Forces Shaping Iceland Also Formed Arizona's Landscape

Iceland is getting a lot of attention for its erupting volcanoes. And rightly so - it's a fascinating process. It's also a reminder that the world is still alive, forming and reform itself as it always had. Visually, it's also spectacular.

Aside from the fireworks, though, all people are really learning is that it's disrupting flights to and around Europe.

Here in Arizona, many people are completely missing the connection between Iceland's eruptions, and the processes that formed our own state's topography. Many people are amazed to learn that Arizona ever had volcanoes, especially active ones as recently as 1100 A.D. I kind of take it for granted that people know this - but many don't. I can say this first-hand from telling people about hiking Arizona's many dormant cinder cones, Mt. Humphreys and the Superstitions Mountains. People look at me funny and say "Arizona had volcanoes?"

This is a golden opportunity to help readers -many of whom are probably new to the state- get some sense of their home. From the ancient caldera that forms the Superstition Mountains to the San Francisco Peaks looming over Flagstaff and many other lesser-known places, Arizona's landscape is a legacy of magma, ash and gas. Northern Arizona is dotted with cinder cones. The most famous is Sunset Crater, but there are other great ones like SP Crater and dozens if not hundreds of others. You can even climb many of them and look down into the crater. And let's not forget SP Crater's 5-mile-long lava flow, which always makes a great sight for people flying over.

And the state is full of experts: the excellent Arizona Geological Survey and the excellent earth science programs at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona (whose program ranked #1 in a survey by US News & World Report, for which this ASU grad congratulates you with no reservations at all).

The story of Arizona's volcanic past is deeper and richer than I can tell you here. Better yet, just go out and experience for yourself. Walk along the lava flows at Sunset Crater. Hike among the spires and hoodoos in the Superstition wilderness. Climb up the scree slope of SP Crater. It just might change the way you look at this familiar old landscape.