I have been looking at Mexican volcanoes recently mainly because my Daddy told about the artist Dr Atl who was a revolutionary in both the political and artistic sense. I'll write more on the subject soon, I'm sure, but I thought I'd first write about the volcano that has made them a prominent feature in Mexican culture. There is also literature on the subject such as Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, which is on my volcano reading list (I do have one). Paricutin is amazing as it emerged in 1941 as the farmer was plowing his fields and reached five stories high in a week. For the first year of it's life it grew rapidly in a pyroclastic phase (high speed gaseous eruptions). The volcano continued growing and erupting then stopped in 1952 at 424m high and has been dormant since; most cinder cones tend to only erupt once (mongenetic). As the trans-mexican belt is large there is frequent volcanism in the area, however it is the rapid growth of this volcano that is so iconic.
Erupting
Not erupting
Paricutin is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. (Wikipedia fact of the day is that there are also Seven Wonders of Wales which are all in North Wales so its not very comprehensive.) The Volcano buried nearby villages in ash and they had to be evacuated. While the volcano erupted without warning the relatively small size gave people warning to sort themselves out. Despite the rapid growth of the volcano it caused few fatalities, the biggest loses were to crops and subsequently livestock but this effect was reduced due to the rich nature of volcanic soils.
Dr Atl painting
News Relating to Love, Lust and Lava, I have 20 copies left, let me know if you want one and I'm currently in the process of setting Thera aka Kolumbo with a very hot date!
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