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Lava Formation (from the New Mexico Portfolio)
Lava Formation (from the New Mexico Portfolio)
Lava Formation (from the New Mexico Portfolio)

Lava Formation (from the New Mexico Portfolio)

Artist (American, born 1940)
Date1970 (printed 1976)
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 × 12 in. (22.9 × 30.5 cm)
Support: 10 7/8 × 13 11/16 in. (27.6 × 34.8 cm)
Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the public contribution box, 1978
Object number3966.23PH
DescriptionA close up image of lava formations. The formations have a square, block-like shape, especially those at the lower center. The rocks are highlighted along the lower center and right side. At the left is a large formation that ends with a cliff-like side, which is covered in shadow.
eMuseum Notes
According to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in Socorro, the Bandera basaltic lava flows of the Zuni-Bandera lava fields originated from Bandera Crater, a double cinder cone about 150 m high and 1 km in diameter that erupted about 10,000 years ago. Moisture gathering in a collapsed lava tube in the area resulted in a natural ice cave where the temperature remains a steady 31 degrees Fahrenheit and which has been accumulating ice for several thousand years. The crater and ice cave became a family operated tourist attraction in the 1900s.
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