Lava Eruptions of Paricutin Volcano at Night

ID: SIA2009-0859 and F32

Creator: Foshag, William F

Form/Genre: Photographic print

Date: June 9, 1943

Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7281, Box 7, Folder: Photographs of Parícutin #F15-#F33c, 1943

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Summary

Image of the Paricutin volcano erupting at night. A note on the back of the image states that the image was taken about 8:30 pm. Another note by the photographer explains that night "activity increased to tremendous explosions with ejections of large masses of vicious lava."

Subject

National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

  • Image was taken by William F. Foshag, a curator of minerals at the United States National Museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History, while researching the development of the Paricutin volcano.
  • 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.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7281, Box 7, Folder: Photographs of Parícutin #F15-#F33c, 1943

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

June 9, 1943

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Volcanologists
  • Scientific expeditions
  • Earth Sciences
  • Landscapes
  • Geology
  • Natural History
  • Explorations and Expeditions
  • Volcanoes
  • Parícutin Volcano
  • Volcanism
  • Earth sciences
  • Volcanoes--Mexico
  • Natural history

Place

Mexico

Form/Genre

  • Photographic print
  • Landscape

ID Number

SIA2009-0859 and F32

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and White; Size: 5w x 4h; Type of Image: Landscape; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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