Week 4 - Volcanoes

Volcanoes and Colorado is something I have never actually thought about. So after doing a little research, I was able to learn not only does Colorado have volcanoes it has an active volcano. My wife and I took a trip to the Dotsero Volcano. I learned that this volcano is a reason the Glenwood Hotsprings exist, which is one of our favorite places to get away to. I also learned that Dotsero is one of the least known volcanoes in North America. The volcano hasn't erupted in over 4,000 years and scientists don't think it will erupt anytime soon.

What is the most fascinating about this volcano is it doesn't look like a volcano at all, it's just a huge crater. This is because it erupted from the water. Near Eagle River, you can see lava rocks and I70 drives right over lava rocks. You would have no idea really though if you weren't looking and searching for it. I watched a video to try to learn about why the volcano is in Dotsero, and they aren't actually sure why it is there. There aren't any active magma chambers in Colorado currently, so the likelihood of Dotsero erupting again is super unlikely. 

As you can see from this image taken from 9news it doesn't look like a volcano at all. The lava rock you can pick up along Eagle River is what made the drive worth it. You can definitely see that there was volcanic activity here that erupted to get all the way to the river, but nothing screams volcano while at Dotsero.



Dotsero. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/dotsero.html.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax2RBPmPveg