Bandelier Tuff
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Bandelier Tuff
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
Much of Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico was covered with a volcanic ash called Bandelier tuff from an eruption of the Valles Caldera volcano over 1 million years ago. The tuff overlies shales and sandstones deposited during the Permian period and limestone of Pennsylvanian age. Varying in hardness, the volcanic outflow of the firmer materials was used by the Ancestral Pueblo People as bricks, while the softer material was carved into homes.
The Bandelier Tuff is a geologic formation exposed in and around the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. It has a radiometric age of 1.85 to 1.25 million years, corresponding to the Pleistocene epoch. The tuff was erupted in a series of at least three caldera eruptions in the central Jemez Mountains.
This image is part of the Kwage Mesa, a finger mesa underlain by the Bandelier Formation in New Mexico’s Pajarito Plateau. One of the first ignimbrites recognized in the geologic record, the Bandelier Tuff has been extensively studied by geologists seeking to understand the processes involved in volcanic super eruptions.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition.
Image copyright 2023 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
November 20th, 2023
Embed
Share