Rocks, rocks, rocks, and more rocks!

I will never look at a rock the same again.

And most definitely not a volcanic rock.

This weekend I went to the volcano Tungurahua with my geology class and we spent the entirety of Saturday and Most of Sunday morning looking at various volcanic rocks. We weren’t just looking at pieces of rock of course, we were also looking at how the flows (of both lava and volcanic debris, the volcanic debris kind has a name, but I only know it in Spanish) traveled through the countryside and learning how to look at the general landscape to find out about the volcano’s history.

When we arrived, the weather was perfectly clear and we got a good view of the entire volcano. We were even able to see faint bluish vapors rising from the crater at the top. We never went up the mountain, but I think it’s a big ordeal to even attempt to climb it, so it would make sense that we didn’t do it.

This volcano has been active since 1999, with varying levels of activity. Some of its active periods have prompted evacuations of the surrounding towns, including Baños. In this eruption, no lava flows have made it to the towns, but the flows of debris have. The largest eruption of this active period was in 2006, when flows of debris travelled from the crater all the way across the road and down to the river below in under 4 minutes. We’re talking hot rock and ash moving at about 300 km/h. That’s FAST.

Fortunately, this volcano is loud when it is in a super active state, which means that all the people that would be in danger of an explosion get out of the area. It kind of has its own warning system. Of course, all geological activity is capable of happening without any warning as well, so maybe it was only fortunate that time…

The volcano becomes active about once every century as per human records. We know that it exploded in 1773, 1886, between 1916 and 1925, and now again from 1999 until the present. We get ranges for the later dates because, during those times, people were making more scientific observations of all activity, instead of just going: “Oh crap, the volcano’s exploding! Whoah!!! Hey… do you think we should write that down?”

From geological observations though, we know that there have been some much bigger blasts in the past (and by past, I mean thousands of years ago) that did way more damage and, if repeated today, would destroy the entire population surrounding the volcano. There have actually been 3 different Tungurahuas that we know of. The first one may have formed 700,000 years ago, but there could have been one before it that formed at that time. That is to say, the first one we know about may have formed after whatever was formed 700,000 years ago. Anyway, this “first” Tungurahua was around 30,000 years ago. At some point in there, the entire top of the cone got blown apart and fell into the valleys. After a long sequence of more eruptions and build-up of material, Tungurahua 2 was formed. About 3,000 years ago, that volcano also got blow apart in a “blast” very similar to that of Mt. St. Helen. It was caused by the same geological process, and, in fact, may have been an even bigger explosion, though we have no way of really knowing. Tungurahua 3, the one that exists right now, was “born” about 2,300 years ago. Since then, it has formed a very large, symmetrical, majestic and beautiful mountain that stands there ready to blow and any time.

We spent most of our time around the mountain examining rocks and looking at layers of sediment and old flows from the volcano. We looked at lava flows that were 30,000 years old and the flows of debris from 2006. We looked at all different kinds of volcanic rocks, determining whether or not the lava they were formed from more or less viscous and what kids of minerals it contained. Red pumice is red because it has oxidized iron in it. Did you know that?

Spending all of that time looking at what the mountain can do was amazing, and also scary. If Tungurahua erupted in a grand manner, it could totally wipe out Baños. The city is built on ancient lava flows. That could happen again, the lava could descend all the way to the river and destroy everything in its path. It was bind-blowing to think about how fragile the existence of the people around this mountain really is. The volcano, in one day, in an hour, could affect so many lives.

We didn’t spend ALL of our time looking at rocks however. Throughout the course of the weekend, I think I got to know the 4 other K kids that went a little better, and I got to meet some other International students who are in a different geology class at USFQ. About half of us went to the hot-springs in Baños after being out hiking around all day on Saturday. The trip to the springs was prompted by our professor who went with us and, true to his geeky character, showed us the back area of the hot-springs where the water comes out of the earth and is cooled a bit before being sent into the baths.

As with any day here, I have my highs and my lows. This morning, I took my anti-malarial medication before eating breakfast (so that I wouldn’t forget) and ended up with an upset stomach that wouldn’t keep food down for about an hour and a half. But I also got to swing on a wonderfully long swing, out over the drop-off of an extremely steep hill. So I think that kind of made up for it.

On our way back to Quito, our bus driver had a little “race” with another bus driver. They kept honking at each other, pulling up next to each other, and clearly having a good time driving around the outskirts of the city. It’s things like that that remind me that I’m in a different country. Little stuff that you just don’t see in the states, but is part of every-day life here.

I’m back to classes tomorrow morning, and I’m not really ready for them, but at times, I don’t think I’ll ever really be ready for anything. There’s always something more to prepare for. So I will take whatever is sent my way tomorrow and try to make the best of it.

¡Hasta luego! (Later!)