The Recent Eruptions of Colima

Frederick Starr, José Maria Arreola
1903 The Journal of geology  
THE Volcdn de Colima with the Nevado de Colima together form a magnificent mountain mass at the extremity of a branch of the Sierra Madre, known, at no great distance from the volcano, by the name Sierra de Tapalpa (Fig. I) . Colima lies in latitude I9° 30' 25" N., and longitude 40 37' 55" W. from Mexico. Its altitude is 3,960.9o0m, while that of the Nevado is 4,334-57m. The two peaks are seven kilometers apart. The volcano is thirty-three kilometers from the city of Colima and twenty-five
more » ... eters from Zapotlan. Both Volcdn and Nevado are in Canton 9 of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. From Zapotlan the volcano presents the form of an elegant cone with slopes of 450; the Nevado, seen from there, appears upon the west flank of the cone and a little to the north (Fig. 2) . The volcano has long been active, and during the last century made notable eruptions in 1804, 18o6, 18o8-18, 1869, etc. (Fig. 3) . The above description is condensed from a paper by Padre Jose Maria Arreola which was printed in the monthly bulletin of the Mexican meteorological observatory in 1896.' In this article Father Arreola described the work of observation being conducted by himself at Colima and his colleague Castellanos at Zapotlan. Rarely has any volcano been subjected to such careful scrutiny and record as has Colima by these two devoted observers. Three times daily, from 1893 through a period of seven or eight years, the conditions of the volcano were carefully recorded and sketches made, if there were any signs of activity. Precise terms were employed in description. Vapor was "dense" or "thin;" "dense," when emitted rapidly, as if in eruption, and in volutes; "thin," when issuing slowly, continuously, as if filtered out. For force, degrees from o to Io were recognized, running parallel with the verbal terms-" little," xJ. M. ARREOLA, "El Volcdn de Colima," Boletin mensual del Observatorio meteorol6gico central de Mexico, 1896, p. Io. 749 This content downloaded from 154.059.124.
doi:10.1086/621111 fatcat:m3fpd2ifezea3cnzmuhowrrida