Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Coconino County, Arizona — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Life and Landscape Transformed
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., November 8, 2010
1. Life and Landscape Transformed Marker
The landscape before you has existed on Earth for less than 1,000 years, less time than Romanesque architecture or paper money. Consequently, this environment has unique scientific value.
Geologists come here to study weathering processes and soil formation. Ecologists are learning what it takes - and how long - to recolonize a new, hotter, dryer, nutrient-poor environment.
The harshness of this environment may mimic the effects of global warming and long-term drought. What we learn here may help us predict the impacts of continued warming trends.
Sunset Crater Facts
Eruption date: sometime between 1040 and 1100
Height: 1,000 feet (305m)
Elevation at summit: 8,029 feet (2,447m)
Diameter at base: 1 mile (1.6km)
Diamter at top: 2,250 feet (868m) from rim to rim
Depth of crater: 300 feet (91.4m)
Extruded material: about 1 billion tons
Extent of ashfall: about 800 square miles (2,073sq km)
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[Photo captions follow]
These photos document 100 years of change. Notice how bare the cone remains, especially the drier south-facing slope (right side of photo).
Archeologists debate to what extent the eruption influenced human behavior in the centuries that followed. Visit nearby Wupatki (above)
this page online
Erected by National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features.
Location. 35° 21.76′ N, 111° 31.028′ W. Marker is in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona, in Coconino County. It can be reached from Lava Flow Trail. Marker is along the Lava Flow Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Flagstaff AZ 86004, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Flagstaff & High Country and in Hopi. It is also in the American Southwest, in the Mountain West, in Colorado Plateau, and at the Four Corners. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: As Powerful as a Volcano (within shouting distance of this marker); The Power to Symbolize (within shouting distance of this marker); The Birth of a Mountain (within shouting distance of this marker); Changes to Come (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); "The Peaks" (approx. 2.3 miles away); Geological Infant (approx. 2.3 miles away); Route 66 Trail (approx. 10.3 miles away); The Mother Road (approx. 10.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.
Also see . . . Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. (Submitted on April 14, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., November 8, 2010
2. Life and Landscape Transformed Marker
Looking east, with Sunset Crater Volcano in background.
Photographed by Unknown, 1905
3. Photos on Life and Landscape Transformed Marker
See photo caption under Inscription.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 29, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 14, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,019 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 14, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
