P1170830
Chichinautzin volcanic field, Mexico City, D.F. This volcanic field immediately south of Mexico City represents and present volcanic threat to Mexico City and environs. Stretching some 90 kilometers east and west south of the city, the field contains more than 220 eruptive vents. Many of the largest are seen in this photograph taken from the top of the Latin American Tower in January 1974. In the far background, two of the three highest volcanic peaks of Mexico are seen: Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatepetl, one of Mexico's most active volcano attaining nearly 18,000 feet above sea level while Iztaccíhuatl is slightly lower and has not erupted in historical times. Thinking we were acclimatized to high altitude by staying in Mexico City (elevation above 7,000 feet) for more than a week, we set out to conquer Volcán Popocatepetl, but alas we failed after a four day effort due to my case of high altitude sickness. We managed to make about the 16,000 level on foot with our back packs. Overnights were extremely cold. We slept inside our tent, inside our down filled sleeping bags with our downfilled jackets and clothes on and our boots with wool socks. We could have been fried as well had the volcano erupted while we slept instead of just letting off a cloud of steam. My headache caused by the high altitude would not sufficiently abate even with the taking of Darvon in an effort to quell the pain, so we took the medical authorities' advice being told if conditions didn't change, go down to a lower elevation. Shoot. We've never been that high on foot again. We did walk down a good portion of the mountain on our way down, camping and hiking to the entrance to the National Park. Landscape is awesome.
To our particular interest are the volcanic stuctures which are seen in the near back ground just beyond the city buildings:
Volcán Pelado, and Cerro Chichinautzin. The significance of this view is to show a few of the hundreds of volcanic vents that occupy the Valley of Mexico and the contemporary danger the volcanoes present. Today everything is quiet except for the nearly daily detonations of distant Popocatepetl hidden in this view by clouds. One of the cones, Xitle, erupted 1600 years ago and covered important prehistoric urban centers - a threat that continues today. For a comparison of the Valley of Mexico in the 19th century to 1974, see this link to a painting by José María Velasco, the famous 19th Century landscape painter of Mexico.
ka-perseus-images.s3.amazonaws.com/cfa98cadec908d579fa47b...
To see some of his other work and the significance of his art, check out the link below. We viewed his work at the Museum of Anthropology which itself is at the foot of a recent (geologically speaking) lava flow.
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europ...
And Dr. Atl's interpretation of the same valley:
www.artnet.com/artists/dr-atl-gerardo-murillo/los-volcane...
If you ever make it to Mexico City and Covid is under control, both the Museums of Anthropology and Modern Art at Chapultepec Park are not to be missed.
35mm slide taken with Konica AutoreflexA w/Hexanon AR lens, 1974
P1170830
Chichinautzin volcanic field, Mexico City, D.F. This volcanic field immediately south of Mexico City represents and present volcanic threat to Mexico City and environs. Stretching some 90 kilometers east and west south of the city, the field contains more than 220 eruptive vents. Many of the largest are seen in this photograph taken from the top of the Latin American Tower in January 1974. In the far background, two of the three highest volcanic peaks of Mexico are seen: Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatepetl, one of Mexico's most active volcano attaining nearly 18,000 feet above sea level while Iztaccíhuatl is slightly lower and has not erupted in historical times. Thinking we were acclimatized to high altitude by staying in Mexico City (elevation above 7,000 feet) for more than a week, we set out to conquer Volcán Popocatepetl, but alas we failed after a four day effort due to my case of high altitude sickness. We managed to make about the 16,000 level on foot with our back packs. Overnights were extremely cold. We slept inside our tent, inside our down filled sleeping bags with our downfilled jackets and clothes on and our boots with wool socks. We could have been fried as well had the volcano erupted while we slept instead of just letting off a cloud of steam. My headache caused by the high altitude would not sufficiently abate even with the taking of Darvon in an effort to quell the pain, so we took the medical authorities' advice being told if conditions didn't change, go down to a lower elevation. Shoot. We've never been that high on foot again. We did walk down a good portion of the mountain on our way down, camping and hiking to the entrance to the National Park. Landscape is awesome.
To our particular interest are the volcanic stuctures which are seen in the near back ground just beyond the city buildings:
Volcán Pelado, and Cerro Chichinautzin. The significance of this view is to show a few of the hundreds of volcanic vents that occupy the Valley of Mexico and the contemporary danger the volcanoes present. Today everything is quiet except for the nearly daily detonations of distant Popocatepetl hidden in this view by clouds. One of the cones, Xitle, erupted 1600 years ago and covered important prehistoric urban centers - a threat that continues today. For a comparison of the Valley of Mexico in the 19th century to 1974, see this link to a painting by José María Velasco, the famous 19th Century landscape painter of Mexico.
ka-perseus-images.s3.amazonaws.com/cfa98cadec908d579fa47b...
To see some of his other work and the significance of his art, check out the link below. We viewed his work at the Museum of Anthropology which itself is at the foot of a recent (geologically speaking) lava flow.
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europ...
And Dr. Atl's interpretation of the same valley:
www.artnet.com/artists/dr-atl-gerardo-murillo/los-volcane...
If you ever make it to Mexico City and Covid is under control, both the Museums of Anthropology and Modern Art at Chapultepec Park are not to be missed.
35mm slide taken with Konica AutoreflexA w/Hexanon AR lens, 1974