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Papayo   »  Summary

Papayo

Papayo Photo

Country:México
Subregion Name:México
Volcano Number:1401-081
Volcano Type: Lava dome
Volcano Status:Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown
Summit Elevation: 3600+ m 11,811 feet
Latitude: 19.308°N 19°18'30"N
Longitude: 98.70°W 98°42'0"W

The 3600-m-high postglacial Papayo lava dome, constructed along the crest of the Sierra Nevada range, is dwarfed by its massive neighbor Iztaccíhuatl volcano, 15 km to the SW. Papayo has been the source of voluminous dacitic lava flows that have traveled about 10 km from the vent both to the WSW and ENE. The steep-sided Cerro Papayo dacitic lava dome, rising 230 m above the surrounding lava flows, marks the vent. The 84 sq km compound lava field has a volume of about 21 cu km and includes flows that traveled long distances in opposite directions into the Valley of Mexico and toward the Puebla basin. Papayo lavas overlie glacial moraines about 12,000 years old (Nixon 1989). On the western side the flows surround the glaciated late-Pleistocene lava and pyroclastic cone of Iztaltetlac.

Global Volcanism ProgramDepartment of Mineral SciencesNational Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian Institution

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