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Physical description:
Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and White; Size: 5w x 4h; Type of Image: Landscape; Medium: Photographic print
Type:
Photographic print
Landscape
Place:
Mexico
Date:
May 24, 1943
Category:
Historic Images of the Smithsonian
Notes:
The Paricutin volcano erupted from 1943 to 1952 with several eruptive phases. In early 1943, residents near Paricutin, Mexico, about 200 miles west of Mexico City, experienced hundreds of earthquakes. On February 20, 1943, a large fissure opened in the cornfield of Dionisio and Paula Pulido, Tarascan Indians. A crater soon formed, and over the next ten years, hundreds of scientists from around the world witnessed the birth and growth of a volcano. Foshag, from the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum, and Dr. Jenaro Gonzalez Reyna from the Mexican government, spent several years at the site, observing and documenting it through field notebooks, photographs and films. This was the first time that volcanologists were able to fully document the entire life cycle of a volcano, and the numerous studies published increased understanding of volcanism in general and especially scoria cone formation.
Summary:
Paricutin volcano is in its developmental stage after more than a month of earthquakes. Smoke is rising from the volcano and in the foreground there is a person observing the event.
Contained within:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7281, Box 7, Folder: Photographs of Parícutin #F15-#F33c; 1943
