Jocotitlán volcano
Updated: Nov 29, 2023 04:52 GMT -
Stratovolcano 3900 m / 12,795 ft
Central Mexico, 19.72°N / -99.76°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Central Mexico, 19.72°N / -99.76°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Jocotitlán volcano is an isolated stratovolcano located 60 km WNW of Mexico City and 50 km N of of Toluca volcano. It rises about 1300 m above the Toluca plain and has a large horse-shoe shaped escarpment open to the NE, which formed because of gravitational flank collapse, similar to Mt Etna's Valle del Bove.
Jocotitlán volcano belongs to the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt, which extends in W-E direction over 1500 km from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico.
The latest known eruption occurred about 700 years ago and produced block-and-ash flows and pyroclastic surges.
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Jocotitlán volcano eruptions: 1270 AD ± 75, 7740 BC ± 75 years (radiocarbon-dated)
Latest nearby earthquakes
No recent earthquakesBackground
Jocotitlán is an isolated composite volcano that rises 1300 m above the Toluca basin. The 3900-m-high volcano was constructed during the Pleistocene and mainly consists of andesitic-to-dacitic lava flows.A major obsidian-bearing dacitic plinian eruption was followed by the emplacement of a dacitic lava-dome complex, accompanied by lava effusion, pumice-fall eruptions, and pyroclastic surges.
The most prominent feature of Jocotitlán volcano is a horseshoe-shaped escarpment open to the NE that formed as a result of gravitational failure of the summit during the early Holocene. The resulting debris-avalanche deposit covers an 80 sq km area to the NE. Lava dome emplacement accompanied by pyroclastic flows and surges subsequently filled much of the avalanche scarp.
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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution
See also: Sentinel hub | Landsat 8 | NASA FIRMS
