{"id":4197,"date":"2016-06-18T12:26:34","date_gmt":"2016-06-18T12:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/?p=4197"},"modified":"2022-07-01T19:17:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T19:17:32","slug":"valles-caldera-a-supervolcano-that-exploded-1-million-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/?p=4197","title":{"rendered":"Valles Caldera &#8211; a supervolcano that exploded 1 million years ago!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over 1 million years ago a volcano near Santa Fe erupted, and the core collapsed creating a huge caldera. This was a super volcano and the caldera is huge! Up to about 50,000 years ago there were magma &#8216;leaks&#8217; that caused several dome-shaped hills within the caldera, separating the caldera into several areas.<\/p>\n<p>The caldera is at 8,500 feet and the surrounding peaks are up to 11,000 feet. There are grassy meadows in between the dome-shaped hills, and is home to the largest herd of elk in the state. There are also bears, cougars and coyotes in the caldera along with thousands of prairie dogs.<\/p>\n<p>Ranchers used to live in the caldera and there used to be a lot of snow in the caldera&#8230;up to 5-6 feet that would last all winter. Now there&#8217;s little snow and it doesn&#8217;t last more than a week.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some pictures we took:<\/p>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" scoped>.rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner{\r\n\t\t\t\tmargin: 50px auto;\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50px;\r\n\t\t\t\theight: 40px;\r\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\r\n\t\t\t\tfont-size: 10px;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t.rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner > div{\r\n\t\t\t  background-color: #333;\r\n\t\t\t  height: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t  width: 6px;\r\n\t\t\t  display: inline-block;\r\n\t\t\t  -webkit-animation: rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f-stretchdelay 1.2s infinite ease-in-out;\r\n\t\t\t  animation: rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f-stretchdelay 1.2s infinite ease-in-out;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t.rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner .rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect2 {\r\n\t\t\t  -webkit-animation-delay: -1.1s;\r\n\t\t\t  animation-delay: -1.1s;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t.rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner .rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect3 {\r\n\t\t\t  -webkit-animation-delay: -1.0s;\r\n\t\t\t  animation-delay: -1.0s;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t.rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner .rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect4 {\r\n\t\t\t  -webkit-animation-delay: -0.9s;\r\n\t\t\t  animation-delay: -0.9s;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t.rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner .rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect5 {\r\n\t\t\t  -webkit-animation-delay: -0.8s;\r\n\t\t\t  animation-delay: -0.8s;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t@-webkit-keyframes rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f-stretchdelay {\r\n\t\t\t  0%, 40%, 100% { -webkit-transform: scaleY(0.4) }  \r\n\t\t\t  20% { -webkit-transform: scaleY(1.0) }\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t@keyframes rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f-stretchdelay {\r\n\t\t\t  0%, 40%, 100% { \r\n\t\t\t    transform: scaleY(0.4);\r\n\t\t\t    -webkit-transform: scaleY(0.4);\r\n\t\t\t  }  20% { \r\n\t\t\t    transform: scaleY(1.0);\r\n\t\t\t    -webkit-transform: scaleY(1.0);\r\n\t\t\t  }\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t<\/style><div class=\"robo-gallery-wrap robo-gallery-wrap-id6867 robo-gallery-grid\" ><div id=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f-block-loader\" class=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fSpinner\"><div class=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect1\"><\/div> <div class=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect2\"><\/div> <div class=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect3\"><\/div> <div class=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect4\"><\/div> <div class=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9fRect5\"><\/div><\/div><div id=\"robo_gallery_main_block_rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f\" class=\"robogallery-gallery-6867\" style=\"width:100%;  display: none;\"><div id=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f\" data-options=\"rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f\" style=\"width:100%;\" class=\"robo_gallery  \"><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/the-coyote-got-the-prairie-dog-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"the coyote got the prairie dog\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/the-coyote-got-the-prairie-dog.jpg\"  title=\"the coyote got the prairie dog\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">the coyote got the prairie dog<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/fire-a-few-years-ago-decimated-the-area-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"fire a few years ago decimated the area\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/fire-a-few-years-ago-decimated-the-area.jpg\"  title=\"fire a few years ago decimated the area\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">fire a few years ago decimated the area<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/elk-herd-in-center-of-a-caldera-meadow-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"elk herd in center of a caldera meadow\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/elk-herd-in-center-of-a-caldera-meadow.jpg\"  title=\"elk herd in center of a caldera meadow\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">elk herd in center of a caldera meadow<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/caldera-is-a-huge-set-of-meadows-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"caldera is a huge set of meadows\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/caldera-is-a-huge-set-of-meadows.jpg\"  title=\"caldera is a huge set of meadows\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">caldera is a huge set of meadows<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/a-ranch-that-used-to-own-much-of-the-caldera-meadows-199x300.jpg\"  title=\"a ranch that used to own much of the caldera meadows\"  data-width=\"199\"  data-height=\"300\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/a-ranch-that-used-to-own-much-of-the-caldera-meadows.jpg\"  title=\"a ranch that used to own much of the caldera meadows\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">a ranch that used to own much of the caldera meadows<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/a-prairie-dog-crossing-the-road-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"a prairie dog crossing the road\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/a-prairie-dog-crossing-the-road.jpg\"  title=\"a prairie dog crossing the road\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">a prairie dog crossing the road<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/we-saw-a-coyote-fairly-close-by-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"we saw a coyote fairly close by\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/we-saw-a-coyote-fairly-close-by.jpg\"  title=\"we saw a coyote fairly close by\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">we saw a coyote fairly close by<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img  category6867 \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-image   rbs-lightbox \" ><div class=\"rbs-img-thumbs\"  data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/the-coyote-sees-a-prairie-dog-and-is-ready-to-pounce-300x199.jpg\"  title=\"the coyote sees a prairie dog and is ready to pounce\"  data-width=\"300\"  data-height=\"199\" ><\/div><div class=\"rbs-img-data-popup\"  data-popup=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/the-coyote-sees-a-prairie-dog-and-is-ready-to-pounce.jpg\"  title=\"the coyote sees a prairie dog and is ready to pounce\" ><\/div><div class=\"thumbnail-overlay\"><div class=\"rbsTitle \">the coyote sees a prairie dog and is ready to pounce<\/div><div class=\"rbsIcons\"><i class=\"fa fa-search-plus rbsZoomIcon \" ><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><script>var rbs_gallery_69e5ae51d9d9f = 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This was a super volcano and the caldera is huge! Up to about 50,000 years ago there were magma &#8216;leaks&#8217; that caused several dome-shaped hills within the caldera, separating the caldera into several areas. The caldera &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/?p=4197\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Valles Caldera &#8211; a supervolcano that exploded 1 million years ago!<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[163],"class_list":["post-4197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-98-santa-fe-nm","tag-natural-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4197"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6868,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4197\/revisions\/6868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retired-openroad.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}