Morphometric Analysis of Scoria Cones to Define the ‘Volcano-Type’ of the Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Region (Central Spain)

Abstract

The Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Region is the largest volcanic field in the Iberian Peninsula and presents a complex volcanic history, with more than 360 monogenetic basaltic volcanoes developed in effusive, Strombolian, and hydromagmatic eruptions. The large number of scoria cones, compared to the other existing types of volcanic morphologies, indicates that these landforms represent the most common eruptive events that occurred during Calatrava’s geological past. In this work, a morphometric analysis of the scoria cones was carried out, based on statistical analysis of the main morphological parameters of these volcanoes (height, cone width, crater width, crater depth, slope, area, etc.). The results were used to identify the most frequent scoria cone by means of statistical analysis of its main morphological features. To do this, a methodology based on statistical correlations of the morphological and morphometric parameters that best define the morphology of these volcanoes was applied. The number of cones and their distribution correspond to platform volcanic fields. The most frequent identified monogenetic volcano corresponds to a scoria cone developed in Strombolian dynamics with lava flows, with mean dimensions of 36.54 m height, 0.008113 km3 volume and an area of 0.454 km2.

Monogenetic volcanism in subduction settings: comparative statistical study of the Sierra Chichinautzin and Los Tuxtlas Volcanic Fields in Mexico

“…In particular, qualitative and quantitative studies on vent alignment and clustering have informed about the role of faults on vent location (e.g., Conway et al 1997;Germa et al 2013;Le Corvec et al 2013). The morphological characterization of the vents has provided valuable information about the nature of the most probable future events (e.g., Siebe et al 2004;Dóniz et al 2008;Becerra-Ramírez et al 2022), which is being integrated into hazard maps (Marrero et al 2019).…”

Characterization and Geotourist Resources of the Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Region (Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) to Develop a UNESCO Global Geopark Project

“…The rocks of this territory consist of quartzite, sandstone and slate (Paleozoic), limestone and marlstone (Neogene) and Quaternary sediments (alluvial-limestone, sand and gravel-and colluvial deposits). The landforms associated with eruptions in the CCVR are typical of effusive, Strombolian and hydromagmatic events that built 360 volcanoes [7,27,29,37,38,40]. Therefore, the landscape of the CCVR is settled into an extended basin framed by quartzitic mountains dissected by significant fracturing processes (Figure 2).…”

“…The latest geographical studies, such as those by Gosálvez [27], Becerra-Ramírez [29] and Escobar [39], are related to the assessment of the geodiversity in the CCVR, its geoheritage, the ecosystems developed in the volcanic shallow lakes and the use of volcanic materials throughout history. Finally, current studies on the Calatrava volcanic region are focusing on the geoconservation of volcanoes and the promotion of volcano tourism (geotourism) [29,[35][36][37][38]40].…”

“…Once this has been done, it is necessary to promote the area as a resource, either as a natural, scientific, cultural and/or didactic one. Additionally, a management scheme must be put into place for the conservation and protection of the area as well as the development of sustainable activities, such as volcano tourism (geotourism) [29,36,37,[86][87][88].…”

“…From the year 2000 onward, studies turned towards a geomorphological aspect from the field of geography and reviewed the age of some volcanoes [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. The latest studies are focused on highlighting the great geodiversity of the Calatrava volcanic region, its geoheritage and the link to other historical-cultural aspects and ecosystems, as well as the geoconservation and the promotion of volcano tourism (geotourism) [27,29,[35][36][37][38][39][40].…”