Mexican volcano spews glowing rock

CNN.com ^ | 12/25/2005 | Staff

[Red Badger]

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexico's giant Popocatepetl volcano threw up an ash column almost 2 miles (3 kilometers) high and spat glowing rocks down its snow-clad slopes on Sunday, but nearby towns were not affected, officials said. Popocatepetl, whose name means "smoking mountain" in the Nahuatl Indian language spoken by the Aztecs, spewed out the huge plume of ash and rocks in a three-minute exhalation. "The recent activity is within the expected scenarios, and there is no evidence of a major risk in the following days," said the disaster prevention center CONAPRED. "No reports of ash fall have been received." Sunday's activity was the latest in a recent series of disturbances that started December 1, when the 17,887-foot (5,452-meter) volcano showered ash on the nearby town of Amecameca. Popocatepetl, which on clear days can be seen from Mexico City, 40 miles (64 km) away and home to some 18 million people, reawakened in 1994 after decades of inactivity. It has sparked to life several times since then, most notably in 2000 when it tossed red-hot rocks far above its crater in a series of explosions. Tens of thousands of people living nearby were evacuated at that time. (Full story) Scientists say the volcano's last major eruption was more than 1000 years ago, while the Valley of Mexico's pre-Hispanic Aztec residents recorded minor eruptions. The volcano becomes more active during the cooler Mexican winter months as more ice expands and causes fissures in solidified lava in the crater, allowing smoke, ash or molten lava to spew out.

[Strategerist]

Boy, people really parsed what I typed wrong :-)

I meant that the lack of eruptions in the last 15 years may be a contributor to warm temperatures globally.

[Cold Heart]

I inherited some ash from the Pinatubo eruption. The ash had been collected from the deck of a ship berthed in Subic Bay. When I joined the ship back in the US there was a bag of it left in my desk drawer.

The ash piled to a depth of about a foot. Sailors tried to wash it off the deck with fire hoses. Didn't work well, just made it wet & heavier with little flow of material.

I donated the bag of ash to Oregon State University when they provided me with info for a research I was doing on an olde ship wreck. Dumby, I forgot to keep some for my collection.

[Strategerist]

Piddly eruptions like this have no climate effect whatsoever.

[BIGLOOK]

I agree. I also agree with your concerns about mudslides from a snow capped volcano. Its steep slope invites danger.

[jneesy]

heck all the ash will end up here

just like all the other bad things in mexico

[blam]

"I don't know if this holds for all volcanoes...but it does appear that major eruptions can at least sometimes have a noticeable cooling effect."

Here's one that really 'kicked butt'

Late Pleostocene Human Population Bottlenecks. . .(Toba)

[TexasTransplant]

>>>"People seem to have a difficult time believing this but humans release 150 times more Carbon Dioxide into the air per year than volcanoes (ALL of them in the world combined) do"<<<

Could you site a source, (if you are the source, your credentials and the actual data)

Thanks in advance

TT