September 9, 2024
Dr. Nelia Dunbar, New Mexico Bureau of Geology emerita director and state geologist, has been appointed by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to serve on a national committee to establish a nationwide volcano early warning system. As described in its charter, the National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) advisory committee, convened by the U.S. Geological Survey and authorized under legislation passed in 2019, is tasked with ensuring that all active and potentially active volcanoes in the United States are monitored at levels that match the threats they pose. Dunbar, who will serve on the committee from 2024 to 2027, was invited because of her background in volcanology and interest in and concern for volcanic hazards and geohazards in the state of New Mexico and the intermountain west, as well as knowledge of the region’s geology.
As reported in a news posting by the Bureau of Geology, recent volcanism has occurred in New Mexico, which experiences a volcanic eruption once every 2,000 to 3,000 years. Our state's most recent volcanic event—the McCartys lava flow near Grants—is around 3,000 years old. The Carrizozo lava flows are the next youngest and erupted around 5,000 years ago. These low-explosivity, Hawaiian-style lava flows present a relatively low hazard level and are the most likely to occur in New Mexico in the future. However, this style of eruption has the potential to produce airborne ash that could impact air travel.
Although the overall volcanic hazard in New Mexico is low, another source of potential volcanic hazards is a deep magma chamber near Socorro, described in a past issue of New Mexico Earth Matters. This magma body is currently monitored using seismic instrumentation and shows no signs of activity beyond minor ongoing inflation. This type of monitoring, along with a variety of other sophisticated methodologies, will be one of the topics that the NVEWS will address in meetings and summarize in an annual report that will be submitted to the Secretary of the Interior.
The Bureau of Geology is one of the organizations that will provide monitoring and analysis expertise as the NVEWS takes shape.