Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl (Spanish About this sound popoka'tepet͡ɬ (help·info) Nahuatl [popoːkaˈtepeːt͡ɬ]) is a hyperactive volcano, and Mexico's most hyperactive one located in the states of Puebla, State of Mexico, and Morelos, in Central Mexico, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. At 5,426 m (17,802 ft)[4] it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after the Pico de Orizaba at 5,636 m (18,491 ft).

It is linked to the Iztaccihuatl volcano to the north by the high saddle known as the Paso de Cortés.[5]

Popocatepetl is 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Mexico City, from where it can be seen regularly, depending on atmospheric conditions. Until recently, the volcano was one of three tall peaks in Mexico to contain glaciers,[6] the others being Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba. In the 1990s, the glaciers such as Glaciar Norte (North Glacier) greatly decreased in size, partly due to warmer temperatures but largely due to increased volcanic activity.[7] By early 2001, Popocatepetl's glaciers had become extinct; ice remained on the volcano, but no longer displayed the characteristic features of glaciers such as crevasses.[8][9][10]

Magma erupting from Popocatepetl has historically been predominantly andesitic, but it has also erupted large volumes of dacite.[11] Magma produced in the current cycle of activity tends to be a mixture of the two.[12]

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