Las Cumbres Volcano
Updated: Apr 19, 2024 20:53 GMT -
stratovolcano 3940+ m / 12,926 ft
Mexico, 19.15°N / -97.27°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Mexico, 19.15°N / -97.27°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Las Cumbres volcano is a stratovolcano in central-eastern Mexico in Puebla state about 190 km SE of Mexico City and only 15 km NNE of Pico de Orizaba volcano.
It is part of the 70 km N-S trending Citlaltépetl–Cofre de Perote Volcanic Range.
The volcano contains a a 4.5 km x 3.5 km summit caldera narrowly breached on the east side and partly filled by the dacitic Cerro Gordo or El Cumbre Grande lava dome complex.
The area is famous for the obsidian lava domes Xalista and El Rodeo to the north, and Ixetal to the south of Las Cumbre.
The last activity in the area was from the rhyolitic Yolotepec lava dome, north of Las Cumbres, has been radiocarbon dated at about 5900 years before present.
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Las Cumbres volcano eruptions: 3920 BC ± 50 years (radiocarbon dated)
Latest nearby earthquakes
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Background
Las Cumbres is part of a complex including a group of monogenetic cinder cones, maars and andesitic and rhyolitic lava domes located north and south of Cerro las Cumbres. 3 of these, Xalista and El Rodeo to the north, and Ixetal to the south, are obsidian domes.The caldera of Las Cumbres was originally believed to be an explosion crater, but recent field work suggests that it originated from partial collapse of the eastern flank of the volcano sometime between 40,000 and 350,000
years ago. The flank collapse of Las Cumbres produced a huge debris avalanche deposit whose volume was estimated to be about 80 cubic kilometers. The deposit is found in up to 120 km distance near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
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A major rhyolitic explosive eruption producing the Quetzalapa Pumice about 20,000 years ago originated from a vent on the lower NW flank of the Las Cumbres complex.
Eruptive activity at the main Las Cumbres complex ceased during the late Pleistocene, although activity on the flanks of the edifice continued into the Holocene.
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Sources:
- Smithsonian / GVP volcano information
- - G. Carrasco-Núñez et al. (2006) "Multiple edifice-collapse events in the Eastern Mexican Volcanic Belt: The role of sloping substrate and implications for hazard assessment", Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v 158, pp. 151–176
Las Cumbres Volcano Photos
Cerro Gordo Dome (3940m, Las Cumbres) behind the Sun and Moon Pyramids of Teotihuacan, Mexico, view from the Citadel (Photo: WNomad)
Latest satellite images
