Official Volcano Winners

Although I should clarify: you haven’t won an actual volcano. One would never fit in your backyard, and your neighbors might become upset. I mean, how happy was that farmer when Parícutin popped up in his field, amirite?

So no actual volcanoes for the winners. But lots of praise!

First, congratulations to Lockwood, F, and Eskered, who identified Volcano #1 as the San Francisco Peaks.

San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff, AZ. Image courtesy USFS.
San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff, AZ. Image courtesy USFS.

That’s the stratovolcano I grew up with, and would have been my first choice for official volcano. Yes, even above Mount St. Helens, which has become the subject of my longest-running series ever. Yes, even above Mount Rainier, the iconic volcano of Seattle, which is my current home and the best city I’ve ever lived in.

But none of those three could be the official volcano of En Tequila Es Verdad.

Those of you who guessed Volcano #3, come forward.

Volcan de Tequila. This is the official volcano of ETEV, for obvious reasons. Image courtesy Mickou.
Volcan de Tequila. This is the official volcano of ETEV, for obvious reasons. Image courtesy Mickou.

Justin Griffith guessed right, although he wasn’t able to identify the edifice. He wins a shiny DARPAnet, plus a bonus tip o’ the shotglass for having an awesome, although destructive, kitteh.

WRP, Eskered, and RQ win shiny new internets and a bottle of virtual tequila for identifying the volcano and knowing that a volcano named Volcán de Tequila absolutely had to be the Official Volcano of En Tequila Es Verdad. RQ wins an extra tip o’ the shot glass for this: “#3, because it’s tequila, and that mountain must hold the truth.” Indeed! Well done, you three!

All of this came about because I ran into a paper in the Bulletin of Volcanology about the Tequila Volcanic Field. You guys will love our official volcano and its environs. In fact, I think our first official meetup will have to be there. I’ll have a full writeup soon. Conjunctivitis in both eyes this week put me behind, but I’m catching back up.

And I want you all to take especial note of Nathaniel Frein’s observation, because I shall be discussing it soon. Well, soonish. I’m delighted by it, because I was already working on the research for a post that will compare my beloved San Francisco Peaks to a Japanese volcano.

Right. Now that we have an official volcano, we should have other official landforms. I may be doing a lot of volcanoes just now, but that’s not all there is to geology. Suggestions for official rivers, formations, etc.?

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Official Volcano Winners
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4 thoughts on “Official Volcano Winners

  1. rq
    1

    The phrase ‘tequila lava’ just went through my head, and now I’m stumped: is that the result of condensed fermented blue agave juice under pressure coming to the surface of the bottle and flowing into a glass?
    Or is that a completely new mixed drink involving tequila, chili peppers, some volcanic dust, and worms? Any creative bartenders in the building? :)
    (You know what else makes tequila the ultimate volcanologist’s drink? This sentence, in the tequila wikipedia entry: “The red volcanic soil in the surrounding region is particularly well suited to the growing of the blue agave”. IT’S MADE FROM A PLANT THAT THRIVES ON VOLCANOES! How awesome is that??? Sorry if you know that already. But it’s exciting news to me.)

    And thank you for the internet. I’ll be sure to handle with appropriate care. :)

  2. 3

    For a canyon Hells Canyon, because it is deeper than the Grand Canyon (although not as wide) It exhibits both subduction related features in the lower formations (Blue Mountain collision) as well as Columbia Plateau lava flows in the upper areas. Also there are remnants of the flood that lowered lake Bonneville in terms of large ripple marks in the canyon. (It is also in the Pac NW)

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