Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
The port of Puerto Quetzal. Below: Scenes on the way to Antigua Guatemala. |
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Volcan de Agua (3762 m, 12,339 feet), so called because it released lots of mudflows in colonial days. | |
Volcan de Fuego (3763 m 12,343 feet) on the left and Volcan Acatenango (3976 m, 13,041 feet ) to its right and behind it. Yes, it can snow up there. | |
Below: The light strips are mudflow scars. | |
Below: Lahar deposits. | |
Right: Volcan de Agua | |
Left: Acatenango. Below: Volcan de Fuego living up to its name. |
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Nice likeness. | |
Below: Palacio de los Capitanes Generales. | |
Guatemala jade is the sodium aluminum pyroxene jadeite
NaAlSi2O6. Sodium is the most
predictable major element in rocks, and in most rocks it occurs in
the feldspar albite (NaAlSi3O8). Under high pressure it breaks down. Albite --> Jadeite + Quartz (NaAlSi3O8 --> NaAlSi2O6 + SiO2). Jadeite is a typical
subduction zone mineral and Central America is one big long
subduction zone. The bright green color is probably due to chromium impurities. |
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Between earthquakes and volcanoes, geology has not been kind to Antigua Guatemala's old buildings. | |
Your Antigua Guatemala money shot: Acatenango framed by the Arco de Santa Catalina. | |
Last chance to sell some souvenirs. | |
Left: Volcan de Agua Below: small cemetery |
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Above: Repairing a bridge taken out by the lahar. Left: Now there's something you don't see every day: a road sign saying "Volcan en Erupcion" (Volcano erupting). Below: Lahar deposits. |
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Twilight at Puerto Quetzal. | |
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Created 22 June 2007, Last Update