Monday 13 November 2023

LOS NEVADOS NATURAL PARK, VOLCANOES IN COLOMBIA

Today, The Grandma has been reading about one of the greatest catastrophes in the recent Colombian history, the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz on a day like today in 1985.

Los Nevados National Natural Park, in Spanish Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados, is a national park located in the Cordillera Central of the Colombian Andes. The park surrounds the northern volcanic complex formed by Nevado del Ruiz, Nevado del Tolima, Nevado de Santa Isabel, the paramillos of Cisne, Santa Rosa and Quindío and the Cerro Bravo and Cerro Machín.

The park is located in the departments of Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda, Tolima and spans between the municipalities Manizales, Villamaría, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Pereira, Salento, Villahermosa, Anzoátegui, Santa Isabel, Murillo, Ibagué and Casabianca.

The park was temporarily closed by the authorities since March 31, 2023 because the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano has increased its activity and there are fears of a possible eruption.

Entrance through Brisas sector (northern sector of the Park) is only allowed to Valle de las Tumbas since the Servicio Geológico Colombiano has declared Nevado del Ruiz Volcano's activity at Orange Alert Level (level II). It is highly recommend for visitors to consult the state of volcanic activity in the Servicio Geológico Colombiano's web page before their visit.

Glacial activity has shaped the park's landscape 3,000 m above mean sea level, leaving U-shaped valleys and moraines behind. Extrusive igneous rock is dominant above 3,500 m on the eastern slopes and 2,200 m on the western slopes. The Otún Lake, which lies in an extinct volcano crater, and the Green Lake are located in the area.

More information: Earth Magazine

Nevado del Ruiz, also known as La Mesa de Herveo, is a volcano on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about 129 km west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano composed of many layers of lava alternating with hardened volcanic ash and other pyroclastic rocks. Volcanic activity at Nevado del Ruiz began about two million years ago, since the Early Pleistocene or Late Pliocene, with three major eruptive periods. The current volcanic cone formed during the present eruptive period, which began 150,000 years ago.

The volcano usually generates Vulcanian to Plinian eruptions, which produce swift-moving currents of hot gas and rock called pyroclastic flows. These eruptions often cause massive lahars (mud and debris flows), which pose a threat to human life and the environment. The impact of such an eruption is increased as the hot gas and lava melt the mountain's snowcap, adding large quantities of water to the flow.

On November 13, 1985, a small eruption produced an enormous lahar that buried and destroyed the town of Armero in Tolima, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths. This event later became known as the Armero tragedy -the deadliest lahar in recorded history. Similar but less deadly incidents occurred in 1595 and 1845, consisting of a small explosive eruption followed by a large lahar.

The volcano is part of Los Nevados National Natural Park, which also contains several other volcanoes. The summit of Nevado del Ruiz is covered by large glaciers. The volcano continues to pose a threat to the nearby towns and villages, and it is estimated that up to 500,000 people could be at risk from lahars from future eruptions. Today, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano is constantly monitored by the Volcanic and Seismic Observatory of Manizales.

Nevado del Ruiz is one of several stratovolcanoes within Los Nevados National Natural Park, a national park located west of Bogotá in the centre of the Colombian Andes. The park is a popular tourist destination and contains several tourist shelters. The slopes of the volcano are used for winter sports, and nearby Lake Otún offers trout fishing. A number of commercially operated spas can be found nearby.

In 1868-1869, German geologists Wilhelm Reiss and Alphons Stübel were the first to attempt to climb Ruiz

In 1936, W. Cunet and Augusto Gansser-Biaggi made the first successful ascent, partly by ski; they repeated the ascent in 1939.

The first eruptions of Nevado del Ruiz occurred about 1.8 million years ago at the beginning of the Pleistocene epoch.

In October 2022, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) listed Nevado del Ruiz as one of 100 geological heritage sites for being among the best-studied volcanoes in the world and a model for volcanic risk management.

More information: EOS


Scars are a truly beautiful thing.
Yes, they can be a little ugly on the outside,
but scars show that you're a survivor,
that you made it through something,
and not only did you make it through,
but now you're stronger and wiser
and more educated because of that
tough time that you went through.

Kyle Carpenter

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