Products of three recent Plinian eruptions of Popocatépetl are seen in this stratigraphic section located near Paso de Cortés at the saddle between Popo and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes. The thick basal unit was emplaced about 5,000 years ago. It is known as the Upper Pre-Ceramic eruptive sequence and includes pyroclastic flows and secondary lahars that traveled to the south. Volcanologist Claus Siebe is pointing to the overlying 2,500-year-old Lower Ceramic unit, and the 1,100-year-old Upper Ceramic Plinian unit lies at the top.

Photo by José Macías, 1995 (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).

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

Galleries: Fieldwork

Keywords: geology | field work | volcanologist | stratigraphy | outcrop | tephra

Popocatépetl