Exploring Sulphur Springs in the Valles Caldera, New Mexico
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Volcanic fumaroles, mudpots and hot springs!
This location is part of the Valles Caldera National Preserve so make sure access is allowed before you go.
www.nps.gov/va...
We saw deer, a coyote, a rabbit, lots of neat birds and insects, spiders and chipmunks in the area, and the Valles is home to black bears, bobcats and herds of elk.
This Sulphur Springs area was first developed as a sulphur mine in the early 1900’s and then was converted to a health spa which operated until the 1970s when it burnt down. Evidence of this development is everywhere - old buildings, crumbling infrastructure, rusted out vehicles and other junk.
The mudpots, seeps and springs are delicate features and can contain hot acidic water. It would be best to maintain a safe distance and watch any children carefully to avoid any mishaps.
Please visit the following link for information about sulfur dioxide gas that is being emitted in low concentrations from the fumaroles. Some people with certain health conditions should avoid exposure. Use your own best judgement.
www.atsdr.cdc....
In the video I talk about the magmatic source of the gases that are coming to the surface here. Isotopic studies on helium, hydrogen and nitrogen present in the gas show a mantle/magmatic signature for the gas emitting from these fumaroles. It is believed that the magmatic source is present between 5-15 km deep, and is about 10% melt, 90% crystallized. For a good scientific read on this, please check this link out:
openei.org/wik...
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Outstanding, i could almost feel the hot mud on my shoes and smell the sulfur! Tom Triumph.
Thank you!
I was so very happy to find this video! I lived here on this land for a year in the early 90s. The shower house on top of the hill (looks like an out house) was for showering off after sitting in the mud pot hot spring up a little further on the path. It had been dug out, lined with thick wood and railroad ties on the sides so that about 8 of us could sit in it up to our chests. This video really took me back to an amazing time in my life. Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing Gee Gee! I’m envious you got to experience this amazing place in its heyday, that sounds so awesome! Glad to have brightened your day with a little remembrance!
Thank you so much for posting this! I've lived in this area of NM for many years and have wanted to visit Sulphur Springs but thought it was on private land and off-limits. Now I'm definitely going to go as soon I can! Thanks also for the NPS links and location info. Very helpful.
You’re welcome! Make sure to check the Valles website for potential closures/dates for access etc.
Haven't gone yet, and will let you know how it goes, but just want to thank you right now for this video. I had no idea that this type of stuff was right there by the Valles Caldera! I know of various hot springs in the area, but this is next level stuff that I can't wait to check out! Thanks!!
@@twobikesandadrone I’ve heard that the mudpots and bubbling springs can dry up later in the season, would be interested to know how you find it when you go! It really is a unique and special place geologically, I hope you enjoy it!
@@GeoRockNerd I truly can't wait to get out there and will do that soon while we're still in monsoon season.
Thanks for doing this video! Very helpful in planning an upcoming trip.
You’re welcome! Might want to check status of area with the park, this is a few years old so things might’ve changed since then!
I'm so glad I discovered your channel. Your videos are fun & very informative. I'm from NM & live in Albuquerque & I absolutely love rock hounding. I'm lovingly known as the "rock lady", lol. I hope to see more posts soon, you're doing a great job, Thank you😊
From one “rock lady” to another, thank you for your kind words, it means a lot to me, always nice to “meet” other local rockhounds!
Nature is amazing!😅😅😅
Truly!
Thank you for taking a very complete video of this not so well known location. We passed with three miles of it at sunset without knowing exactly where it was May 2021.
I hope you can go back and see it sometime! Truly an amazing place!
I live in Rotorua NZ we have these hot springs all round the town ,be carefull we’re you walk the ground can give way and you burn your legs bad
Rotorua Hotsprings are legendary, would absolutely love to visit! Thanks for watching, and the good advice!
We were just up there the other week and not much water at all right now compared to previous years we visit. Cool place.
Thanks. Good stuff
It’s a cool area! Thanks for watching!
I enjoyed your video.
Thank you!
Watching your other videos and realizing that you're the real deal, so I'll stop bothering you. I'm so glad you're sharing all this information. Philip
You’re absolutely no bother at all! Would still like your email, never did see it!
Oh, that place was so neat. Wish it were closer, that really was a volcanic nerd out session! Your videos are so informative, I love that. Thanks for sharing!
Haha yep! TOTAL nerd out, nothing makes me happier than volcanism! 😂🤓
Hey you, haven't seen any new vids from ya in awhile so I thought I'd go back and watch some older ones. I really enjoy your videos. Hope you're doing well. That place looks absolutely awesome!!! I'd love to explore there...well, except for all the 8 legged creatures.
Thanks for checking in Fayde! Doing ok, had to leave town last month unexpectedly, but I have a video in the hopper I’m working on, hope to get that out soon!
It’s weird cause I’ve been up there several times and this one day was the only one where spiders were infesting, so odd! I’m gonna go back soon and see if anything’s changed!
@@GeoRockNerd Glad to hear all is well.. And, that's good the spiders aren't there all the time. Tiny ones I can handle...big ones, not so much, LOL! I bet it's worth another visit. I seen mud pots at Yellowstone and all the geysers when I was a kid, something you never forget. I visited the big island , Hawai 'i , a few years ago and seen some fumaroles and the volcano, Kilauea, at Volcanoes National Park. Was awesome! Used to wanna be a volcanologist, so I'd like to visit that place in New Mexico too one day and do some hounding. I look forward to your new video. Ttyl
Nice video
Thank you!
I just found your channel and have been enjoying your videos a lot! I went to this area in April 2022 but missed the mud pots (didn’t go over the ridge). I plan to be back in Jemez Springs again in April of 2023, so I can explore the location again. Looking forward to more of your videos.
Thank you for watching and for your kind words! It seems that the mudpots come and go with precipitation, I’ve gone back since I made this video and it was totally different. Such a cool place!
Geology and nature are wonderful and has a beauty of their own. Nice job showing it to us. You are doing great and you must spend a lot of time doing research (which I am not good at lol) Great vid. Thanks.Havagudun Gal.
I’m a real nerd so often do research on things that interest me. I was fortunate to have taken a grad-level Calderas class back in college and we got to go on a tour of the Valles Caldera, including the Sulfur Springs area, with Frazier Goff, a scientist/volcanologist who is an expert on the Valles! He also wrote a book about it, which I own, so most of my knowledge really comes from his work!
Has there ever been gold found in that area?
Good question, but not that I’m aware of! Calderas in general are often good places to prospect for metals since the hydrothermal systems are usually very dynamic and persistent for many years post-eruption.
Cool place and great info. It is nice to hear someone with knowledge. Are you a volcanologist as well as a geologist? I have ever so many questions about the features I find on my volcano claim, it is a tuff cone, I believe. Are you sure that white clay is not kaolinite?
No, I wish I was a volcanologist! I love volcanoes and have studied them, taking every grad-level volcano related class I could as an undergrad - a calderas class, volcano geophysics in Ecuador and again in Hawaii, volcanology 1 & 2 - my dream job is to work on hazard mapping at the Cascades Volcano Observatory or as a field tech on Kilauea.
I would love to hear more about your volcano claim! I assume it’s a mineral claim of some type? Olivine? How fun to “own” a tuff cone!
I am not sure if the clay at Sulfur Springs is kaolinite or argillite, I got my info from a paper about the hydrothermal system there at the Springs and assumed it was correct. Kaolinite is commonly formed from tuff so that would make sense too.
@@GeoRockNerd Have a look at my videos, they are all from my claim. I am an autodidact, so my assumptions are just that, and I am always looking for confirmation. BC, Canada is a fairly rich area for vulcanism, but I think I see volcano remnants everywhere and think I must be fooling myself.
@@Cliffwalkerrockhounding I saw your video with the chalcedony/opal veins - amazing! I’ll have to check out more of them, sounds like a very interesting place. I’ve always wanted to go rockhounding in BC, you are very fortunate to live there!
@@GeoRockNerd I sure am, I think your spot is pretty epic too.
Jesus, could you turn the sound up!!!!! My gosh!!!!
are the spiders a normal feature?
Well I went back a couple times and there were hardly any spiders so I guess they have a peak “season” of activity!
@@GeoRockNerd what a relief. Is the road on the way there as gnarly as the way to the hot springs? I forget the name of them and I'll find it if you don't know the route I'm talking about.
@@ONLYoneCANNOLI The road isn’t bad at all! It’s a dirt road that goes through a residential area and is pretty well maintained by the forest service. Not sure how it is in winter, but it was fine in the summer!
@@GeoRockNerd Thank you, I will be eager to see this location. If you're ever in the phoenix area, we have lot of tertiary volcanics, a great unconformity....really a nonconformity, proterozoic madness, dinosaur footprints, hydrothermal mania, active BnR faults, ETC all within 3 hours. @only1cannoli.geology.nature - instagram.
@@ONLYoneCANNOLI I have done a little exploration in the Superstitions...love the complex geology of the Phoenix area, hope to go back there sometime when all the covid madness has passed!
Camera work is dizzying. Learn a smoother and better planned approach to your shots. Next, you should explore the ice caves on the western slope of the volcano at Seven Springs. So happy you did this research. Many thanks!
This was my very first long video, sorry about the dizzying camerawork! I’ve improved! 😄
@@GeoRockNerd Have you seen Kirt Kemptner's latest six-series videos on Valles? It's right down your alley. Should you ever need assistance, I'm in Santa Fe and always happy to help. Best, Philip
@@philipburton9518 I haven’t watched all 6 yet, but they are good! Always love to learn from other geologists!
@@GeoRockNerd Went to Sulphur Springs today. AMAZING, and your location descriiption was extrememly helpful. I have to go back soon. I hope to hire Kirt Kemptner for a day trip through Jemez, and I'd be honored if you wanted to go with us. That's provided I can find him in Santa Fe and if he's available. I'm so grateful for your research. Philip
@@philipburton9518 That would be amazing, I’ve never met Kirt but follow his stuff, he’s super knowledgeable! Curious if the mudpots and seeps had water when you were out there, it’s been so dry lately!