Mexico's Volcanoes & Mesoamerican Mythology

     Volcanoes are impressive as awe-inspiring outbursts of the powers of nature. They arouse wonderment by their majesty, and they excite terror because of their devastation. 
     But once their activity has subsided, they leave behind as souvenirs fascinating rock formations, enchanting lakes, refreshing springs, healing waters, playful geysers, delightful waterfalls, sylvan mountain scenery, and often majestic snow-covered peaks. 

     The behavior of human beings, individuals or groups, sometimes resembles volcanoes' destructive activity and subsequent return to normal. 

Esperanza Yarza Carreón, Los Volcanes de Mexico (1948)

Professor of Arts and Letters
National Autonomous University of Mexico 

A distinguishing feature of Mexico's geography, the Volcanic Axis belts the country's mid-section (red shading). The Black Triangles (West to East) identify Mexico's largest volcanoes:

• Colima (active);
• Popocatépetl (active), linked by a mountain ridge to
• Iztaccíhuatl (dormant);
• La Malinche (dormant for 3,100 years); and
• Pico de Orizaba (active).

Mexico's Volcanic Axis with Four Largest Volcanoes:
Colima, Popocatépetl, Iztaccíhuatl, La Malinche, Pico de Orizaba

Stratovolcano (aka Continental-Margin)

Stratovolcanoes occur when one plate slides below another—a process known as subduction. A well-known example is the Pacific plate, which is sliding under the North American plate. These violently erupting volcanoes are characterized by long repose ('inactive' periods) between eruptions.

Popocatépetl is a stratovolcano. Effusive activity between 3,600 and 1,200 years ago (1600 BCE and 800 CE) produced Popocatépetl's present cone. Significant Vesuvius-like (plinian) eruptions occurred about 1,200 and 1,000 years ago (800 and 1000 CE), a time period concurrent with human habitation.

In 1993, following a fifty-year period of 'repose' during most of the 20th century, Popocatépetl again became an active volcano leading up to its eruption in 1994. Located about 70 km. (43 miles) from the center of Mexico City, the volcano with its smoking plume is easily visible on clear days from our front windows and small balcony.

Sunrise on Popocatépetl (Smoking Mountain in Nahuatl) with its north glacier
Photographed from our balcony (2011)

Another volcano of this type is El Chichón, which sits on the Chiapanecan Volcanic Arc that runs through Chiapas, land of Maya civilization. This geologic zone is thought to be the result of the subduction of the Tehuantepec Ridge, an undersea ridge that lies on the Cocos Plate off the Pacific coast of Mexico.

When El Chichón erupted in 1982 (March 29, April 3, 4), it killed about 2,000 people living on nearby slope. Explosive eruptions of magma (a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids) were accompanied by pyroclastic flows (superheated gases flowing about 450 mph).

Monogenetic Cinder Cone Volcanoes

These smaller volcanoes tend to form and erupt where there has been no previous volcanic activity. Cinder cone volcanoes erupt once within a volcanic field, then the activity shifts to a new location within the field giving rise to a subsequent eruption in the new location at a later time.

The activity of Paricutín in Michoacán, for example, is well-documented. A similar eruption in the same volcanic field occurred years before about 128 km. (80 miles) from Paricutín.

Paricutin's eruption in 1943 was anticipated by hundreds of earthquakes that occurred in the preceding two-week period. In one memorable 24-hour period, two hundred earthquakes were recorded. Once eruptions began, they continued for nine years. The effects were devastating: approximately 3,600 people were forced to move out of the region. But that wasn't the full extent of the impact.

Ash fall caused mountain slopes to become steeper, thus greatly accelerating soil erosion. As streams became clogged with ash, their carrying power increased and caused flooding. During the nine years of active eruption, crop cultivation was impossible at distances up to 35 km. (22 miles), although farmers who were slightly farther away reported improved crop yields during the years when ash fell lightly on their fields.

Mexico's Volcanic Axis "...abounds with volcanoes of the cinder cone type." The volcanic fields of northern Michoacán and southern Guanajuato are among the largest cinder cone fields in the world.

Click here for GoogleMap showing the string of cinder cone volcanoes running East-West across Mexico City's southern border.

What Happens When a Volcano Erupts

In 1990 the Geological Institute of the Autonomous University of Mexico published a report by volcanologist Stephen Nelson. Advocating increased scientific monitoring of Mexico's volcanoes, Nelson described in this paper the eruptive behavior of Mexican volcanoes and cited examples. I have added photographs to illustrate Nelson's description.

Eruptions are preceded by earthquakes and subterranean noises starting several months before the eruptions themselves (Popocatépetl, El Chichón, Colima). 

Popocatépetl blows his top - Ash Eruption (1994)
Notice the ratio of plume to mountain, which itself rises about
10,000 ft. above its prominence (base); then compare this plume to the
ratio of plume to mountain in the 2011 photo (above).

Volcanic eruptions are best considered as eruptive episodes made up of several eruptions. Eruptive episodes may last for days (El Chichón), or years (Paricutin).

Long repose (inactive) times between eruptions usually result in extremely violent activity when dormant volcanoes reawaken (Popocatépetl, El Chichón). 

Volcanoes that erupt violently can affect areas at long distances (Toluca, Orizaba). Ash falls (eruptions) usually accompany eruptions that produce lava flows (Xitle). 

Ash Eruption, El Chichón (1982)

Lava Crater at El Chichón (1982)

Finally, nearly all types of volcanic eruptions cause changes in existing drainage that may result in flooding even of areas at great distances from the actual intense volcanic activity (Paricutin, El Chichón). 

Mythology Arises Where Man Meets the Forces of Nature

We have to wonder how Mexico's early peoples explained these episodes of violence in their mythology, or worldview. An earlier post describes the ritual activity undertaken at Cuicuilco, an early agrarian community buried in lava ash when nearby Xitle erupted.

Perhaps a clue is to be found in the essential duality (life/death; creation/destruction; hot/cold; peace/war) that suffused the Mesoamerican Cosmovision (Worldview).

In the quotation introducing this post, Dr. Yarza characterizes volcanoes by underscoring their inherent duality: Volcanoes are capable of arousing in the thoughts and feelings of their beholders a sense of "wonderment for their majesty" and "terror in their devastation".

Popocatépetl in Snow-Capped Majesty of Popocatéptel
Photo: William Melson, 1968 (Smithsonian Institution)

Popocatépetl spewing Lava-Fire

A profound recognition of duality as an essential component of reality remains a powerful theme in Mexican culture. To this end, Professor Yarza invites us to focus not solely on the destructive aspects of volcanoes, but to recognize the creative 'souvenirs' left behind destructive volcanic episodes.

The adjectives Professor Yarza chooses to describe these volcanic souvenirs conveys their essential meaning:

"...fascinating rock formations, enchanting lakes, refreshing springs, healing waters, playful geysers, delightful waterfalls, sylvan mountain scenery, and ... majestic snow-covered peaks."

It is not possible for me to cite Yarza's words without hearing their echo in the words of an indigenous friend. In a discussion of increasing cartel activity apparent in the countryside surrounding Pátzcuaro, my friend matter-of-factly characterized the activity as el desorden, the disorder. Unspoken is the implicit duality:

Orden/Desorden, Order/Disorder, Creation/Destruction, Dormant/Active.

Lest I convey the impression that volcanic images are meaningful only to indigenous peoples, let me relate a similar conversation with a Mexican acquaintance de arriba (educated, upper class). During another discussion of cartel activity around Pátzcuaro, she observed,

"Most of the time it is quiet, but every once in awhile there are isolated, violent episodes."

I responded by likening the activity to the volcanic field around Paricutín:

"...most of the time it is quiet, but then a volcano erupts in a new place...like Paricutín."   

Her quick, surprised smile said, "Oh, I hadn't realized ... Jenny gets it."

A web site (scroll down) dedicated to descriptions, photos and even videos of many of Mexico's volcanoes includes a short (27 sec.) video of Popocatépetl's 1994 eruption. Struck by the sound of the eruption, I found myself asking,

"What might early peoples have made of such a ferocious display?"

One obvious explanation is that early peoples were forced to recognize both the possibilities and dangers posed by their natural environment. The rise of Mesoamerican civilization and the purpose of its mythology can be understood as pragmatic and ritualistic communal efforts to benefit from the potentials of this environment while seeking to influence and thereby protect themselves from the risks (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods).

In this sense, it would have made sense for common people and rulers alike to regard a volcanic eruption as an expression of their gods' rage. Conversely, a peaceful time between eruptive episodes might appear to constitute evidence that rulers and common people alike were acting in harmony with the requirements of their spiritually charged countryside. In fact, the value of maintaining a harmonious relationship with the natural environment remains a primary cultural value in rural Mexico. 

If we are open to their message, Mexico's volcanoes can teach us a lot.