GEOLOGIC RESEARCH AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL AT SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA

The Geologists in the Parks program was established to get earth science professionals and students working together with park employees to help them better understand and manage geologic resources in their parks. This program fills a range of park needs from pure research to developing interpretative information and educating park staff. For the past 4 years, geologists, in conjunction with the Geologists in Parks program, have been conducting research on lava flows and fumarole deposits from Sunset Crater Volcano. The results of this study fill both a research need as well as enhance educational programs at Sunset Crater National Monument.

Sunset Crater Volcano (A.D. 1064-1065 to A.D. 1180), a cinder cone located in northern AZ, represents the most recent volcanic activity of the San Francisco Volcanic Field. During the waning stages of eruption, fumarolic activity oxidized cinders along the rim and deposited aggregates of sublimates, hydrothermal precipitates, and reaction products near the central vent of the volcano. These incrustations range in color from dark gray to red to white and bright yellow reflecting decreasing temperature and increasing oxygen fugacity as fumarolic activity was subsiding. To date, 15 different minerals have been identified from these deposits. Although park visitors are not generally interested in the details of this study, what lies at the top of the volcano is of particular interest because the name, Sunset Crater, comes from the bright red and yellow color that these deposits give the summit in the evening. We have taken advantage of this recent research to interpret the geology of the volcano summit as well as give a general overview of fumarole deposits and their importance. This new information has been incorporated into an existing display on monitoring a volcano and relates the fumarole deposits on the volcano summit to fumaroles still active today. Included are photographs of the volcano summit and SEM photos of the minerals present as well as a discussion and photographs of how fumarolic activity is used as an eruption prediction tool.

It is hoped that after visiting the park, the visitor will have a sense that National Parks and Monuments are not only wonderful sites for recreation but are also dynamic places where scientific research is still providing new information about the earth.