Taos Plateau volcanic field

It is the largest volcanic field in the Rio Grande Rift, spreading over 7,000 square kilometers (2,700 sq mi).

The total erupted volume is estimated at 420 cubic kilometers (100 cu mi).

Landforms include sheet flows, cinder cones, and shield volcanoes.

Here hot mantle rock has bulged upwards into the rift, allowing a high degree of decompressional melting to produce the tholeiitic magmas.

The production here has contributed to making New Mexico the leading producer of perlite in the United States.