Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Volcanoes can sneak up on you


So just imagine you are a Mexican farmer in 1943. You are plowing your crops one fine day in February when the ground starts to shake and cracks open, hurling hot ash and rocks into the sky. When 1944 rolls around, you have volcano in your goddamn backyard.

Pulido spent much of his off-time
being a badass
This is what happened to a pimp named Dionisio Pulido back in the day. Of all the problems a farmer could have to deal with, this would be by far the coolest. I wonder how it works since this all took place on his land, did he end up owning his own volcano? Awesome!

Before the volcano was born, Pulido reported being awoken by small earthquakes and tremors. Whilst plowing his crops as he normally did, he noticed a crack in the ground; presumably from the earthquakes he had been feeling. There is the strong rotten egg smell of sulphur in the air.

But it wasn't until a few weeks later when he found himself stricken with terror amazement.

The crack had grown considerably, and hot gas was now shooting out of it. I would be shitting my pants, but as you can see, Dioniso Pulido is old-school and he kept it real.

Day by day, this crack grew ever larger; spewing out hot ash, smoke and volcanic bombs, becoming a smoldering mound of ash and rock larger than Pulido`s house. Weeks later, the mound had become a large hill, now spitting lava into the sky.

God enjoys punishing sinners

The locals take this as a sign from God. Fearing the end, they pray for a miracle. They pray for the mountain to stop growing.

God does not listen.

Instead, the mountain continued to grow, reaching an eventual height of 424 metres (over 1,300 feet). Insane! The ever increasing monster buried the small village of Paricutin in deep lava flows; leading to the relocation of the entire town.

The awesome thing here is that scientists got to watch the entire volcanic process from beginning to end. That and the fact that Pulido gets the honour of 'owning' the youngest volcano in North America.



The volcano was officially named Paricutin after the original townsite.








Wksc.

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