Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater is a cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in U.S. State of Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field) that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks.The date of the eruptions that formed the 340m was initially derived from tree-ring dates, suggesting the eruption began between the growing seasons of A.D. 1064–1065. However, more recent geologic and archaeological evidence places the eruption around A.D. 1085. The largest vent of the eruption, Sunset Crater itself, was the source of the Bonito and Kana-a lava flows that extended about 2.5km NW and 9.6km NE, respectively. Additional vents along a 10km extending SE produced small spatter ramparts and a 6.4km to the east. The Sunset Crater eruption produced a blanket of ash and lapilli covering an area of more than 2100km2 and forced the temporary abandonment of settlements of the local Sinagua people. The volcano has partially revegetated, with pines and wildflowers. The crater is the namesake for the Sunset Crater Beardtongue (Penstemon clutei). Since the last eruption of the volcano is a recent occurrence, it is considered dormant by volcanologists.