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Ceboruco

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Volcanic Region
  • Landform | Volc Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 21.125°N
  • 104.508°W

  • 2,280 m
    7,480 ft

  • 341030
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Ceboruco.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Ceboruco.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Ceboruco.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 4 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1870 Feb 21 - 1875 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 3

Episode 1 | Eruption Upper west flank
1870 Feb 21 - 1875 Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 9 Events for Episode 1 at Upper west flank

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion violent, strong, or large
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow Uncertain
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow violent, strong, or large
   - - - -    - - - - Lava dome
   - - - -    - - - - Ash violent, strong, or large
   - - - -    - - - - Earthquakes (undefined) Before.
   - - - -    - - - - Property Damage
   - - - -    - - - - Evacuations
1870 Feb 21    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)

1567 Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
1567 - Unknown Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 2 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Uncertain
   - - - -    - - - - Earthquakes (undefined)

1542 Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
1542 - Unknown Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 1 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Uncertain

0930 ± 200 years Confirmed Eruption VEI: 6

Episode 1 | Eruption Jala Pumice
0930 ± 200 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 5 Events for Episode 1 at Jala Pumice

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
   - - - -    - - - - Caldera Explosion
0930 ± 200 years    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)
Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Ceboruco.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Ceboruco.

Photo Gallery

An eruption of Ceboruco volcano began in 1870 and produced the lava flow shown here from the west. Explosive eruptions began from a vent near the western caldera rim in February 1870 and continued with emission of the 1.1 km3 lava flow, which traveled 6 km down the lower flank. The eruption continued sporadically for 5 years, causing extensive damage to livestock and crops. Hundreds of people were forced to abandon their homes.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
A small lava flow, possibly produced during or before the 1870-75 eruption of Ceboruco, descended eastward from the rim of a crater within the inner caldera. This flow traveled 500 m to the east. The small crater to the right of the flow formed in the NE side of the larger crater. These are part of a complex group of features within the nested summit calderas.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
The El Norte lava flows, which cover much of the northern flank of Ceboruco, were erupted along buried ring fractures within nested calderas. The flows split into two lobes, a broad northern lobe that reached the base of the volcano and a narrower NW lobe (lower right). The southern wall of the inner caldera forms the irregular ridge behind the flows (below the distant haze), with the summit cone and lava flows visible at top right.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
This aerial view looks from the east across the inner summit caldera of Ceboruco. The unvegetated lava flow in the center was emplaced either in 1870-75, or during earlier eruptions in 1542 or 1567. The flow covering the caldera floor to the lower right is the near-vent portion of the voluminous El Norte lava flows. The ridge in the foreground is the eastern rim of the inner caldera.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
The El Norte lava flows cover most of the N flank of Ceboruco volcano in western México. The south wall of the inner caldera forms the far summit ridge. The andesitic El Norte flows cover a broad area 3.5 km in length and forms a 3.5-km-wide lava flow field at the base of the volcano. Their youthful morphology and unvegetated surfaces suggest a young age, possibly during one of the two 16th century eruptions.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
This aerial view of the western part of the summit of Ceboruco shows the rims of the two nested calderas to the upper right. The vent of the 1870-75 eruption contains a small lava dome below center of this photo. A massive lava flow erupted during the 1870 eruption and descended to the lower right.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
The walls of two nested summit calderas are seen here in an aerial view of Ceboruco from the NE, with the road to the summit. The formation of the 3.7-km-wide outer caldera was associated with eruption of the 5 km3 Jala Pumice and the Marquesado pyroclastic flow about 1,000 years ago. The Jala Pumice covers broad areas to the north and east.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
Volcán Ceboruco is a small, but complex stratovolcano with two concentric summit calderas. The thick lava flow (center) on the western flank was emplaced during an eruption in 1870-75. Eruption of the rhyodacite Jala Pumice formed the initial 4-km-wide caldera about 1,000 years ago. The second caldera was associated with partial collapse of the large Dos Equis dacite lava dome, which partly filled the earlier caldera. About 15 scoria cones and lava flows are across the flanks.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
Ceboruco, seen here from the west, contains two summit calderas. The rim of the older caldera, which collapsed about 1,000 years ago following eruption of the Jala Pumice, forms the peaks to the left and right of the summit. The thick, light-gray-colored lava flow at the mid left and center part of the photo was produced during the 1870-75 eruption.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1974 (Smithsonian Institution).
The sparsely vegetated ridge across the center of the photo is the distal margin of the Ceboruco 1870 lava flow. The 1.1 km3 lava flow originated from a vent at the western side of the nested summit calderas and traveled 6.5 km down the Arroyo de los Cuates valley to about 900 m elevation. The notch on the right-hand side of the summit ridge is the moat between the nested calderas.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
The unvegetated Ceboruco lava flow in the foreground appears to be some of the youngest of the W-flank flows. The peaks on either side of the broad summit in this view from the WSW are the rims of the 4-km-wide outer caldera.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
Highway 15 cuts across the lava flow that extends 7 km down the SW flank of Ceboruco. Maps show that this flow, referred to as El Ceboruco, existed prior to the 1870 eruption. Pliocene ignimbrites form the hills in the background.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
The El Norte lava flows of Ceboruco in the foreground cover much of the northern flank. These young flows erupted from vents within the inner summit caldera and may have been emplaced during one of two 16th-century eruptions. The lava flows traveled 3.5 km down the north flank and formed a broad, 3.5-km-wide front at the base of the volcano. The volcano with the irregular profile in the left distance is Tepetiltic; Sangangüey forms the peak to the far right.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
The inner caldera rim of Ceboruco forms the ridge extending across the photo in this view looking toward the SE from near the summit. The inner caldera wall consists of massive dome lavas that were emplaced within the outer caldera. The unvegetated lava flow in the foreground was erupted from a vent within a scoria cone complex at the western side of the inner caldera, probably in 1870. Flat-topped Volcán Tequila forms the peak in distance to the upper right.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
The small lava dome on the floor of the crater in the foreground was emplaced late in the 1870-75 eruption of Ceboruco. Levees of a lava flow that traveled 6.5 km down the west flank are higher than this crater, indicating that the main 1870 vent that fed the flows was probably located above the dome. The ridge to the upper right is the NW rim of the outer caldera.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
A small lava dome was extruded in the main vent of the 1870-75 eruption of Ceboruco volcano in western México. Fumaroles (not visible in this photo) with temperatures measured at about 100°C were located around the base of the dome when the photo was taken in 1997.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
The view of the 1870 vent and the San Pedro-Ceboruco graben is from the Ceboruco summit. The small lava dome to the lower right and the unvegetated lava flow to the lower left were emplaced during the 1870-75 eruption. The Cerro San Pedro lava dome on the horizon directly above the 1870 dome was constructed within the 7 x 10 km San Pedro caldera. The peak immediately left of Cerro San Pedro is Cerro Tetillas.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
The flat-topped rhyolitic Los Ocotes lava dome (center) was erupted on the southern flank of Tepetiltic volcano about 100,000 years ago and is the youngest product of that complex. Extrusion of the dome blocked drainages to form Laguna San Pedro, out of view to the left. The rim of Tepetiltic caldera forms the right horizon. Los Ocotes is seen here from the SE along Highway 15 where it crosses the blocky andesitic El Ceboruco lava flow in the foreground, which traveled 8 km from Ceboruco volcano.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution).
Erosional gullies have formed down the Molcajete Grande flanks, a cone on the lower NW flank of Ceboruco. This aerial view from the NE shows the forested andesite Coapan lava flow beyond the cone. The lighter-colored area just beyond the flow (upper left) is the Destiladero rhyodacitic lava flow.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1980 (Smithsonian Institution).
The dark Coapan andesite lava flow surrounds the Molcajete Grande cone (right center) on the NW flank of Ceboruco, whose slopes are visible to the upper left. The light-colored area across the upper part of the photo beyond the forested Coapan flow is the rhyodacite Destiladero lava flow.

Photo by Jim Luhr, 1979 (Smithsonian Institution).
GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

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.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

The following 20 samples associated with this volcano can be found in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences collections, and may be availble for research (contact the Rock and Ore Collections Manager). Catalog number links will open a window with more information.

Catalog Number Sample Description Lava Source Collection Date
NMNH 116285-1 Basaltic Lava -- 1 Feb 1947
NMNH 116285-2 Porphyritic Lava -- 1 Feb 1947
NMNH 116285-3 Volcanic Ash -- 1 Feb 1947
NMNH 117253-35 Andesite -- --
NMNH 117253-36 Andesite -- --
NMNH 117591-1 Andesitic Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-10 Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-11 Andesitic Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-12 Andesite -- --
NMNH 117591-13 Andesite -- --
NMNH 117591-2 Andesitic Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-3 Andesitic Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-4 Andesitic Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-5 Andesitic Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-6 Andesite -- --
NMNH 117591-7 Dacite -- --
NMNH 117591-8 Andesite -- --
NMNH 117591-9 Dacite -- --
NMNH 117623-66 Basalt Volcán Molcajete --
NMNH 117623-67 Scoria Volcán Molcajete --
External Sites