POPOCATEPETL

Volcan Popocatepetl, 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 Popocatepetl 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 pre columbian times.
Popocatepetl, the second highest volcano in Mexico, is a giant
stratovolcano, 70 km (~45 miles) southeast of downtown Mexico City, and 45
km (~30 miles) southwest of the city of Puebla.

Background Information: Popo is one of the most active volcanoes in

Mexico, having had 15 eruptions since the arrival of the Spanish in 1519
AD. The Aztec Indians who lived in Central Mexico recorded additional
eruptions in 1347 and 1354. Most of the eruptions in the past 600 years
were relatively mild, with ash columns rising only a few kilometers above
the summit. Volcanologists have studied Popo because most volcanoes tend
to have future eruptions that are like their earlier ones. Thus, the
volcano's past history helps us prepare for possible future activity. One
very important reason to try to predict future eruptions is that more than
20 million Mexican people live close enough to the volcano to be
threatened by its eruptions. Many smaller towns and villages exist close to
the volcano: Santiago Xalizintla, San Nicolás de Los Ranchos, San Buenaventura.
Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl are the Aztec Romeo and Juliet: During the
reign of the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico, a harsh and punishing tribute
system was imposed on the surrounding provinces and towns. The local
rulers of the Tlaxcala people were fed up with the harsh tribute system.
The local chieftain decided he would go to war against the Aztecs.This
chieftain had a beautiful daughter, princess Iztaccíhuatl, who had fallen
in love with one of the tribe’s great warriors, Popocatepetl. When
Popocatepetl asked her father for her hand in marriage he offered it
gladly, as long as Popocatepetl came back victoriously from the war. While
Popocatepetl was away at war, one of Iztaccíhuatl’s jealous suitors,
Citlaltepetl, told her that Popocatepetl had died in battle.
Grief-stricken, Iztaccíhuatl cried until her heart stopped. Upon return
from battle, finding his beloved dead, Popocatepetl was inconsolable and
wandered the streets day and night mourning her. Finally, the warrior
Popocatepetl decided he would build Itza a massive tomb and lay her body
on top in homage. He built an enormous tomb and carried her body to the
top, and then knelt beside her with a smoking torch to watch over her.
Centuries passed. They were covered with snow and earth until they became
the volcanoes they are today, with Itza in the shape of a reclining woman
and Popo a kneeling man. It is said that the still-active volcano,
Popocatepetl, erupts occasionally because his pain still burns deep within
his heart.

Sources of Information:

Summary by Charles Wood, 26 December, 1994 and updated 4 Jan., 1995.

Global Volcanism Program, Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum
of Natural History - Room E-421, MRC 0119, PO Box 37012, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington DC 20013-7012
Smithsonian Institution E-Mail Report by Servando De la Cruz-Reyna (Univ.
of Mexico) on Dec 23, 1994.
Cantagrel, JM, A Gourgaud & C Robin (1984) Repetitive mixing events and
Holocene pyroclastic activity at Pico de Orizaba and Popocatepetl
(Mexico). Delgado, H., 1996, Popo's event, VOLCANO ListServ, October 29,
1996