The NE flank of Volcán la Malinche contains deep glacially carved canyons and the craters in the foreground are part of the Xalapaxco tuff cone complex. Xalapaxco means "vessel or container made of sand" in the Aztec Nahuatl language. The tuff cone contains ten overlapping craters influenced by changes in water and magma supply rates during the course of an eruption. The tuff cone was erupted through alluvial fan deposits consisting of reworked fluvial and glacial deposits on the lower flank of Malinche.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1998 (Smithsonian Institution).

This image is made available under the Public Domain Dedication CC0 license, but proper attribution is appreciated.

Keywords: stratovolcano

La Malinche