Chichinautzin volcano

Chichinautzin volcano is an active volcanic field immediately south of Mexico City. It contains more than 200 cinder cones, small shield volcanoes and large lava flows within a vast 90 km long E-W oriented area at the southern end of the Mexico Basin. Parts of Mexico City are built upon a 13 km long lava flow from the Chichinautzin volcanic field. The last volcanic activity was only about 400 years ago.

Background:

The Sierra Chichinautzin volcanic field formed primarily of overlapping small cinder cones and shield volcanoes, which creates a broad topographic barrier at the southern end of the Basin of Mexico that extends from the eastern flank of Nevado de Toluca to the western flank of Iztaccíhuatl volcano.
The volcanic field contains more than 220 Pleistocene-to-Holocene monogenetic vents. The best-known eruption occurred about 1670 radiocarbon years ago from the Xitle scoria cone, NE of the Volcán Ajusco lava-dome complex, which at 3930 m forms the highest peak of the Sierra Chichinautzin. The Xitle eruption produced a massive basaltic tube-fed lava flow that covered agricultural lands as well as pyramids and other structures of Cuicuilco and adjacent prehispanic urban centers. The southern part of Mexico City and the National University of México lie atop the distal end of the 13-km-long lava flow.
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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution

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