Volcán Atitlán directly overlies the inferred margin of the Pleistocene Atitlán III caldera, whose northern rim lies across Lake Atitlán. The Atitlán stratovolcano is adjacent to Tolimán to its north (seen just to the right of Atitlán's summit). The historically active Atitlán is younger than Tolimán, although their earlier activity overlapped. Atitlán’s surface is composed of tephra, reflecting its predominantly explosive eruptions that have been recorded since the 15th century.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1980 (Michigan Technological University).

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

Keywords: caldera | stratovolcano

Atitlán

Tolimán