Paricutin Volcano Facts
Paricutin Volcano Facts
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| Interesting Paricutin Volcano Facts: |
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| Two weeks before the sudden growth of Paricutin volcano, the villagers of Paricutin heard loud rumblings in the ground and felt the ground shake. |
| Tarascan Indian farmer, Dionisio Pulido and his family discovered a hot mound of soil growing in their cornfield on the night of February 20, 1943. |
| The ground in Mr. Pulido's field suddenly rose up 6 feet (2 m) releasing ash and sulphur fumes into the air. A volcano was born. |
| Later that night the mound had grown into a small volcanic cone, releasing hot ash and flames as high as 2,625 feet (800 m) into the air. |
| After only one day, the volcano had risen to 164 feet (50 m) and in a week it was 500 feet (150 m) high. The volcano continued to grow releasing ash, smoke and sulfur fumes. |
| The temperature of the gas exploding from the vent was as high as 1,879oF to 1,940oF (1,026 to 1,060 oC). |
| 5 days after the volcano had grown and erupted, lava began flowing from the vent of the volcano onto the surrounding land. |
| The temperature of the lava flow was is 1,958oF (1,070oC), moving at a speed of 196 feet/minute (60 meters /minute). |
| The thick smoke, ash, sulfur fumes and lava made it unsafe for the people in the villages of Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro to stay. Over 7, 000 people had to leave their homes forever and live elsewhere. |
| The first year of the volcano's existence was the most active with 90% of the lava, sulphur and other gases released from underground. The volcano had grown to over 1,000 feet (330 m) high. |
| The ash cloud from the volcano rose to 8km into the air and ash fell in the streets of Mexico 186 miles (300km) east of the volcano. |
| Location of Paricutin volcano is at Longitude 19o5'N and Latitude102o2'W and is part of the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic belt is a region 15, 444 square miles (40,000 km2) in size. |
| Across this volcanic region, there are over 1,000 cinder cones and 378 medium sized volcanoes. |
| Paricutin volcano is also classified as a Cinder cone volcano. These are the most common volcanic landforms on Earth. |
| By 1944, the villages of Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro were smothered by volcanic lava with only the church tower of San Juan 2.8.miles (4.5 km) away, still visible. |
| Lava cools and hardens to form a hard rock called basalt. |
| Eruption from the volcano occurred continually from 1943 until 1952. This means scientists (called volcanologists), were able to study the birth, activity and the death a volcano. |
| Paricutin Volcano is now classified as an extinct volcano which means it is no longer active. |
| The height of the volcano is now 10, 400 feet (3,170 m). |
| People first climbed the volcano in 1943 |
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