Pinacate

Pyroclastic-surge deposits surround the Cerro Colorado maar of the Pinacate volcanic field in NW Mexico. These thin beds (note the coin for scale next to the the block in the center of the photo) were formed by successive explosions that produced laterally moving pyroclastic surges. The light-colored rock in the center of the photo is a ballistically ejected block that impacted onto the surface of earlier surge deposits, compressing them and forming a small pit.

Type/Process: Pyroclastic Flow
Volcanic Status: Holocene
Image Number: 036-004
Photographer: Richard Waitt, 1988 (U.S. Geological Survey)
Summit Elevation: 1200+ meters
Latitude/Longitude: 31.772 N / 113.498 W
Timeframe: Undated, but probable Holocene eruption
Region: Mexico and Central America