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RUTAN HILL VOLCANO IN BEEMERVILLE, NJ By Surabhi Ashok About 2.46 miles down from Colesville, New Jersey lies Rutan Hill, a struc ture that was once a volcano almost 420 million years ago. Rutan Hill is a diatreme, a form that resembles a vertical pipe in which erup tive magma rose from the Earth’s mantle quickly and shattered the bedrock as it passed through. This is different to a lot of other volcanoes that commonly see lava flowing in a constant stream from breakage in the Earth’s crust. The existence of nepheline syenite, a type of igneous rock found in New Jersey, indicates that the rock was melted in the volcano’s depths and so lidified as it surged to the surface. It also reveals that Rutan Hill was a part of a larger complex of other pathways of magma, maybe a sister to an even bigger volcano. The eroded hill has no crater and a diameter of 1,500 feet and has been in active for hundreds of millions of years. The last eruption occurred at a time when most land-based life didn’t exist, and trilobites were still in the ocean. While Rutan Hill is located mostly on private property, it can be viewed from a distance after hiking the Lusscroft Farm Loop in Sussex County, New Jersey. Source: https://www.jerseysbest.com/community/a-volcano-in-n-j-peeking-in to-the-depths-of-beemervilles-prehistoric-relic/ https://www.app.com/story/news/local/land-environment/2018/05/09/ nj-volcano-rutan-hill-beemerville/589555002/ The last time there was any type of volcanic magma activity in this area was hundreds of millions of years ago, so you do not need to worry about any type of eruption any time soon. Photo by Kathleen Butler

The road leading up the hill is known as Volcanic Hill, and signage exists indicating it is a private road and that no trespassing is allowed. Photo by Kathleen Butler

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