Although Halloween is over, it’s never too late to talk about this eerie volcanic structure.
I learned about Shiprock a little off-hand in a Geology class, when we were covering dikes, lava tubes and necks in covering important features of a volcano. Shiprock happened to be a perfect example of these subterranean pieces of a volcano’s anatomy, simply because they are no longer subterranean.
Shiprock, called Tse Bitai (“winged rock”) in Navajo, stands at about 450 meters tall, the main feature being the prominent lava neck with six dikes radiating from it (157). It doesn’t look like a volcano, but that’s only part of what makes it so fascinating. What we see above ground is what would normally be found underground in a radiating, intricate system that feeds a volcano. The fact that we can see the skeleton of a volcano is extremely helpful in better understanding the hidden workings of volcanoes and, thus, eruptions. For a Geology geek like myself, this is pure gold.
This is, of course, regardless of the simple fact of how impressive the sight is on its own.
How, then, did this structure end up as this skeleton? Many extinct volcanoes keep their composite cone. Shiprock is a result of an explosive and violent eruption, and millions of years of subsequent erosion. Its last eruption was 30 million years ago, and since then has eroded to what now stands. The lava neck and dikes exposed were once 700-1000 meters underground (geoinfo.nmt.edu).
With this knowledge, you now have a very good reason to visit New Mexico, even if it is your only reason to do so. It’s on my personal list of places to visit, and I encourage all of you to follow suit.
Adventure on, readers.
Volcanism 