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La Reforma

Photo of this volcano
  • Mexico
  • Caldera
  • Pleistocene
  •  
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 27.508°N
  • 112.392°W

  • 1300 m
    4265 ft

  • 341803
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for La Reforma.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for La Reforma.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for La Reforma.

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for La Reforma.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from La Reforma. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 10,000 years ago, information might be found on the La Reforma page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for La Reforma.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for La Reforma.

Photo Gallery

The early Pleistocene La Reforma caldera lies NW of the town of Santa Rosita (left) on the Gulf of California. The roughly 10-km-wide caldera contains a central dome (center horizon) made of resurgent basement rocks. Ignimbrite outflow sheets form flat surfaces and scarps. The age of the caldera was determined by the K-Ar method to be between 1.6 and 1.4 Ma. The eruption of andesitic and dacitic ring-fracture lava domes followed. Andesitic lava flows were erupted on the flanks of the caldera both before and after caldera formation.

Photo by José Macías, 1995 (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).
Post-caldera resurgent blocks of the early Pleistocene La Reforma caldera rise to the north above the Gulf of California. The roughly 10-km-wide caldera contains a 1300-m-high central dome (left-center horizon) made of resurgent basement rocks. Ignimbrite outflow sheets form flat surfaces and scarps, and uplifted marine terraces are prominent along the coast.

Photo by Brian Hausback, 1994 (California State University, Sacramento).
Three major Quaternary volcanic complexes are visible in this Landsat satellite image of Baja California. The N-S-trending Las Vírgenes volcanic complex to the left consists of three stratovolcanoes that are progressively younger towards the south. The 10-km-wide La Reforma caldera along the Gulf of California coast to the right displays darker andesite flanks and a resurgent dome in the center. The extensively eroded El Aguajito caldera has indistinct margins but the large resurgent dome forms the roughly circular eroded hills west of La Reforma.

NASA Landsat image (processed by Brian Hausback, UC Sacramento).
The summit crater of La Vírgen parasitic cinder cone on the east flank of La Reforma caldera is seen from its north rim. The SE rim of 10-km-wide La Reforma caldera forms the ridge on the horizon with the Gulf of California on the left.

Photo by Keith Sutter, 2000.
The early Pleistocene La Reforma caldera is in the center of this 16 November 2019 Sentinel-2 satellite image (N is at the top) along the Gulf of California. The caldera is about 9 km wide, with andesitic outer flanks and a resurgent dome in the center.

Satellite image courtesy of Copernicus Sentinel Data, 2019.
GVP Map Holdings

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for La Reforma in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites