Analogs for Planetary Exploration

Warford Ranch volcano, Arizona, field exercise
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Published:December 01, 2011
Warford Ranch is a small “drive-in” shield volcano covering an area of ~2 by 3 km west of Phoenix, and it is accessible from Interstate Highway 8 near Gila Bend, Arizona. The basaltic shield is superposed on silicic lavas, granodiorites, and alluvial deposits and is part of the Sentinel-Arlington volcanic field. Dated at 3.19 Ma, the shield volcano is sufficiently young to preserve the original morphology, but it also shows the effects of moderate weathering, development of desert varnish, and the formation of caliche deposits. Imaged in both color near-infrared (IR) and in thermal infrared multispectral scanner (TIMS) data, these various units afford the opportunity to conduct simple remote-sensing mapping, which can then be field tested. In addition to the lava flows comprising the shield, pyroclastic deposits and dikes are also present. The compact size of the volcano enables the entire feature to be examined in the field in one day. With short introductory discussion, participants of nearly any background can be introduced to the fundamentals of remote sensing, igneous rocks, field methods, and evaluation of the volcanic history of a small volcano.
- Arizona
- ash flows
- basalts
- caliche
- Cenozoic
- field studies
- field trips
- igneous rocks
- morphology
- multispectral analysis
- near-infrared spectra
- Neogene
- Pliocene
- remote sensing
- rhyodacites
- road log
- rock varnish
- shield volcanoes
- spectra
- Tertiary
- thermal infrared spectra
- United States
- volcanic rocks
- volcanoes
- weathering
- Sentinel-Arlington volcanic field
- Warford Ranch