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Carl Fries

Publications and source records attributed to Carl Fries.

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Activity Of Paricutin Volcano From August 1, 1948 to June 30, 1949

The present brief summary of activity at Paricutin Volcano, State of Michoacán, Mexico, follows the pattern of the last report on this volcano published in these Transactions late in 1948 [Wilcox and Gutierrez, 1948]. Anticipating the end of his two‐year period of observation at Parícutin in December 1948, Wilcox instructed the junior author, a native Tarascan from the town of San Juan Parangaricutiro, now destroyed, in the processes of keeping detailed diagrammatic records of eruptive activity, of making weather observations, and of outlining the monthly advance of the new lava. On Wilcox's departure the senior author, who had closely followed the series of studies at Paricutin and had frequently visited the Volcano from June 1943 onward, took up the task‐of watching over Paricutin and preparing reports on its activity. During the first six months of 1949 he spent 11 days at the Volcano on the following dates: January 25–28, March 29–April 1, and May 18–20. On these visits he checked the elevations of the chief points on the rim of tie cone, using an alidade at known stations, and in addition followed the growth of the lava‐vent mound, variations in the form of the interior of the crater, and any other features that showed change. Further, he discussed with the junior author, the Volcano's activity during the periods between visits and assembled the observational data for formal presentation.

Michoacan

Activity of Paricutin Volcano from July 1 to December 31, 1949

The activity of Parícutin Volcano, State of Michoacan, Mexico, during the second half of 1949 is represented diagrammatically in Figures 1, 2, and 3. An explanatory discussion of these diagrams of eruptive characteristics and a description of the lettered noise types shown on them appeared in an earlier report on this Volcano [Wilcox, 1947], to which the reader is referred. Photographs of two common types of eruptive activity are shown as Figures 4 and 5, and a map outlining the monthly advance of lava during the period covered is given as Figure 6. Altitudes of different points on Paricutin cone are listed in Table 1, and weather data are summarized in Table 3.

Michoacan

Volumes And weights of pyroclastic material, lava, and water erupted by Paricutin volcano, Michoacan, Mexico

Estimates of the weights of pyroclastic material and lava erupted by Parícutin Volcano from early 1943 to early 1952 have given a pyroclastic weight of some 2230 million metric tons and a lava weight of about 1330 million metric tons, making a total of 3560 million metric tons of solids. The weight of pyroclastic material ranged from a maximum daily average of more than 10 million metric tons in the first two weeks of eruption to a minimum of some 65,000 metric tons in 1951. The weight of lava ranged from a maximum daily average of about 650,000 metric tons in 1943 to a minimum of some 170,000 metric tons in the second half of 1950. The only period for which an estimate of the average daily weight of water vapor expelled by the Volcano could be made was the spring of 1945, when some 13,000 metric tons of water were expelled through the crater daily, besides some 500 metric tons contained in the lava extruded concurrently. Since the weight of pyroclastic material and lava erupted by Parícutin in the spring and summer of 1945 is estimated to have averaged about 1.2 million metric tons a day, the water expelled at that time amounted to about 1.1 pct of the total weight of material erupted. If the proportion of water had been nearly constant throughout the active life of the Volcano, the total weight of water would have amounted to some 39 million metric tons.

Michoacan