

Bellisle Mountain

Cone

Capulin Mountain

Cone

2494 m

36° 47' 0.00" N

103° 58' 0.00" W

Carr Mountain

Cone

2104 m

Dora, Mount

Shield volcano

1720 m

Eagle Tail Mountain

Cone

Grande, Sierra

Shield volcano

2658 m

36° 42' 0.00" N

103° 53' 0.00" W

Horseshoe Crater

Cone - Crater

2370 m

Jose Butte

Cone

2460 m

Laughlin Peak

Cone

2688 m

Mud Hill

Cone

2220 m

36° 48' 0.00" N

103° 57' 0.00" W

Palo Blanco

Cone

2555 m

Rabbit Ears

Cone

Red Mountain

Cone

2567 m

Robinson Mountain

Cone

2450 m

Towndrow Peak

Cone

2620 m

Twin Mountain

Cone

2092 m

36° 49' 0.00" N

103° 53' 0.00" W

Yankee Volcano

Cone

2375 m

Craters

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Purvine Mesa

Fissure vent

Photo Gallery

The Global Volcanism Program has no photographs available for Raton-Clayton.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Raton-Clayton in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Raton-Clayton. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Raton-Clayton. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

Large Eruptions of Raton-Clayton

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).