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Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico), activity update: small ash plumes

Fri, 21 Nov 2008, 22:27 | BY: TS
Emissions of steam and gas from Popocatépetl were visible during 12-18 November. On 17 November an ash plume rose to an altitude of 6.1 km. A thermal anomaly was detected. Emissions contained slight amounts of ash on 18 November.

Previous news

Wed, 19 Nov 2008, 06:00

Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 19 November-25 November 2008 (Continuing Activity)

CENAPRED reported that emissions of steam and gas from Popocatépetl were visible during 19-25 November. The plumes occasionally contained slight amounts of ash. ... Read all
Wed, 12 Nov 2008, 06:00

Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 12 November-18 November 2008 (Continuing Activity)

CENAPRED reported that emissions of steam and gas from Popocatépetl were visible during 12-18 November. Based on analysis of satellite imagery and information from the Mexico City MWO, the Washington VAAC reported that on 17 November an ash plume rose to an altitude of 6.1 km (20,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NW and WSW. ... Read all
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Background:

Volcán Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, towers to 5426 m 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano.  The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 250-450 m deep crater.  The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. 
At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano.  The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone.  Three major plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 AD, have occurred from Popocatépetl since the mid Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano.  Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since precolumbian time.


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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution - Popocatepetl information


Satellite images of Popocatepetl volcano (c)Google Earth View
Satellite images of Popocatepetl volcano (c)Google Earth View
Stratovolcano 5426 m / 17,802 ft
Central Mexico, 19.02°N / -98.62°W
Current status: erupting (4 out of 5) Popocatépetl volcano eruptions:
1345-47, 1354, 1363(?), 1488, 1504, 1509(?), 1512, 1518, 1519-23(?), 1528, 1530, 1539-40, 1542, 1548, 1571, 1580, 1590, 1592-94, 1642, 1663-65, 1666-67, 1697, 1720, 1802-04, 1827(?), 1834(?), 1852(?), 1919-22, 1923-24, 1925-27(?), 1933, 1942-43, 1947, 1994-95, 1996-2003, 2004-ongoing
Typical eruption style
Dominantly explosive, construction of lava domes. Plinian eruptions at intervals of several centuries or few thousands of years, vulcanian and strombolian activity in intermittent phases.
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