Parícutin (Volcano Week 3)

Friday, 17th October 2008 by

Parícutin is a very young cinder cone volcano in Mexico, and like most cinder cones it will never erupt again - but the story of its creation is a truly fascinating one.

On February 20, 1943, a local farmer by the name of Dionisio Pulido witnessed a fissure appearing in his cornfield, which immediately began to spew forth ash and stones. Astonishingly within just one year the fissure had grown into a 336 m tall volcano!

Over the course of the next 8 years the volcano grew to a final height of 424 m and simultaneously buried 25 km² of the surrounding land, including two entire villages! The top of a nearby church is still visible above the long solidified magma.

(Wikipedia, ground-level pic)

Thanks to Maite Elguero.