The Sierra Nevada east of the Valley of Mexico is a N-S-trending volcanic chain that runs perpendicular to the E-W trend of the Mexican Volcanic Belt. As with other transverse volcanic chains such as Cántaro-Colima and Cofre de Perote-Orizaba, the volcanic features in the Sierra Nevada range are younger towards the south. The broad forested volcanoes of Tláloc and Telapon in the distance are Pliocene in age, Iztaccíhuatl in the center is largely Pleistocene, and Popocatépetl in the foreground has been historically active.

Photo by José Macías, 1996 (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Keywords: crater | emissions | gas | gas plume | stratovolcano

Popocatépetl

Iztaccíhuatl