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) and Walnut Canyon (right) national monuments to learn more about life after the eruption.
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