Evening star., 1953-09-18
Young Volcano Built
A Mountain in 10 Years
2.23 Billion Tons Of Lava
Tossed Out by Puricutin
By Thomos R. Henry

The new Mexican volcano, Paricutin,
has belched approximately 2.23 billion
tons of ashes. hot rocks and lava from
9 the depths of the earth in q decade.
This is the estimate of United States
Geological Survey experts who have
observed the volcano since it started
without warning in 1943 and have
measured the building up of the cone
and surrounding lava fields, it has
just been reported to the American
Geophysical Union here by Carl Fries
of the survey staff. The volcano now
is quiescent and probably there will
be no further eruptions.
1t was estimated that 1t has put out
2.23 billion tons Of "pyroclastic ma
terialS," that is lava and hot rocks.
The lava outflow is estimated at 1888
billion tons. In addition. Fries esti-
mates, there has been an output of
about 80 million tons of water in the
form of steam. This water was bound
up in the underlying rocks.
Paricutins outflow has varied enor-
mously. During the first two weeks of
its life it was belching forth about 10
million tons of rock, ash and lava a
day. This had dropped to $1,000 tons
a day through 1851. The weight of lava
varied from 650,000 tons day in 1943
to a minimum of 175,000 tons in the
second half of 1850.
Escaped Gases.
The volcano also has put forth mil
lions of tons of gases which have
escaped into the atmosphere. so there
is no way of estimating them.
THE volume of lava extruded at
Paricutin," says Fries, was we'll over
100000 cubic meters day for the first
two years and it held close to 100000
cubic meters a day for the following
three years. From then on it dropped
gradually to about 100000 cubic meters
day in 1850. 1t increased again in
1851, especially in the second half of
the year.
"The fact that periods of great pyro-
elastic cash and rock) production were
more or Jess coincidental with periods
of great lava emission suggests that the
intensity of the explosive activity in
the crater was governed to a great ex-
tent by the amount of magma reaching
the surface"
The estimates, he reports, can be
considered to cover at least 80 per cent
of the material. thrown out They do
not include the finer dusts which were
carried away by the winds and of which
no account could be taken.
THE average production of solids
during the entire life of the volcano"
he says, "waS IL million tons a day.
About 40 million tons were probably
erupted during the last two months Of
its activity.
Water Vapor Weight.
"The weight of water vapor issuing
from the crater. assuming that the
temperature of expulsion was 800 c.,
was estimated to have amounted to
10.500 tons day. This represents
probably about 80 per cent. To this
should be added the amount of water
contained in the lava flows after solidi-
fication Some 500 tons were fixed daily
by the lava. The total would amount
to about 13,600 tons day"
This would be about equal, he points
out, to the water in a lake about five
miles square and three feet deep.
The composition of the gases erupted,
he says, is not known for no means Of
sampling them could be devised be-
cause of the violence of the eruptions.
The major compound was certainly
water vapor, which formed from 80 to
SO per cent of the total. The odor in
dicated the presence of sulfur and
chlorine. There was some carbon di-
oxide. Probably some nitrogen and
other inert gases were expelled, and
ammonium and chlorides formed part
of the whole.